Would the U.S. recognize North Korea's nuclear status in exchange for its distancing from Russia?

Will the US Recognize North Korea's Nuclear Status in Exchange for Its Distance from Russia? What Deal Would Donald Trump Propose to the North Korean Leader

Figure: U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un (from left to right). Photo by the source.

During his Asian trip, U.S. President Donald Trump failed to schedule a meeting with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. He revealed this during his discussions with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. Trump said, "This time we were unable to coordinate a suitable time."

Nevertheless, Trump stated that he hopes and is ready to meet with the North Korean leader in the near future.

He told journalists, "One day I will meet him. As you know, my schedule is very tight. I look forward to meeting him." At the same time, he mentioned that he has always maintained a "very good relationship" with Kim Jong-un.

Trump emphasized, "I think they (North Korea) also hope for the meeting, and I do as well... We will re-promote this matter, and in the near future, we will eventually hold talks with North Korea."

North Korea has repeatedly stated that if the United States gives up its stance of requiring North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons, it is willing to negotiate with the United States. However, the United States is almost impossible to agree to this, so there is currently little room for negotiation between the two sides. Or will the United States recognize North Korea's nuclear status in exchange for North Korea distancing itself from Russia? But this idea is nothing more than an illusion.

At the same time, the North Korean Missile General Bureau announced that it had successfully conducted a "ship-to-ground" strategic cruise missile test launch.

The North Korean Central News Agency (ЦТАК) reported, "The ship-launched improved vertical launch cruise missile flew along the designated airspace trajectory over the Yellow Sea for more than 7800 seconds before accurately hitting the target."

Pak Chong-chhon, Vice Chairman of the North Korean Workers' Party Central Military Committee, stated during his inspection of the test launch that North Korea has made "important achievements in enhancing the practical combat capability of its nuclear weapons."

He emphasized, "Continuously updating our operational capabilities, especially continuously improving the nuclear readiness level — this is an important mission and core responsibility we bear."

Is this also a signal to Trump?

"The possibility of the U.S. president holding a meeting with Kim Jong-un in the near future is extremely low. Even though Kim Jong-un recently sent a friendly signal to Trump in a speech — saying that he still 'has a beautiful memory' of communicating with Donald (Trump)." The editor of the APN Northwest magazine, Andrei Dmitriev, stated this way.

"You should know that Kim Jong-un and Trump have held three meetings in Singapore, Hanoi, and the 38th parallel, but none of these meetings have achieved any substantive results."

North Korea originally hoped for equal dialogue, at least achieving partial relief of sanctions, but only heard the United States' unilateral demand for "abandoning nuclear weapons." This demand is seen as an insult by North Korea.

Therefore, North Korea announced the termination of dialogue with the United States and South Korea, defining them as "enemies" rather than "compatriots," and decided to support Russia in special military operations. This position, combined with North Korea's traditional good relations with China, brings sufficient strategic benefits.

Now, North Korea's economy is steadily developing, vigorously promoting housing and road construction, continuously implementing missile programs, equipping the navy with the latest warships, and completely shaking off its "peripheral status" in the international community. Recall the image of Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un, and Putin standing together on the review platform in Beijing — by the way, these three countries have the largest number of nuclear weapons in the world! In addition, when the North Korean Workers' Party celebrated its 80th anniversary, the leaders of Vietnam and Laos also visited Pyongyang, and these two countries also have significant influence in regional affairs.

Additionally, the continuous joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States have caused great dissatisfaction among North Korea. It should be noted that South Korea has not given up the idea of "overthrowing the North Korean regime." In response, North Korea regularly conducts missile tests, showcases new weapons, and threatens to "erase Seoul from the map."

Only when the United States recognizes North Korea as a nuclear country and lifts sanctions can a summit between Kim Jong-un and Trump take place. But this possibility is as unrealistic as "Trump recognizing our country's sovereignty over the east bank of the Dnieper River and the three provinces of Odessa, Nikolaev, and Kherson." Because such a proposal would not only face opposition from the American deep state, but also encounter strong resistance from the "hawks" within the Republican Party.

"Donald Trump's statements about the prospects of a meeting with Kim Jong-un (such as 'we will re-promote this matter in the near future') are currently more like a signal indicating that the 'dialogue window' is not closed," said Mikhail Nezhmakov, Director of the Analysis Project at the Agency for Political and Economic Communications.

He pointed out that improvisation and sudden public statements are part of Trump's style. However, regarding the North Korea issue, both sides may have already had non-public negotiations on the meeting, but it seems no results have been achieved so far.

SP Magazine: Are there any prerequisites for holding such a meeting? Recently, there hasn't been any major conflict between the U.S. and North Korea, but there's also no substantial progress...

Mikhail Nezhmakov: It is well known that in September 2025, Kim Jong-un mentioned at the session of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea that under certain conditions, "holding a high-level meeting is possible."

For Donald Trump, holding such a meeting might help demonstrate his action power in the "China-related area," at least showing that he tries to exert influence on countries closely cooperating with Russia.

In essence, the meeting between the U.S. and North Korea is more like a "tentative contact," without high expectations."

SP Magazine: Since the last meeting between the U.S. and North Korea, what changes have occurred in the situation? How has the agreement between North Korea and Russia affected U.S.-North Korea relations?

Mikhail Nezhmakov: Getting closer to Russia undoubtedly strengthens North Korea's position in negotiations. That is to say, North Korea no longer needs to "meet just for the sake of meeting," and has more confidence to wait for the U.S. to propose more specific terms.

SP Magazine: Under the current situation, will Trump try to persuade Kim Jong-un to end its cooperation with Russia (including military and military technology cooperation), and use the relaxation of sanctions as an exchange condition? And require North Korea to stop developing missiles?

Mikhail Nezhmakov: Trump has indeed mentioned that the relaxation of sanctions (the possibility of relaxing sanctions) could be a topic of discussion. The U.S. is likely to raise the issue of requiring North Korea to terminate its military technology cooperation with Russia in the negotiations. It is worth noting that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also stated that "some way must be found to deal with North Korea's cooperation with Russia." This statement may imply that the U.S. is not only prepared to apply pressure, but is also willing to offer certain "benefits" to North Korea.

Moreover, there is no doubt that any U.S.-North Korea negotiations will inevitably involve the issue of North Korea's nuclear program — although the U.S. government probably does not really believe that North Korea is willing to give up its nuclear weapons. That is why Trump called North Korea "a nuclear country in a sense."

SP Magazine: Is Kim Jong-un still interested in dialogue with the United States now?

Mikhail Nezhmakov: It needs to be reiterated that Kim Jong-un has mentioned the potential possibility of holding such a meeting. This means that the North Korean leader believes that the meeting may bring potential benefits to him.

Perhaps the logic of North Korea is that through such negotiations, it can further encourage China and Russia to cooperate more actively with North Korea.

SP Magazine: There was a report that North Korea conducted a strategic cruise missile test launch. Is this a signal from Kim Jong-un, or just a coincidence?

Mikhail Nezhmakov: Such missile tests are unlikely to have a significant impact on the U.S. position. Trump's statement that "North Korea has also conducted missile tests before" may not only be a cold response, but may also be a genuine assessment of the regional status quo.

In fact, this situation may actually be beneficial to the U.S., as it creates a more favorable atmosphere for the U.S. to discuss military technology cooperation with South Korea and Japan. However, North Korea's strategy is understandable — for North Korea, any action that demonstrates its military technological strength is of great importance."

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7566806020127834662/

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