President Donald Trump referred to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un — and, by extension, his country — as a “nuclear power” in remarks to reporters from the Oval Office on Monday.
The South Korean government quickly objected to Trump’s characterization.
Among the many subjects he discussed with reporters on Monday, Trump was asked about threats to the security of the United States.
“I think we have a lot of them right now. Right now I think we have a lot. I think North Korea turned out to be good. I was very friendly with him. He liked me. I liked him. We got along very well,” Trump replied.
“They thought that was a tremendous threat. Now he is a nuclear power. But we got along,” he said.
“I think he has tremendous condo capabilities. He’s got a lot of shoreline,” Trump added, somewhat incongruously.
The “him” in question would be Kim Jong-un, the North Korean despot once mocked by Trump as “Little Rocket Man” for his obsession with developing nuclear missiles. The regime in Pyongyang was angered by this nickname, calling Trump a “senile dotard” in turn, but Elton John thought it was hilarious.
Trump invested considerable effort during his first term to build a rapport with Kim and create a diplomatic opening, frequently tantalizing the North Koreans with promises of trade and tourism if they would set aside their militant ideology and obsession with nuclear weapons.
Trump’s comment about Kim’s “tremendous condo capabilities” harkened back to the American real estate mogul’s frequent comments about North Korea’s enormous potential for tourism.
Trump was also alluding to a coastal tourism area called Wonsan Kalma that is scheduled to open for business in June, after years of development by the North Korean government.
Kim believes North Korea’s “political stability” will lure foreign tourists to the resort, which can purportedly handle over 10,000 guests at once with its 17 hotels and dozens of hostels. Tourism industry analysts are less confident that large numbers of outside visitors will flock to a beach resort operated by a psychotic communist dictatorship with a penchant for kidnapping foreigners.
Trump eventually met with Kim in June 2019 at the border between the two Koreas and became the first American president to step on North Korean soil when Kim invited him to do so.
That proved to be the high-water mark of Trump’s North Korea diplomacy and he was unable to persuade the regime to either open up or denuclearize. Pyongyang has grown more belligerent since then, especially after South Korea elected a more hawkish president to succeed leftist Moon Jae-in in 2022.
That president, Yoon Suk-yeol, is currently under arrest after a failed attempt to impose martial law in December – a measure he said was necessary because “unscrupulous pro-Pyongyang anti-state forces” had paralyzed his government.
South Korea is currently governed by its second acting president after Yoon, Choi Sang-mok. The first acting president, Han Duck-soo, was impeached just 13 days after accepting the position, after opposition legislators accused him of slow-walking the process to remove Yoon from office.
Officials from South Korea’s tormented government objected to Trump’s use of “nuclear power” to describe North Korea, much as they objected when Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, used the same term during his confirmation hearings.
South Korean officials feel it is a mistake to call North Korea a “nuclear power” because they want it to denuclearize and rhetorically granting it the vaunted status of “nuclear power” allegedly makes that goal harder to achieve.
“Denuclearization of not only the Korean peninsula but also North Korea should be continually pursued as a prerequisite for permanent peace and stability in the world,” South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Jeon Ha-kyou said in response to Trump’s comments on Monday.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry likewise declared that North Korea “can never be recognized as a nuclear-armed state.”
“North Korea’s denuclearization remains a consistent principle upheld by the international community, including South Korea and the U.S.,” the statement said.
An unnamed official from the Foreign Ministry softened this response somewhat by telling the Korea Herald that Trump clearly still regards North Korea as a threat and is committed to finding a diplomatic solution, which is consistent with South Korea’s position.
“President Trump’s remarks today align with the context of the first-term Trump administration and his statements during the presidential campaign, which emphasized addressing the North Korean nuclear issue through engagement, including summit diplomacy,” the official said.
Rep. Kwon Young-se, interim leader of Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP), said Trump’s reference to North Korea as a “nuclear power” was “very regrettable.”
“But whether that reflects the official government stance or was just a casual remark remains unclear. With the Trump administration only launching today, it’s too early to determine whether this signals a shift in policy. It might not necessarily mean that,” Kwon added.
Other South Korean politicians said Trump and Hegseth using “nuclear power” made them a little anxious because the term is sometimes conflated with “nuclear-weapon state,” a more dangerous – and so far, irrevocable – status held only by the United States, United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia.
Acting President Choi said on Tuesday he will seek a phone call with President Trump as soon as possible, hoping to develop strong bilateral relations despite the political turmoil in Seoul. He was also eager to discuss Trump’s ideas for imposing tariffs on South Korea and other trade partners – notably including Canada and Mexico, where South Korean companies have factories.
“The government will strive to further strengthen policy cooperation with the United States and promote mutual interests based on the shared value of the Korea-U.S. alliance,” Choi said.
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