North Korea says US should abandon denuclearization push – DW – 07/29/2025
North Korea on Tuesday urged the US to abandon any attempts to persuade it to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
US President Donald Trump, who began his second term in January, is interested in resuming talks with North Korea on denuclearization.
During his first term in the years of 2018 and 2019, Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times in Singapore, Vietnam and at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas.
Although the Trump administration wanted North Korea to give up its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, no deal was struck between the two sides and Pyongyang continues to advance its nuclear aspirations.
Kim's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, said Trump's personal relationship with the North Korean leader is "not bad."
However, she said if the US administration were to use the Trump-Kim relationship to push for North Korean denuclearization, Pyongyang would consider it "nothing but a mockery."
"If the US fails to accept the changed reality and persists in the failed past, the DPRK-US meeting will remains as a 'hope' of the US side," Kim Yo Jong said, using the acronym for North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Kim Yo Jong's remarks suggest that North Korea is ruling out complete denuclearization as an option if talks are relaunched with the US.
A White House official told Reuters news agency that Trump is still seeking the same objectives in regards to North Korea as he did in the first term.
"The president retains those objectives and remains open to engaging with Leader Kim to achieve a fully denuclearized North Korea," the unnamed US official told Reuters.
During Trump's first term, the president had sometimes a unusually friendly relationship with Kim after a tense start, with Trump saying the two leaders "fell in love."
After nuclear negotiations broke down in October 2019, the two leaders began exchanging insults, with North Korea in December of that year threatening to call him a "dotard."
Since Trump's first term from 2017 to 2021, US and North Korea ties have grown more fraught.
Trump's successor, Joe Biden, did not continue the flashy diplomatic engagements with Kim that were a feature of Trump's first administration. Instead, the Biden administration chose to deepen ties with South Korea and Japan in a bid to further isolate Pyongyang.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
North Korea, meanwhile, has been growing closer with Russia since it launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. North Korea has sent weapons and troops to assist Russia's assault, with Moscow in turn backing North Korea's nuclear program.
The US firmly opposed the invasion of Ukraine during Biden's term, with Trump in his second term also pushing Russia to commit to a ceasefire and end the conflict.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
DW
10 hours ago
- DW
Long-distance arms: German money for Ukraine's combat drones – DW – 08/03/2025
Germany is investing more in the production of Ukrainian weaponry, particularly long-range drones. What is possible, and what are the limits? Apartment buildings in flames and clouds of smoke over the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv: Almost every day, Russia attacks the country with drones and rockets. In response, Ukraine is defending itself, including by striking targets deeper inside Russia. It's quite possible that in these long-distance attacks, drones produced with German funds are being used. "This is the beginning of a new form of military-industrial cooperation between our countries, one that has great potential," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in late May when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Berlin. The two countries' defense ministries signed an agreement back then: Germany would finance long-range weapons but they are to be produced in Ukraine. Two months later, not many details about the arrangement have become public. "The process is ongoing," Mitko Müller, a senior spokesperson for Germany's Ministry of Defense, told DW in late July. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In June 2024, Denmark became the first NATO member state to get involved in the Ukrainian arms industry. German arms manufacturers are represented in Ukraine, with Rheinmetall, an arms manufacturer headquartered in Düsseldorf, likely the most visible. The industrial giant is expanding its presence there and is engaged in a number of joint ventures. For example, tanks are being manufactured and repaired there and an ammunition factory being built. "We are seeing a huge change in Germany's approach toward Ukraine, a complete opening up," Ihor Fedirko, the chief executive of the Ukrainian Council of Defense Industry (UCDI= told DW. Direct investments by the German government into Ukrainian drone and missile production are still a relative novelty. According to , a German newspaper, Germany intends to fund around 500 An-196 Liutyi drones, one-way attack, unmanned aerial vehicles. Ukrainian media reports suggest that each drone costs around $200,000 (€175,000). The drone was developed as a result of previous cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine. The An-196 Liutyi "was already quite advanced in its development and testing," military expert Gustav Gressel, formerly a senior policy fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations, explained. A very high proportion of these drones are shot down though, Gressel continued, because they fly fairly slowly, at similar speeds to comparable Russian models. Apart from funds, Ukraine is also hoping for German know-how. "We lack deep-tech technologies," Fedirko explains, referring to cutting-edge engineering. "This affects the component base. Equipped with this kind of knowledge, we could modernize more thoroughly and become more efficient," he said. Germany has these technologies. Currently Ukraine is asking all of its allies for technology that would enable long-range weapons, Fedirko continued. "We're talking about a range of between 500 and 1,000 kilometers," he explains. "Some of them [the weapons] — for example, the deep-strike Liutyi, can already get to targets more than 2,000 kilometers away." Many German defense companies getting more active in Ukraine are startups, mostly based in Bavaria. One example is Quantum Systems, a firm specializing in aerial data and making unmanned aerial systems to collect it. Fedirko describes this as a "best-case scenario" of the kind of cooperation Ukraine wants. Founded in 2015, Quantum Systems has been supplying its Vector reconnaissance drones to the Ukrainian army since 2022. A special feature of the Vector is its ability to take off and land vertically. "We are the only Western company producing reconnaissance drones where they are most urgently needed: on-site in Ukraine," says Sven Kruck, co-chief executive at Quantum Systems. His company employs around 200 people in Ukraine, and it's growing; a second production plant is scheduled to open in September. In mid-July, Quantum Systems announced that it would also acquire a 10% stake in Frontline, a Ukrainian drone manufacturer. It will have the option to increase that stake to 25% over the next year. "Frontline specializes in technical solutions for reconnaissance and strike operations. Its systems are currently used by 41 military units in Ukraine," Kruck explained. "We see potential for cooperation, especially in the development of drone defense." However, he added, his company doesn't plan to get into combat drones. Combat drones are being made by another German company, Helsing. The Bavarian firm has already delivered thousands of drones to Ukraine and, last February, announced a new contract for over 6,000 HX-2 strike drones. According to online publication Defense industry Europe, the HX-2 is "an electrically propelled X-wing precision munition with a range of up to 100 kilometers." Its use of advanced computing also makes it more resistant to electronic warfare. Helsing did not respond to DW's enquiries asking for further details. However, as much as the Ukrainians might be pleased about German funding and investments into drones, demand still far outstrips supply. Gressel argues that Ukraine needs bulk supplies of good quality. These can only be produced cost-effectively inside Ukraine itself. The same argument applies to missiles, such as the Taurus cruise missiles, a weapon the Germans are currently unwilling to supply. However, Gressel suggests that cooperation with German companies might enable some parts to be supplied. That could increase the range of Ukraine's own Neptune cruise missiles, with more energy-efficient engines that could fly further on the same amount of fuel and more accurate sensors, which would help land-based targeting. However, a decision on supplies like that has yet to be made. Germany is not only more willing to invest in Ukraine but also to share knowledge. At the start of the war, there were fears that modern German technology could fall into Russian hands and doubt about the reliability of the Ukrainian military personnel, Gressel explains. That's one of the reasons why Ukraine initially received older weaponry. But that's changed. This is partly due to the fact that Ukraine now produces modern weapons itself and can compete with other manufacturers. "German companies are learning things here that you never get to simulate in peacetime," Gressel notes. For example, Ukraine's combat zone is absolutely packed with jammers, jamming devices and air defense systems, the sort of thing you'd never get anywhere else, not on a NATO training ground, in simulations in Germany, nor in the US. The defense industry recognizes this, Gressel says. Quantum Systems' Kruck can confirm that. "Drone development is a game of cat and mouse," he told DW. "Only those who are on site can adapt to all the constant changes. Our insights from Ukraine flow directly into our product development, which we make available to all our customers worldwide." He sees his company's work in Ukraine as a "flagship project" and wants to encourage others to emulate it. The UCDI's Fedirko would like to see this kind of cooperation go even further. "Germany is a country with typical European bureaucracy," he admits. "So it takes time to get things done. But when the Germans say they're doing something, we Ukrainians know it will get done." To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Int'l Business Times
13 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
Peace Offering? Donald Trump's Nobel Obsession
A craving for international prestige, a decade-long Obama rivalry and perhaps a dash of provocation: a mercurial melange of factors is at play in Donald Trump's obsession with the Nobel Peace Prize. "It's well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on July 31, prompting reactions of disbelief and sarcasm from the Republican leader's opponents. Since his January 20 return to power, the US president "has brokered, on average, one peace deal or ceasefire per month," Leavitt said, citing as examples his mediations between India and Pakistan; Cambodia and Thailand; Egypt and Ethiopia; Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC); Serbia and Kosovo; and others. His leading spokeswoman also mentioned Iran, where Trump ordered US strikes against the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities, as evidence of decisions Leavitt claims have contributed to world peace. She made no mention of the conflict in Ukraine, which Trump pledged multiple times to end on "day one" of his term, or the war in Gaza, which rumbles on and for which the US supplies Israel with weapons. For some foreign leaders, mentioning the prestigious award has become a sign of diplomatic goodwill toward an American president who envisions himself as a peacemaker. Pakistan nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, as did Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During an early July meeting at the White House, a journalist asked the presidents of Liberia, Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, and Gabon whether Trump deserved the award. Basking in the flattering responses from the African leaders, a smiling Trump said: "We could do this all day long." Tens of thousands of people can offer a nomination to the Nobel committee, including lawmakers, ministers, certain university professors, former laureates and members of the committee themselves. Nominations are due by January 31, with the announcement coming in October -- this year on the 10th of the month. Law professor Anat Alon-Beck, who is an Israeli-American, submitted Trump's name to the committee's five members, who were appointed by the Norwegian Parliament. The assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law told AFP she did so because of the "extraordinary leadership" and "strategic brilliance" he has shown, in her opinion, in advancing peace and securing the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. For some, the prospect of handing the prize to someone who has upended the international order is untenable. "Nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize is like entering a hyena in a dog show," US history and politics researcher Emma Shortis wrote on news site The Conversation. "Of course Trump does not deserve it." The American president disagrees. "I deserve it, but they will never give it to me," Trump told reporters in February as he hosted Netanyahu at the White House, lamenting not ticking the Nobel box in his life. "No, I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do, including Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran, whatever those outcomes may be," Trump griped on his Truth Social platform in June. "But the people know, and that's all that matters to me!" Trump is well-known as someone who is particularly fond of accolades and prizes, Garret Martin, a professor of international relations at American University, told AFP, "so he would welcome this major international recognition." And since the beginning of his presidential ambitions 10 years ago, "he has put himself in opposition to Barack Obama, who famously won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009," Martin added. The prize awarded to the Democratic former president, barely nine months after he took office, sparked heated debate -- and continues to do so. "If I were named Obama I would have had the Nobel Prize given to me in 10 seconds," Trump bellyached in October 2024, during the final stretch of the presidential campaign. Three other US presidents have also been so honored: Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Jimmy Carter. The prize was also awarded to Henry Kissinger in 1973 for his efforts to help end the war in Vietnam. The choice of the one-time US secretary of state was heavily criticized. The full list of Nobel Peace Prize nominees is confidential -- except for individual announcements by sponsors -- but their number is made public. In 2025, there are 338 nominees. Some betting sites have Trump in second place to win, behind Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. US President Donald Trump has spoken repeatedly about his interest in winning the Nobel Peace Prize AFP
DW
a day ago
- DW
Ukraine: Kyiv says it hit Russian oil, military facilities – DW – 08/02/2025
Ukraine says it has struck some key oil and military facilities on Russian territory. A blaze that broke out near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant after Ukrainian shelling has been brought under control. DW has the latest. Ukraine's military says it has hit key infrastructure inside Russia, including a significant oil refinery. Kyiv also says it struck a military airfield used for drones and an electronics factory. A fire that broke out near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after Ukrainian shelling has been brought under control, according to Russian authorities. Meanwhile, the has reported that Indian government sources have revealed there are no plans to stop buying oil from Russia. This is despite US President Donald Trump's threats to impose penalties on will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite US President Donald Trump's threats of penalties. This is according to two Indian government sources and reported on by the Reuters news agency, via the. "These are long-term oil contracts," Reuters reported one of the sources as saying. "It is not so simple to just stop buying overnight." Trump last month suggested on social media that India would face additional penalties for purchases of Russian arms and oil. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video A fire that broke out near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after Ukrainian shelling has subsided after being brought under control, the Moscow-installed administration of the Russian-held plant in Ukraine said on Saturday. Russia seized the Zaporizhzhia plant in the first weeks of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which got underway in February 2022. Since Moscow took the plant, both sides have accused each other of firing or taking other measures that could increases the danger of a nuclear accident. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Ukraine said it had struck infrastructure within Russia, including a major oil refinery as well as a military airfield for drones and an electronics factory. Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces (USF) said the military had hit the refinery in Ryazan, some 180 kilometers (110 miles) southeast of Moscow. The attack sparked a fire on its premises. The USF said it also hit the Annanefteprodukt oil storage facility in the Voronezh region. Elsewhere, the Ukrainian SBU intelligence agency said its drones had hit Russia's Primorsko-Akhtarsk military airfield. The airbase has been used to launch waves of long-range drones at targets in Ukraine. The SBU said it also struck a plant in Penza. According to the intelligence agency, the factory supplies Moscow's military-industrial complex with electronics. Ukraine's military said Saturday that it had hit key infrastructure inside Russia, including a significant oil refinery, as well as a military airfield used for drones, and an electronics factory. Mwanwhile, a fire broke out near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after Ukrainian shelling, before being brought under control. According to the , Indian government sources have revealed there are no plans to stop buying oil from Russia. This is despite US President Donald Trump's threats to impose penalties on New Delhi.
