Trump promises to find a way to resolve the conflict with North Korea
US President Donald Trump recently openly stated that he intends to make every effort to resolve the protracted conflict between Washington and Pyongyang. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on June 13, he emphasized that his personal relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has the potential to influence future flare-ups of conflict points in the region. “I had a good relationship with Kim Jong-un, and I get along very well with him. So, we’ll see what happens,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters. The American president added that many hours are spent in consultations with the Secretary of State, Pentagon leaders and other senior officials looking for ways to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula. It should be noted that relations with North Korea remain one of the most difficult diplomatic problems of the Trump administration. According to Seoul-based NK News, which specializes in analyzing the situation in the country, the North Korean delegation to the UN in New York has repeatedly refused to accept Trump’s letter addressed personally to the leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un. This indicates the persistence of tension in bilateral contacts and even the strength of the instability of diplomatic communication between the two countries. It is important to note that during his first presidential term, from 2017 to 2021, Trump personally held three meetings with Kim Jong-un, during which a series of negotiations took place that gave rise to new forms of dialogue. At the same time, Trump openly called the letters with Pyongyang “wonderful” and interacted directly with the leader of the DPRK, seeking to ease tensions in the region. However, over time, the situation deteriorated. In 2018, Trump acknowledged that North Korea had already become a nuclear power and began to apply a tougher approach to the Kim Jong-un regime. Moreover, in January of this year, the former US president called the North Korean leader a “tough nut to crack,” emphasizing that the situation with the country’s nuclear program remains very difficult. On June 11, the White House officially stated that Trump was “with open arms” ready for new contacts with Kim, but confirmed that no letter or official request for a meeting had been received so far. This emphasizes the administration’s desire to intensify diplomatic efforts to reach a compromise, but at the same time remains cautious about possible steps. In parallel, the situation around East Asia is once again summing up acute security issues: the recent flight of American B-2 strategic bombers over Iran to strike at facilities related to Tehran’s nuclear program has caused alarming reflections in expert circles. They warn that such military action from Washington could have the opposite effect, further strengthening North Korea’s determination to accelerate its own nuclear development. The experts’ lies suggest that such a development further deepens Kim Jong-un’s cooperation with Moscow and makes him more convinced of the need to preserve nuclear weapons as the regime’s only guarantor against external pressure. According to experts, the Kim regime already has several nuclear warheads and missiles capable of reaching the United States. This means that any potential military operation against North Korea would entail extraordinary risks and consequences that cannot be underestimated. The high probability of escalation of the conflict and significant human and material losses makes any military action extremely risky and it is advisable to seek diplomatic ways to resolve it. Thus, the situation on the Korean Peninsula remains one of the main priorities of US foreign policy and international organizations. So far, the diplomatic efforts of Trump and his team remain in search of a compromise, but the threat of an armed settlement remains, and any steps in this direction must be carefully weighed.