Key Points and Summary – A recent statement from Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has signaled a potential opening for new dialogue with the Trump administration.
-Despite reiterating North Korea’s “irreversible” status as a nuclear state, the memo included an “unusually positive remark,” describing the personal relationship between her brother and President Trump as “not bad.”
-This represents a significant shift in tone from recent anti-U.S. rhetoric. Analysts believe the regime is creating “maneuvering space” for diplomacy, possibly to entice Trump into another summit, though its core policy positions remain unchanged.
North Korea and Trump: Back to Talking?
WARSAW, POLAND – Back in October 2023, the South Korean scholar Sung-Yoon Lee published his book The Sister: North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, the Most Dangerous Woman in the World.
The title might seem to be hyperbole, but Kim Yo-jong is not just anyone’s sister.
Kim’s brother is the all-powerful dictator of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong-un. She has seemed to function as his right-hand in an increasing number of matters for years now—including being the regime’s chief propagandist.
Within the country’s leadership, her power is apparently without limits, which reportedly makes her even more feared than her brother himself at times.
Undoubtedly, this is why she has been called “the most powerful woman in the DPRK.”
That supreme power is thought to be what has given her the authority to possibly reopen the dialogue of bilateral diplomacy with US President Donald Trump’s administration. Traditionally, the “honour” of messaging to Washington—albeit indirectly—would be thought to be handled by Kim Jong-un himself.
The first step in this “possible new dialogue process” was from a memo published in the state-controlled Korea Central News Agency (KCNA). The memo, supposedly penned by Kim herself, claimed the US government had previously reached out in an attempt to re-engage with Pyongyang.
The KCNA memo reported the White House has stated it is “still open to dialogue with the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] leader for achieving the complete denuclearization of the DPRK.”
Is The Kim Regime Altering Its Position?
Kim Yo-jong’s response was typical of how abrasive DPRK dialogue can be on the nuclear issue: “We do not want to give any meaning to the US side’s unilateral assessment of the past DPRK-US dialogue.
“The recognition of the irreversible position of the DPRK as a nuclear weapons state and the hard fact that its capabilities and geopolitical environment have radically changed should be a prerequisite for predicting and thinking everything in the future,” the correspondence stated.
This all sounds like the normal DPRK intransigence over the negotiating points that have always stymied any meaningful progress with the US on the nuclear program and other topics.
But, further down in the memo, there was what is described as an “unusually positive remark” that made experienced DPRK-watchers ask if some policy change has been made. It could be a signal that the secretive, isolated state is making this communique their first indication of what this shift in position might be.
“I do not want to deny the fact that the personal relationship between the head of our state and the present US president is not bad,” Kim Yo-jong’s memo read. “However, if the personal relations between the top leaders of the DPRK and the United States are to serve the purpose of denuclearization, it can be interpreted as nothing but a mockery of the other party.”
Recent rhetoric from Pyongyang regarding the US has been vituperative to say the least. In December 2024, the DPRK announced it was engaged in the “toughest anti-US counteraction to be launched aggressively by the DPRK for its long-term national interests and security.”
To move from that position to one of describing the relations between Kim Jong-un and Trump as being “not bad” seems, on the surface, to be a significant shift in the trajectory and tone of messaging.
The question is whether this is a signal from the DPRK attempting to initiate another round of dialogue with Washington, and if so, what is the Kim regime’s objective? Pyongyang may be playing to what it knows is Trump’s desire for a Nobel Peace Prize, knowing this could create conditions in which the White House is more inclined than usual to hold another summit with Kim Jong-un.
What Does The Change in Rhetoric Mean?
The Stimson Center’s 38 North, a North Korean research program that studies DPRK public announcements at a granular level, released a report on Kim Yo-jong’s memo. The project site assesses that the regime is trying to “moderate its anti-US rhetoric, suggesting it is leaving some maneuvering space for diplomacy with the Trump administration for when the time is right.
“However, creating diplomatic space is not the same as being receptive to US demands,” the report continued. “The bilateral relationship remains severely challenged, even with Trump’s return to the White House.”
This memo even specifically warned the US administration against approaching North Korea in the same manner as Trump’s first term.
Assessments of North Korean propaganda indicate that overall policy positions have not changed, despite the soft-pedaling of previous anti-Trump language. The DPRK has also continued to restate its long-held policy on its nuclear program.
At the most authoritative levels, including Kim Jong-un himself, the party line has been that the country will maintain and will continue to expand nuclear capabilities in keeping with its status as a “nuclear weapons state,” an official designation that was codified in the 2023 constitution.
Kim’s position on this is not likely to change. However, he may be re-evaluating his current stance of being “all-in” with Russia and trying to leave some opening to continue to communicate with the Trump White House.
For now, watch this space.
About the Author: Reuben F. Johnson
Reuben F. Johnson has thirty-six years of experience analyzing and reporting on foreign weapons systems, defense technologies, and international arms export policy. Johnson is the Director of Research at the Casimir Pulaski Foundation. He is also a survivor of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He worked for years in the American defense industry as a foreign technology analyst and later as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Departments of the Navy and Air Force, and the governments of the United Kingdom and Australia. In 2022-2023, he won two awards in a row for his defense reporting. He holds a bachelor’s degree from DePauw University and a master’s degree from Miami University in Ohio, specializing in Soviet and Russian studies. He lives in Warsaw.
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