How North Korea announced the Trump-Kim summit to its people
SUMMARY
North Korea broke its silence March 21, 2018, on its surprise peace overtures, including a tentative summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, while denying that U.S. pressure led to the breakthrough.
The Korean Central News Agency, a North Korean propaganda outlet, said the sudden conciliatory moves were an "expression of self-confidence" by a regime that already "has acquired everything it desires," a possible reference to the buildup of its nuclear and ballistic missile arsenals.
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Without directly referring to the Trump-Kim summit, KCNA noted the recent "great change in the north-south relations," as well as a "sign of change also in the DPRK [North Korea]-U.S. relations."
KCNA denied that the openings came about "as a result of sanctions and pressure."
Charges that the "maximum pressure" campaign of the U.S. led to the potential for dialogue were "just as meaningless as a dog barking at the moon," KCNA said.
North Korea had been silent on the proposed Trump-Kim summit since Trump agreed to the talks on March 8, 2018.
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The North Korean statement came amid reports that the annual Foal Eagle military exercises in South Korea could be cut short to avoid coinciding with the tentative Trump-Kim summit at the end of May 2018.
South Korean media reported March 21, 2018, that the exercises could run for just a month, rather than the traditional two, in what may be an effort cut a wide berth around the proposed dialogue.
