SEOUL, South Korea (AP) \u2014 In its first direct criticism of the Trump administration, North Korea lashed out at U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for calling it a \u201crogue\u201d state and warned Monday that such \u201ccoarse and nonsensical remarks\u201d will never contribute to U.S. interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The statement is the latest in a series of North Korean signals that it\u2019s not interested in resuming diplomacy<\/a> with the United States anytime soon, though Trump has said he\u2019ll reach out to its leader Kim Jong Un.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many experts say that Kim, preoccupied with his deployment of troops to Russia,<\/a> is likely concentrating on developments in the Russia-Ukraine war for now. But they say Kim would eventually seriously consider Trump\u2019s overture if he assessed he cannot maintain the current solid partnership with Russia after the war ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow, Kim Jong Un is desperate to maintain the unshakable alliance with Russia but it remains to be seen whether Russia would do so as he wishes,\u201d said Moon Seong Mook, an analyst for the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s a look at prospects for a possible restart of the Trump-Kim diplomacy:<\/p>\n\n\n\n During his first term, Trump met Kim three times<\/a> in 2018-19, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to hold a summit<\/a> with a North Korean leader. The negotiations over North Korea\u2019s nuclear program eventually fell apart, but Trump\u2019s return spawned speculation that a fresh round of talks could begin soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On his inauguration day, Trump, speaking to U.S. troops in South Korea via video, bragged of his personal ties with Kim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou have somebody with pretty bad intentions, I guess,\u201d Trump said. \u201cYou would say that although I developed a pretty good relationship with him but he\u2019s a tough cookie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n During a Fox News interview broadcast on Jan. 23, Trump called Kim \u201ca smart guy\u201d and \u201cnot a religious zealot.\u201d Asked whether he will reach out to Kim again, Trump replied, \u201cI will, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n North Korea hasn\u2019t directly responded to Trump\u2019s overture but has pressed ahead with its weapons testing activities and bellicose rhetoric against the U.S. In December, Kim vowed to implement the \u201ctoughest\u201d anti-U.S. policy.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Kim likely doubts what concessions he could wrest from Trump, given their previous talks collapsed in Vietnam after the American president rebuffed Kim\u2019s offer to dismantle his main nuclear complex, a limited denuclearization step, in return for broad sanctions relief. The breakdown was probably a setback for Kim domestically though the summits provided him with the the badly needed diplomatic recognition on the world stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKim personally suffered huge humiliation due to a no-deal in Hanoi,\u201d said Kwak Gil Sup, head of One Korea Centre, a website specializing in North Korean affairs. \u201cI don\u2019t think he would promptly respond to Trump\u2019s overture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kim said in November that the negotiations with the United States only confirmed Washington\u2019s \u201cunchangeable\u201d hostility<\/a> toward his country and described his nuclear buildup<\/a> as the only way to counter external threats. Kwak said North Korea will still likely avoid high-profile provocations like a nuclear test, knowing that Trump focuses more on other issues like tariff wars and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Monday, North Korea\u2019s Foreign Ministry said that Rubio\u2019s comments reaffirmed that the U.S. hostile policy remains unchanged. It likely referred to Rubio\u2019s appearance on \u201cThe Megyn Kelly Show\u201d on Jan. 30, in which he called North Korea and Iran \u201crogue states\u201d while addressing foreign policy challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kim\u2019s priority seems to be an estimated 10,000-12,000 North Korean troops sent to support Russia\u2019s three-year war efforts against Ukraine, the North\u2019s first major participation in a foreign war.<\/a> North Korea has supplied a vast amount of artillery and other conventional weapons<\/a> to Russia as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTrump hints at return to negotiations with Kim<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
North Korea keeps up its hostility against the U.S.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
For now, Kim is focused on the Russia-Ukraine war<\/h2>\n\n\n\n