North Korea can talk to US if it stops insisting on denuclearization, Kim says
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has urged the United States to stop insisting his country give up nuclear weapons as a recondition to resuming talks.
But in a speech on Sunday, Kim insisted that he will never trade away the nuclear arsenal to be free of sanctions, state KCNA media reported on Monday.
Kim said that he had “fond memories” of US President Donald Trump, who he met three times during Trump’s first presidency.
But if the US stopped what Kim called its “absurd obsession with denuclearization, … there is no reason for us not to sit down with the United States,” the North Korean leader was quoted as saying.
“The world already knows full well what the United States does after it makes a country give up its nuclear weapons and disarms,” Kim said. “We will never give up our nuclear weapons.”
North Korea has been under a series of economic sanctions and arms embargoes.
But tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened in recent years as Kim has accelerated North Korea’s weapons buildup and testing, aligned with Russia in the war in Ukraine and pledged deeper ties with China.
Charlie Kirk memorial finishes with Trump comforting widow
The Charlie Kirk memorial has wrapped up with a rousing rendition of “America the Beautiful” after Trump comforted Kirk’s wife Erika on stage after his speech.
Giving a eulogy before Trump, Erika Kirk called for forgiveness for the man accused of shooting her husband.
“I forgive him,” said Erika Kirk. “I forgive him because it was what Christ did and what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate.”
This contrasted with words by Trump, who said Kirk “was heinously murdered by a radicalized, cold-blooded monster.”
Trump also used his speech to talk up his tariffs, boasted of his accomplishments and mock his predecessor, Joe Biden.
He invited Erika Kirk back on stage at the end of the service, with the two exchanging a long hug as the music surged.
The memorial drew tens of thousands of mourners, including numerous senior figures in the Trump administration and conservative celebrities.
Kirk is a ‘martyr for American freedom’: Trump
President Donald Trump called Charlie Kirk a “martyr for American freedom” as the memorial ceremony to commemorate the political activist wrapped up.
“Less than two weeks ago our country was robbed of one of the brightest lights of our times,” Trump told the crowd. “A giant of his generation and above all a devoted husband, father, son, Christian and patriot.”
“He was a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose,” Trump said.
“He’s a martyr now for American freedom.”
Trump repeated that he would award Kirk a posthumous Presidential Medal.
Speakers call Kirk a ‘Christian martyr,’ pay tribute to his conservative movement
Prominent speakers are paying tribute to Charlie Kirk, calling the right-wing activist a “martyr” whose work they must now advance.
“For Charlie, we will remember that it is better to stand on our feet defending the United States of America and defending the truth than it is to die on our knees,” US Vice President JD Vance said.
“My friends, for Charlie, we must remember that he is a hero to the United States of America. And he is a martyr for the Christian faith.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed that Kirk’s voice “inspired a movement.”
His Turning Point USA movement told young Americans that the “highest calling [was] to be in a successful marriage and raise productive children,” Rubio said.
“It also taught them that ours was not a great country, but the greatest most exceptional nation that has ever existed in the history of mankind.”
“He slayed ignorance,” said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. “He cut through lies.”
An influential ally of US President Donald Trump, Kirk also attracted criticism because of his statements that some called racist, misogynistic, anti-immigrant and transphobic.
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/trump-praises-charlie-kirk-as-american-martyr-at-memorial/live-74077636
