SUBTERFUGE

North Korean Press Warns Trump Democrats and Intel Officials Are “Chilling the Atmosphere” on Talks

Official state media warned the president might confront a “shattered dream” and miss out on a “rare historic opportunity.”

North Korean state media criticized U.S. Democrats and intelligence experts prior to President Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un in Hanoi, saying these officials were “chilling the atmosphere.” State news agency KCNA published a commentary maintaining that if Trump were to listen to his critics, he might confront a “shattered dream” and miss out on a “rare historic opportunity” to fix U.S.-North Korea relations, per Reuters. “The Democratic Party of the U.S. and other opponents to the negotiations move overtly and covertly to disrupt them as supported by skepticism backed by all sorts of groundless stories and misinformation even at such a crucial moment as now,” read the commentary, which ran under the byline Jong Hyon. The missive later said: “If the upcoming ... negotiations end without results as wished by the opponent forces, the U.S. people will never be cleared of the security threats that threw them into panic and then responsibility will be placed on those due.” While Trump has maintained North Korea no longer poses a nuclear threat, his position stands in conflict with that of some top advisers and high-ranking politicians. Intelligence officials have also said that North Korea probably won’t abandon its cache of nukes. For his part, Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon that it's, “So funny to watch people who have failed for years, they got NOTHING, telling me how to negotiate with North Korea. But thanks anyway!”