On Sunday, North Korea criticized what it called “misleading” claims that President Trump’s policy of maximum political pressure and sanctions are what drove Pyongyang to the negotiating table. The new comments come just weeks before Mr. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are expected to hold their first-ever summit. A Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman is quoted as saying that the claims are a “dangerous attempt” to ruin a budding detente on the Korean Peninsula after Kim’s summit late last month with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. At the summit, Kim agreed to a number of measures aimed at improving North-South ties and indicated he is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the peninsula. Mr. Trump and senior U.S. officials have suggested that Washington’s tough policy toward North Korea has played a decisive role in turning around what had been a tense situation. Kim and Mr. Trump are expected to meet later this month or in early June.
