President Donald Trump speaks at the UN General Assembly held at the UN Headquarters in New York on the 23rd (local time). Yonhap News.

The absence of any mention of North Korea in President Donald Trump's address to the UN General Assembly, his first since seeking re-election, has drawn significant attention to the reasons behind it.

President Trump addressed the UN General Assembly for four consecutive years, from 2017 to 2020, during his first term, and North Korea was a prominent topic in three of those speeches.

In his debut address in 2017, his first year in office, he referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as "Rocket Man" and delivered strong remarks, stating, "If the United States is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea," pushing inter-Korean tensions to their peak.

One year later, in his 2018 UN General Assembly address, President Trump presented a drastically different message regarding North Korea.

This shift reflected the significantly changed inter-Korean relations compared to the previous year, including the historic US-North Korea summit held in Singapore in June 2018.

In his address that year, President Trump stated, "We are talking with North Korea to replace the specter of war with a bold new pursuit of peace, with the support of many nations," expressing his commitment to a peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue.

Despite the setbacks of the 'Hanoi No Deal' (February 2019), President Trump mentioned in 2019, while inter-Korean dialogue was ongoing, that he had told Chairman Kim that North Korea is full of tremendous potential, and added, "To realize this possibility, North Korea must denuclearize."

However, in his 2020 UN General Assembly address, delivered virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump did not mention North Korea for the first time. This was interpreted as being unrelated to the stalemate in US-North Korea denuclearization negotiations.

Attention was focused on whether North Korea would be mentioned as President Trump addressed the UN General Assembly for the first time in five years (six years for an in-person speech), but North Korea was not brought up during the nearly one-hour address.

Regarding Iran's nuclear program, President Trump stated, "We cannot allow the world's number one state sponsor of terror to possess the most dangerous weapons (nuclear weapons)," but he did not mention the threat of North Korean nuclear weapons.

While it can be seen simply as an emphasis on "America First" policies, some interpretations suggest that he maintained a cautious stance at a time when the possibility of resuming US-North Korea dialogue is being discussed.

President Donald Trump speaks at the UN General Assembly held at the UN Headquarters in New York on the 23rd (local time). Yonhap News.

Indeed, President Trump has expressed his desire to meet directly with Chairman Kim since seeking re-election.

Notably, during the South Korea-US summit at the White House on the 25th of last month, he stated, "Kim Jong Un and I have had a very good relationship and still do," and expressed his wish to meet Chairman Kim this year.

Following this, Chairman Kim, in a Supreme People's Assembly meeting on the 21st, stated that the US could engage in dialogue with North Korea if it abandons its denuclearization goals, adding, "Personally, I have good memories of the current US President, Trump."

Although a gap in positions on denuclearization goals is still perceived, the confirmation of positive intentions from both sides regarding the resumption of dialogue raises the possibility of a US-North Korea summit.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju in late October, or President Trump's visit to China early next year, could serve as an opportunity for this.

Meanwhile, in his address that day, President Trump explained the achievements of his economic policies and cited South Korea as an example of a successful trade negotiation partner.

President Trump stated, "My administration has concluded a string of historic trade agreements with numerous countries, including the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia."

Although there are current disagreements surrounding the implementation method of South Korea's investment in the US, which is part of the existing South Korea-US agreement, causing difficulties in follow-up negotiations, he has essentially framed the agreement with South Korea as one of the examples of his "tariff policy" yielding results.

Yonhap News