Former North Korean diplomat Ri Il-gyu speaks during a forum at Jung District, Seoul, Sept. 27. Yonhap

A former North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea said Wednesday Pyongyang may seek to establish diplomatic ties with Washington and seek partial sanctions removal if former U.S. President Donald Trump is reelected to the White House.

"If former U.S. President Donald Trump returns to the White House, North Korea will seek to establish diplomatic relations with the U.S. and push for partial sanctions relief," Ri Il-gyu, a former counselor of political affairs at the North Korean Embassy in Cuba, said at a forum held in Seoul.

Ri, who defected to the South in November of last year, assessed that North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui will likely take a more cautious and pragmatic approach to U.S.-North Korea relations than that taken during Trump's first term.

He also said while North Korea's minimum demands might include diplomatic recognition and partial sanctions relief, he does not expect the U.S. to easily meet these requests.

Ri added that with a Republican-controlled Washington, the U.S. "may insist on the North's CVID (complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization), which North Korea would likely resist, aiming instead for nuclear arms reduction."

He further speculated that a compromise, such as a nuclear freeze, might be possible, with Trump potentially willing to accept it as a political achievement.

Regarding growing North Korea-Russia ties as seen in Pyongyang's troop deployment to Moscow in the Ukraine war, Ri said, "International sanctions on North Korea may partially weaken, allowing North Korea some respite, but it's uncertain how long this close relationship will last."

"At the very least, if Putin ends the Ukraine war and returns as a normal member of the international community, and resumes exchanges with the West, including the U.S., North Korea will become an uncomfortable partner, and its strategic interests with Russia will dissipate," Ri noted. (Yonhap)