--- description: The North Korean ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva dismissed Donald Trump's offer to meet with Kim Jong-un title: North Korean Envoy Calls Donald Trump's Offer to Talk 'Nonsense' and 'Propaganda' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cd193508c1a9332/69889481a988ca1bc96b7f5f/donald-trump1.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # North Korean Envoy Calls Donald Trump's Offer to Talk 'Nonsense' and 'Propaganda' by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 23, 2016 9:03 PM CUT by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 23, 2016 9:03 PM CUT The North Korean ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva called [Donald Trump’s ](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-trump-idUSKCN0YE2IZ "undefined")offer to meet with Kim Jong-un a “kind of propaganda or advertisement,” dismissing the idea that the Republican frontrunner would seriously consider such a meeting. Speaking to Reuters on Monday, So Se Pyong said, “It is up to the decision of my Supreme Leader whether he decides to meet or not, but I think his (Trump’s) idea or talk is nonsense … It’s for utilization of the presidential election, that’s all. A kind of a propaganda or advertisement.” Last week, [Trump](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-exclusive-idUSKCN0Y82JO "undefined") said he would meet with the North Korean leader to halt the country’s [nuclear program](http://time.com/4341055/george-bush-adviser-donald-trump-kim-jong-un-meeting/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined"). “I would speak to him, I would have no problem speaking to him,” he said. \[[Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-trump-idUSKCN0YE2IZ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4345597/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-nonsense-propaganda/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4345597/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-nonsense-propaganda/"},"headline":"North Korean Envoy Calls Donald Trump's Offer to Talk 'Nonsense' and 'Propaganda'","datePublished":"2016-05-23T21:03:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:57:06.823Z","description":"\"It's for utilization of the presidential election, that's all\"","url":"https://time.com/4345597/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-nonsense-propaganda/","keywords":["North Korea"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cd193508c1a9332/69889481a988ca1bc96b7f5f/donald-trump1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8cd193508c1a9332/69889481a988ca1bc96b7f5f/donald-trump1.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-ELECTION-TRUMP","caption":"US-ELECTION-TRUMP","creditText":"Rob Kerr—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4345597/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-nonsense-propaganda/","name":"North Korean Envoy Calls Donald Trump's Offer to Talk 'Nonsense' and 'Propaganda'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"\"It's for utilization of the presidential election, that's all\"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4345597/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-nonsense-propaganda/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4345597/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-nonsense-propaganda/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```