The Facts

• Ri Il Gyu, the senior North Korean diplomat whose defection to the South was reported last month, told Reuters that Pyongyang wants to reopen nuclear talks with the US if Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November, in a bid to lift sanctions and unblock economic aid.

• This comes as Trump suggested at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee earlier this month that Kim Jong Un likely wanted him back in the White House, as he boasted their alleged close relationship.

• North Korea issued a statement through its official KCNA news agency last week saying that Trump had failed to translate his personal bond with Kim into "any substantive positive change," and that it's up to the US to stop bilateral hostilities.