By Jack Kim and Kyu-seok Shim
SEOUL, June 23 (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said exercising the country’s position as a nuclear state is the only way to cope with an unpredictable and complicated global security situation, KCNA state news agency reported on Tuesday.
“Unimaginable, astonishing incidents and events” are occurring because of the “gangster-like” greed of hegemonic forces, making confrontations around the world more violent, Kim said, blaming the U.S. for worsening bloodshed in Europe and the Middle East.
He was speaking at a Central Committee meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, running from Saturday to Monday, KCNA said.
Kim accused the U.S. and South Korea of making the security situation on the Korean Peninsula more dangerous by steadily upgrading their combined nuclear posture, the only purpose of which, he said, is to attack North Korea.
“To steadily expand and strengthen the nuclear forces … and to thoroughly exercise the position of a nuclear weapons state is the most correct and unique way to actively and confidently cope with the unpredictable international military and political situation getting complicated in multiple ways,” KCNA said.
KCNA did not elaborate on specific actions regarding the country’s nuclear arsenal that might be taken.
Kim also ordered the buildup of conventional weapons and accelerated construction of a 10,000-ton strategic guided missile cruiser, KCNA said.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said the comments underscore Pyongyang’s continued rejection of denuclearisation and push for recognition as a nuclear state.
“North Korea is once again reaffirming that denuclearisation talks are off the table,” Yang said, adding it would only engage in negotiations “as a nuclear weapons state on an equal footing,” potentially focusing on arms reduction rather than dismantlement.
Such talks would imply acceptance of a minimum deterrent and require sanctions relief, he said, fundamentally differing from phased denuclearisation proposals, such as those raised by South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to U.S. President Donald Trump at the G7.
Yang said that references in the party meeting to the U.S.-South Korea Nuclear Consultative Group, a body aimed at deterring North Korea’s nuclear threat, and Seoul’s ambitions to develop a nuclear-powered submarine were being used by Pyongyang to justify its nuclear buildup.
North Korea has defied a slew of sanctions imposed by both the United Nations and the U.S. between 2006 and 2017 banning Pyongyang from developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to deliver them. Its stance has alarmed regional powers.
It has declared itself a nuclear state and has said nothing would convince it to abandon its atomic weapons, despite years of diplomatic efforts by the U.S., China and South Korea.
The party meeting also highlighted a push to modernise the coal industry and redevelop mining communities, which Kim described as a strategic priority.
“Coal effectively remains North Korea’s main energy resource,” Yang said, noting plans to upgrade the industry aimed at easing chronic energy shortages.
(Reporting by Jack Kim in Seoul; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Ed Davies)
Comments