North Korea: Kim Jong Un renews call for ‘unlimited’ expansion of nuclear program

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un renewed his call for a “boundless” expansion of his military nuclear program to counter U.S.-led threats in comments reported Monday that were his first direct criticism of Washington since Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.

At a conference with army officials on Friday, Kim condemned the US for updating its nuclear deterrence strategies with South Korea and strengthening three-way military cooperation involving Japan, which he portrayed as an “Asian NATO”, escalating tensions and instability in the country. area.

Kim also criticized The United States over its support for Ukraine against a prolonged Russian invasion. He insisted that Washington and its Western allies were using Ukraine as their “shock troops” to wage a war against Moscow and expand the scope of US military influence, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim has prioritized his country’s ties to Russia in recent months, embracing the idea of ​​a “new Cold War” and presenting a united front in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s wider conflicts with the West.

He has used Russia’s war against Ukraine as a distraction to accelerate the development of his nuclear-armed military, which now has various nuclear-capable systems aimed at South Korea and intercontinental ballistic missiles that could potentially reach the US mainland.

Kim has not yet directly acknowledged this he has supplied military equipment and troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine, and KCNA’s report did not mention whether Kim made any comments to Trump, whose election victory has yet to be reported in the North’s state media.

Kim met Trump three times in 2018 and 2019 in Trump’s first presidency, but their diplomacy quickly collapsed due to disagreements in the exchange over the release of US-led sanctions and North Korean steps to dismantle its nuclear and missile programs. North Korea has since suspended any meaningful talks with Washington and Seoul as Kim increased his testing activity and military demonstrations in the face of what he portrayed as “gangster-like American threats.” There are concerns in Seoul that in exchange for his military support for Russia, Kim would receive Russian technology in return for further developing his arsenal.

Trump’s election victory has fueled speculation of a resumption of summit-driven diplomacy with Kim, described by critics as a “bromance”. But some experts say a quick return to 2018 is highly unlikely as too much has changed in the regional security situation and wider geopolitics since then.

While the North Korean nuclear issue was relatively an independent issue during Trump’s first term, it is now linked to broader challenges created by Russia’s war on Ukraine and further complicated by weakened sanctions enforcement against Pyongyang, Hwang Ildo, a professor at South Korea’s National Diplomatic Academy, wrote in a study last week.

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs are now much more advanced, which would increase Kim’s perception of his negotiating powers. Kim’s efforts to bolster North Korea’s presence in a united front against Washington could also gain strength if Trump raises tariffs and revives a trade war with China, the North’s main ally and economic lifeline, Hwang said.

Amid the stalemate in major nuclear talks with Washington, Kim has piled pressure on South Korea, abandoning his country’s long-standing goal of inter-Korean reconciliation and verbally threatening to strike the South with nuclear weapons if provoked.

Kim has also engaged in psychological and electronic warfare against South Korea, such as flies thousands of balloons to throw trash in the south and interfere with GPS signals from border areas near the south’s largest airport.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea again flew debris-laden balloons toward the South early Monday and issued a statement warning the North “not to further test the patience of our military.” The North has launched around 7,000 balloons towards the South since May, causing property damage but so far no injuries. On at least two occasions, debris carried by North Korea’s balloons fell on Seoul’s presidential grounds, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key sites.