Kim Jong Un: Whoever The President Is, The US Is Still The Big Enemy Of North Korea

JAKARTA - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un calls the United States its "greatest enemy" and says Washington's hostile policies toward North Korea will not change regardless of who occupies the White House.

Speaking at the party congress in Pyongyang days before US President-elect Joe Biden took office, Kim said that lifting the hostile policy would be key to North Korea-US relations, state news agency KCNA said.

"Our foreign political activities must be refocused and redirected to subdue the US, our greatest enemy and the main obstacle to our innovative development," Kim said on Friday, according to the KCNA report on remarks, quoted from Antara, Saturday January 9.

"It doesn't matter who reigns in the United States, the true nature of the US and its fundamental policy towards North Korea never changes," said Kim, vowing to expand ties with "an independent, anti-imperialist force" and calling for expanding nuclear capabilities.

There was no immediate comment from the US State Department. A spokesman for the Biden campaign declined to comment.

Biden, who was vice president under President Barack Obama, called Kim a "bastard" during the election campaign, and in 2019 North Korea called Biden a "mad dog" who needed to be "beaten to death with a stick."

Kim had three unprecedented meetings with US President Donald Trump and the two corresponded in a series of letters, but those attempts failed to lead to a denuclearization deal or a formal change in relations between the two countries.

Biden said in October that he would only meet Kim on the condition that North Korea would agree to reduce its nuclear capacity.

Last month Kurt Campbell, Obama's top US diplomat for East Asia and seen as one of the candidates for Biden's top Asian policy position, said the upcoming US administration should make an early decision on what approach to take with North Korea and not. repeating Obama era delays.

Kim called for more research and development of advanced military equipment, including spy satellites, hypersonic weapons, solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles and unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.

He also said research on nuclear submarines was nearing completion.

North Korea will not "abuse" its nuclear weapons, Kim said, but calls for expanding the country's nuclear arsenal, including "preemptive" and "retaliatory" strike capabilities and warheads of various sizes.

Apart from US and defense policy, Kim also spoke at length about proposals for a new five-year economic plan to be announced at the congress, which he said would continue to focus on independent economic development.

"The seeds and the basic theme of the new five-year economic development plan are still independence and self-sufficiency," he said.

Among the plans are building energy-efficient steel plants, significantly increasing the production of chemical goods to make the industry self-sufficient, produce electricity and secure more coal mines, said Kim.

North Korea is facing an escalating crisis caused by international sanctions over its nuclear program, as well as self-imposed lockdowns to prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus.

In response to South Korea, Kim criticized Seoul for offering cooperation in "non-fundamental" areas such as coronavirus relief and tourism, and said South Korea should stop buying weapons from and conduct military exercises with the United States.

The remarks came a day after Kim sought ways to renew inter-Korean relations and promised to expand diplomatic ties in his remarks at the congress.