JAKARTA - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has delivered a rare message to the United States. Pyongyang claims it can "cooperate" with Washington, but only if the US accepts that North Korea's nuclear weapons will remain. At the same time, Kim confirmed his intention to expand his nuclear arsenal and operational range.
The statement, as quoted by the BBC, Friday, February 27, was delivered at the party congress held once every five years in Pyongyang. Kim's comments are considered still open to talks with US President Donald Trump, ahead of Trump's planned visit to China in April.
However, Kim's tone towards South Korea has become increasingly harsh. He called Seoul the "most hostile entity" and extinguished hopes for a relaxation of diplomatic tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
According to the North Korean state news agency, KCNA, as quoted by the BBC, Kim said that if Washington "honored our [nuclear] position as stipulated in the Constitution" and lifted its hostile policy, "there is no reason why we cannot get along with the United States".
Kim added that the future of US-North Korean relations "entirely depends on the attitude of the United States". "Either peaceful coexistence or permanent confrontation, we are ready for both, and the choice is not in our hands," he said.
Regarding South Korea, Kim stated that Pyongyang would "permanently exclude Seoul from the category of fellow nations". He also added that as long as South Korea was still in a "geopolitical condition" because it borders North Korea, "the only way to live safely is to give up everything related to us and leave us alone".
An analyst told AFP that Pyongyang's statement indicated North Korea's intention to build a relationship with the US directly, without "passing" South Korea.
Elsewhere, Kim again highlighted his nuclear program. "We will focus on projects to increase the number of nuclear weapons and expand nuclear operational facilities," Kim said.
Despite having been under international sanctions for a long time, North Korea continues to build its nuclear capabilities, including regularly testing banned intercontinental missiles. This week, KCNA said North Korea under Kim "radically improved" its war deterrent, with nuclear power as its axis. However, because the regime is closed, the actual military developments are difficult to assess from the outside.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an independent research institute, quoted by the BBC, estimated last year that North Korea had about 50 nuclear warheads that had been assembled, as well as enough fissile material to produce up to 40 additional warheads.
Kim also called for an "unlimited" expansion of the nuclear program in November 2024.
On the other hand, last year Trump released a global security roadmap that did not include North Korean denuclearization as a goal. In fact, the target has been said to have always appeared in the National Security Strategy of US presidents since 2003, when Pyongyang's nuclear program came into the spotlight. The absence of the target sparked speculation that Trump's last Kim talks in 2019 could be reopened.
In Trump's 2017 road map, North Korea was mentioned 16 times and described as a threat, including the possibility of "using nuclear weapons against the United States".
Kim, on the other hand, stressed that denuclearization was not Pyongyang's agenda. "The concept of 'denuclearization' has lost its meaning. We are already a nuclear state," Kim told parliament in September. He added that "denuclearization" was the "last, last" thing that could be expected from North Korea.
Kim concluded with a message that essentially asked the US to change its approach. If the United States stops pursuing the other party's denuclearization, recognizes the reality, and really wants to live in peace, then Pyongyang sees no reason to refuse a direct meeting.
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