North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to expand the country’s nuclear arsenal and operational range, urging the United States to recognise North Korea as a permanent nuclear state.
Speaking at the Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang, Kim said: If Washington “respects our present [nuclear] position as stipulated in the Constitution… and withdraws its hostile policy… there is no reason why we cannot get along well with the United States.”
The future state of US-North Korea relations “depends entirely on the US attitude”, Kim said, according to state media outlet KCNA.
“Whether it’s peaceful coexistence or permanent confrontation, we are ready for either, and the choice is not ours to make.”
However, Kim dashes hopes of any diplomatic thaw with South Korea, calling them the North’s “most hostile entity”.
Kim Jong Un claimed his nuclear-armed country could “completely destroy” South Korea if its security were threatened, reiterating his refusal to engage with Seoul, state media said Thursday (26 February).
Key developments:
• Plan to increase the number of nuclear weapons and expand delivery systems
• Rejection of denuclearisation as a policy goal
• Estimated 50 assembled warheads, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it was regrettable that the North continues to define inter-Korean relations as hostile and that Seoul will “patiently” pursue efforts to stabilize peace.
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