Before President-elect Donald Trump assumes the presidency, he might have already received the biggest issue to tackle in his initial days as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened the US with the “toughest” anti-US policy. With Trump returning to the White House, speculations are rife that high-profile diplomacy with North Korea will be very much on the cards. Earlier, in his first term, Trump met the North Korean leader thrice for discussions on Pyongyang's nuclear programme.
During a five-day plenary meeting of the ruling Workers' Party that concluded on Friday, Kim referred to the US as the 'most reactionary state' that regards anti-communism as its invariable state policy. He also expressed that the US-South Korea-Japan security partnership is expanding into “a nuclear military bloc for aggression."
Here's what Kim said
According to the official Korean Central News Agency, Kim said, "This reality clearly shows to which direction we should advance and what we should do and how." It claimed that Kim's speech 'clarified the strategy for the toughest anti-US counteraction to be launched aggressively. to be adopted by North Korea in alignment with its long-term national interests and security.
Experts say that Trump would first focus on conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and thus, the Kim-Trump summitry may not be as early as expected.
Importantly, North Korea's support for Russia's war against Ukraine is a major challenge to efforts to revive diplomacy, experts say.
About Kim's toughest anti-US policy
However, the KCNA didn't elaborate on the anti-US strategy. But it said Kim set forth tasks to bolster military capability through defence technology advancements and stressed the need to improve the mental toughness of North Korean soldiers.
The previous meetings between Trump and Kim had not only put an end to their exchanges of fiery rhetoric and threats of destruction, but they developed personal connections. Trump once famously said he and Kim “fell in love.” But their talks eventually collapsed in 2019, as they wrangled over US-led sanctions on the North.
(With agency inputs)
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