North Korea’s Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un on Thursday said the country must prepare for both “dialogue and confrontation” with the United States (US) as Pyongyang probes for any hint of policy shift under US President Joe Biden. North Korea’s state-owned news agency, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), reported the developments from the third-day sitting of the 3rd Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). During the meeting, Kim reportedly outlined and “clarified appropriate strategic and tactical counteraction and the direction of activities to be maintained in the relations with the US in the days ahead” and discussed the “policy tendency of the newly emerged US administration.”
In this regard, Kim stressed, “The need to get prepared for both dialogue and confrontation, especially to get fully prepared for confrontation to protect the dignity of our state and its interests for independent development and to reliably guarantee [...] peaceful environment and the security of North Korea.” It is the first time that Kim’s comments have directly referred to Pyongyang’s policy towards the US since Biden’s inauguration.
Kim, who is also the WPK’s General Secretary, called for “sharply and promptly reacting to and coping with the fast-changing situation and concentrating efforts on taking stable control of the situation on the Korean peninsula.” In this regard, North Korea’s state media has already called US policy “hostile” after the latter decided to terminate the pact with South Korea this May that curbed Seoul’s development of ballistic missiles. The KCNA criticised the decision, calling it another example of Washington’s hypocrisy and warned that it could lead to instability on the Korean Peninsula. “The termination step is a stark reminder of the US hostile policy toward the DPRK and its shameful double-dealing... the US’ act of giving free ‘missile rein’ to South Korea is all meant to spark off arms race on the Korean peninsula and in its surrounding areas and check the development of the DPRK,” it said.
This is not Pyongyang’s first threat to Washington. Earlier this month, the KCNA also reported North Korea warning Washington that it will face “a very grave situation” after President Joe Biden vowed to work with other world leaders to address the issue of Pyongyang’s nuclear programme. In response, Kwon Jong Gun, the Director-General of North Korea Foreign Ministry’s North America Department, said in a statement that from Biden’s comments, “The US chief executive certainly made a big blunder in the light of the present-day viewpoint… Now that the keynote of the US new DPRK policy has become clear, we would be compelled to press for corresponding measures, and with time the US will find itself in a very grave situation.”
The US, along with other world powers, has continually tried to negotiate with North Korea. Earlier this week, leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) nations called on Pyongyang to engage and return to dialogue regarding its nuclear programme. The leaders, which included Biden, also issued a statement calling for the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and “the verifiable and irreversible abandonment” of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. “We call on the DPRK to refrain from provocative actions and to engage in a diplomatic process with the explicit goal of denuclearisation,” the statement added.
However, despite international calls and efforts, North Korea appears reluctant to come to the negotiating table, particularly unless sanctions against it are removed.
Kim Jong Un: North Korea Must Prepare For “Dialogue and Confrontation” with US
At a plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party, Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un outlined his strategy for relations with the US, and said that North Korea anticipates both dialogue and confrontation.
June 18, 2021
SOURCE: SCMP