North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has renewed his call for a “limitless” expansion of his military nuclear programme to counter US-led threats.
His comments, reported on Monday, were his first direct criticism toward Washington since Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election.
At a conference with army officials on Friday, Mr Kim condemned the United States for updating its nuclear deterrence strategies with South Korea and solidifying three-way military co-operation involving Japan, which he portrayed as an “Asian Nato” that was escalating tensions and instability in the region.
He also criticised the United States over its support of Ukraine against a prolonged Russian invasion. He insisted Washington and its western allies were using Ukraine as their “shock troops” to wage a war against Moscow and expand the scope of US military influence, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
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US president Joe Biden has given Ukraine permission to use US-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia after months of pressure from Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The outgoing US President’s decision could see long-range missiles used initially in the Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have launched an incursion into Russian territory and Vladimir Putin has bolstered his defences with troops from North Korea.
Mr Biden’s decision could pave the way for the UK to follow suit with the Storm Shadow long-range missiles it supplies to Ukraine.
Mr Kim has prioritised his country’s ties to Russia in recent months, embracing the idea of a “new Cold War” and displaying a united front in Russian president Vladimir Putin’s broader conflicts with the West.
He has used Russia’s war on Ukraine as a distraction to accelerate the development of his nuclear-armed military, which now has various nuclear-capable systems targeting South Korea and intercontinental ballistic missiles that can potentially reach the US mainland.
Mr Kim has yet to directly acknowledge that he has been providing military equipment and troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine and the KCNA’s report did not mention whether he made any comments towards President-elect Trump, whose election win has yet to be reported in the North’s state media.
The pair met three times in 2018 and 2019 during Mr Trump’s first presidency, but their diplomacy quickly collapsed over disagreements in exchanging the release of US-led sanctions and North Korean steps to wind down its nuclear and missile programme.
North Korea has since suspended any meaningful talks to Washington and Seoul as Mr Kim ramped up his testing activity and military demonstrations in the face of what he portrayed as “gangster-like US threats”.
There are concerns in Seoul that Mr Kim, in exchange for his military support of Russia, would receive Russian technology in return to further develop his arsenal.
Mr Trump’s election win has touched off speculation about a resumption of a summit-driven diplomacy with Mr Kim, which was described by critics as a “bromance”.
But some experts say a quick return to 2018 is highly unlikely, as too much has changed about the regional security situation and broader geopolitics since then.
While the North Korean nuclear problem was relatively an independent issue during Mr Trump’s first term, it is now connected with broader challenges created by Russia’s war on Ukraine and further complicated by weakened sanctions enforcement against Pyongyang, Hwang Ildo, a professor at South Korea’s National Diplomatic Academy, wrote in a study last week.
[ Zelenskiy says Ukraine must try to ensure war with Russia ends next year through diplomacy ]
North Korea’s nuclear and missile programme is now much more advanced, which would increase Mr Kim’s perception of his bargaining powers.
Mr Kim’s efforts to boost North Korea’s presence in a united front against Washington could also gain strength if Mr Trump spikes tariffs and rekindles a trade war with China, the North’s main ally and economic lifeline, Prof Hwang said.
Amid the stalemate in larger nuclear negotiations with Washington, Mr Kim has been dialling up pressure on South Korea, abandoning his country’s long-standing goal of inter-Korean reconciliation and verbally threatening to attack the South with nuclear weapons if provoked.
Mr Kim has also engaged in psychological and electronic warfare against South Korea, such as flying thousands of balloons to drop rubbish in the South and disrupting GPS signals from border areas near the South’s biggest airport.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea again flew rubbish-laden balloons towards the South early on Monday and issued a statement warning the North “not to test our military’s patience any further”.
The North has launched about 7,000 balloons towards the South since May, causing property damage but so far no injuries.
On at least two occasions, rubbish carried by North Korea’s balloons fell on Seoul’s presidential compound, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key sites.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International has said Russia is engaged in an ongoing campaign of war crimes against the people and children of Ukraine.
The humanitarian group says it has verified 17 strikes in 2024 alone that have caused child casualties while field research carried out by the charity revealed Russian forces have deliberately targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Amnesty International Ukraine researcher Patrick Thompson called for the perpetrators of unlawful attacks and war crimes against the people of Ukraine to be brought to justice.
“Children, as some of the most vulnerable groups in any society, enjoy special protection under international humanitarian law,” Mr Thompson said.
“Yet we continue to see them killed and injured in areas far from the front lines, including in areas with zero military targets.”
War crimes are violations of international humanitarian law as per the 1949 Geneva Convention and include intentional attacks on civilians, humanitarian aid workers, hospitals or religious and educational buildings. – PA