Communist North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un declared at a recent Party meeting that his regime would “thoroughly exercise the position of a nuclear weapons state” in the face of threats such as the “America first” ideology and “Zionism.”
Kim made the comments at a plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), the only legal political party in the repressive state, which took place this weekend. According to the state newspaper Rodong Sinmun, the discussions at the event consisted in large part of Kim ordering the expansion of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program to deter alleged threats from South Korea and America. Kim delivered extensive remarks claiming that Seoul and Washington had constructed “nuclear scenarios” to destroy North Korea that required direct responses.
The renewed insistence on maintaining an illicit nuclear weapons program arrives as one of North Korea’s top allies, the Islamic dictatorship of Iran, enters negotiations with the United States intended to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat, expected to take 60 days to result in a long-term agreement. The Iranian government agreed in a memorandum of understanding with America published last week to not pursue the development of nuclear weapons. North Korea, in contrast, has repeatedly insisted it would never denuclearize its armed forces.
In addition to North Korea’s traditional enemies, Kim appeared to list Israel, by mentioning “Zionism,” and Ukraine as threats of concern for his country. Israel and North Korea have for decades maintained an adversarial relationship, exacerbated by North Korea’s alliances with Iran and Palestinian terrorist organizations. The adverse relationship with Ukraine is a newer development, the product of Kim agreeing to send North Korean troops into Europe to aid the ongoing Russian invasion of that country.
“Today, the world is witnessing rampant ultra-nationalism of modern version such as ‘America First’ idea, Zionism, Ukrainian Neo-Nazism and Japanese militarism,” Kim reportedly lamented, comparing geopolitics today to the pre-World War II period. Rodong Sinmun’s coverage of his address did not specify what he objected to regarding “America First” thinking, or how “Zionism” is a threat to North Korea in particular. In reality, North Korea poses more of a threat to Israel than vice versa as Israeli authorities have unearthed evidence that Kim’s communist regime has armed jihadist terrorist groups including Hamas.
“The U.S. indiscriminate and high-handed practices have dangerously impacted on its satellite forces and resulted in further deterioration in the bloody situation in Europe and Middle East,” Kim claimed. “In the meantime, Japan, a defeated country in Asia, has openly turned itself into a war state by taking the present disturbing circumstances as an opportunity to get rid of all shackles restricting its moves to become a military power.”
As a result of Kim’s assessment of the global scenario, the plenary meeting concluded with a call for North Korea to invest even more on developing nuclear weapons and expanding its military capabilities generally.
“The plenary meeting unanimously recognized that to steadily expand and strengthen the nuclear forces, the core of the military sovereignty of the DPRK [North Korea] and the pivot of implementing the strategy for deterring or fighting a war,” Rodong Sinmun reported on Tuesday. Kim reportedly stated that “to thoroughly exercise the position of a nuclear weapons state is the most correct and unique way to actively and confidently cope with the unpredictable international military and political situation.”
Kim, in his address to the plenary meeting, described North Korea as being on a path of “inevitable confrontation with imperialism” that required the country to be armed as much as possible. Kim personally called for “more proactive efforts to further expand and strengthen the powerful and absolutely reliable deterrent for self-defence.” North Korea routinely refers to its nuclear weapons as its “deterrent” to war.
In his address to the WPK leadership, Kim specifically complained that South Korea and America had recently held a meeting of its “Nuclear Consultative Group” (NCG) intended to discuss how American nuclear assets could be used to protect from a North Korean attack. According to a Pentagon readout, Washington agreed at that meeting to aid South Korean defense with its nuclear power.
“The United States and Republic of Korea confirmed their shared goal to denuclearize North Korea,” the Department of War detailed on June 11. “The United States reaffirmed the commitment to provide extended deterrence to the ROK, utilizing the full range of U.S. capabilities, including nuclear.”
Kim described the NCG this weekend not as a defensive entity intended to plan for the potential of a North Korean nuclear strike, but rather a “nuclear war body whose purpose is to attack the DPRK with nuclear elements such as nuclear and conventional integration posture.” Kim claimed that NCG members “drew up detailed nuclear war scenarios including war mode, sequence of missions, drills and operation elements.”
“This clearly proves the criminal nature of the body pushing the situation in the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war,” he declared, according to state media.
As a result of these threats, Kim ordered his underlings to “beef up the national defense capabilities,” including the construction of an alleged 10,000-tonnage strategic guided missile cruiser.