TAIPEI, Taiwan – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has appeared to rule out the prospect of improving relations with the United States under incoming President Donald Trump, saying negotiations with the U.S. in the past had only confirmed its unwavering hostility.
Kim did not refer to Trump by name but said that given U.S. policy towards North Korea, its only option was to achieve the “most powerful military capabilities,” North Korean state media reported on Friday.
“We have already gone to every length in negotiations with the U.S., and what was certain from the outcome was ... the unchanging invasive and hostile policy toward North Korea,” said Kim during a speech at the opening of a National Defense Development-2024 arms exhibition in Pyongyang held Thursday.
“In light of this reality, North Korea realizes every day and every hour that achieving the most powerful military capabilities is the only way to maintain peace and provides a solid guarantee of security and development,” Kim added, as cited by the Korean Central News Agency, or KCNA.
Trump spearheaded an unprecedented diplomatic push on North Korea during his first term as president in an effort to get it to abandon its nuclear and missile programs.
He met Kim three times, beginning in June 2018 in Singapore, then in Hanoi in February 2019, then at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea in June 2019, where Trump became the first U.S. president to set foot on North Korean territory.
Trump sought to curb North Korea’s nuclear program, while Kim aimed to ease sanctions and gain international prestige but the effort brought no tangible progress on denuclearization or any lasting improvement in relations.
In his speech on Thursday, Kim accused the U.S. of strengthening military alliances and deploying strategic weapons targeting North Korea.
Kim said his country would never overlook the possibility of its security being breached and would never give up the “pendulum of the military balance”, apparently referring to its nuclear weapons.
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Since his meetings with Trump, North Korea has ramped up its weapons testing and vowed to expand its nuclear arsenal.
Kim has also adopted a tougher line with U.S. ally South Korea, declaring it a “permanent enemy” while strengthening ties with Russia, signing a defense pact with it and sending more than 10,000 troops to help President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
During his campaign in the U.S. presidential election Trump defended his relationship with North Korea saying that “getting along” with Kim was a “good thing,” and suggested North Korea would not be “acting up” if he returned to the White House.
Former Trump adviser Robert O’Brien told media in September that Trump might resume talks with North Korea if reelected but questioned whether Kim would commit to denuclearization.
‘Eye-opening progress’
KCNA separately reported that North Korea had showcased an array of cutting-edge military products, described by Kim as “eye-opening,” at the defense fair.
It featured intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, hypersonic missiles, drones, and multiple rocket launchers – many unveiled this year.
On prominent display were the solid-fuel ICBMs Hwasong-19, launched last month, and Hwasong-18, first seen in April, along with the medium- to long-range hypersonic missile Hwasong-16 and the KN-23 short-range ballistic missile.
The Chollima-1 launch vehicle, which carried the Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite into orbit last November, was also on display.
Unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, also featured, including the Saebyeol Type 9, nicknamed the “North Korean version of the Reaper,” and smaller self-destructing drones recently showcased in North Korean media.
A new drone model, previously blurred in images of it attacking a BMW passenger car, was clearly visible in Friday’s photos. At least six types of small UAVs were identified in press images.
Weapons reportedly supplied to Russia for its war in Ukraine were also displayed, including a 240mm howitzer and armored vehicles outfitted with the “Firebird” anti-tank missile system.
“The eye-opening progress of the self-supporting defense industry which firmly supports it, is the pride and costly victory which can be won only by our great people,” said Kim, adding that North Koreans supported the “line of building the powerful army and its national defense policy.”
The North will “evolve self-defense capabilities more aggressively and without limits to correspond to the ever-evolving threats of enemy warfare methods,” Kim added.
Edited by Mike Firn.