Kim Jong-un calls US ‘greatest enemy,’ defends nuclear deterrence
Seoul, Jan 9 (EFE).- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un described the United States during the nation’s one-party congress as his country’s “greatest enemy” and defended the need to strengthen nuclear “deterrence” for protection, state media reported Saturday.
In the first direct mention of Washington that Kim made during the four-day congress, the leader spoke of the need to “impose itself on the United States, the greatest enemy, the main obstacle in the development of the revolution,” according to KCNA news agency.
Referring to the imminent inauguration of Joe Biden, Kim said US policy does not change “regardless of who is in power,” urged Washington to withdraw international sanctions and defended the need to “constantly strengthen the most powerful deterrent “to protect the country.”
The leader waited until the fourth day of the eighth congress of the Workers’ Party, held Friday but revealed Saturday by North Korean propaganda, to appeal directly to the United States for the first time.
The comment on the political direction of the White House is the first reference, albeit indirectly, to the planned transition of power in Washington, since the regime has chosen to remain silent in that regard at a time denuclearization talks with the US remain frozen.
Kim Jong-un also referred to South Korea and the bad times they are experiencing in their cross-border relationship, progressively cooled by Pyongyang after the failure of the denuclearization summit with Washington, in Hanoi in early 2019.
Kim said Friday in his speech to members of the single party that improving relations depends only on the South, whom he urged to respect inter-Korean agreements signed in 2018.
He again denounced the holding of joint military exercises with the United States, which the regime considers a trial to invade its territory, as well as “the importation of advanced military equipment” and “the modernization of the armed forces” in the South.
The Pyongyang propaganda media, which still does not specify the date on which the congress will end, simply indicated that the meeting will continue on Saturday. EFE
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