The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-unreferred this Thursday to the recent escalations of tensions at the international level and accused USA of being responsible for stoking tensions.
During the Defense Development Exhibition, where new strategic and tactical weaponsKim gave a speech in which he attacked Washington for having an “aggressive and hostile” policy which has even left the parties on the verge of a possible nuclear war.
“We have gone as far as we can in the negotiations with the United States and what we have made sure, from the result, is not the coexistence of the superpower, but rather its detailed posture of power and its aggressive and hostile policy towards us that can never change“, he began by saying before reiterating his threats about an atomic confrontation: “Never before have the warring parties on the Korean Peninsula faced such a dangerous and acute confrontation that could escalate into the most destructive thermonuclear war”.
We meet “in the worst phase in history”, with the Korean peninsula as “the biggest hot spot in the world,” he insisted, in an attempt to sow fear with the specter of a more serious confrontation.
The relationship between Washington and Pyongyang has always been tense. However, between 2018 and 2019, during the first presidency of Donald Trumpthe leaders maintained three unprecedented encounters in Singapore, Hanoi and the Korean border.
These meetings did not achieve diplomatic progress – as the White House insisted that the regime had to abandon its nuclear programwhile this demanded a cessation of sanctionswhich the Republican refused to concede – but they did report a period of greater calm on this front.
In contrast, the current mandate of Joe Biden was marked by a rising tensions with Pyongyang and with a significant strengthening of its weapons capabilitieswith new parts and the increasingly frequent launch of test missiles. Also, there was a Kim’s rapprochement with his authoritarian peers of the region, as was the case of the Russian Vladimir Putinwith whom he signed a mutual assistance agreement that contemplated the sending of more than 10,000 officers to provide support in the war in Ukraine.
That is why Trump’s return to the US presidency and the stance he adopts from there on Pyongyang have generated great expectations. Although he avoided referring too much to the issue, during his campaign, the Republican assured that his “internal enemies” – in reference to the Democrats – pose a greater risk to the country than Kim Jong-un, while, last month, he assured that The nations “would have had a nuclear war with millions of deaths,” if not for their relationship with the dictator.
“Trump believes his compromise worked well during his first presidency.”in the sense that he feels he ‘resolved’ the North Korean nuclear issue. Furthermore, Trump’s summits with Kim attracted significant media attention, which he clearly enjoys,” said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, from King’s College London.
(With information from Reuters)
