North Korea: Kim Jong-un promises nuclear submarine

 

Two weeks before Joe Biden took office, Kim Jong-un decided to rekindle tensions with the United States, which he described as “his country’s greatest enemy”. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has also assured that his country will acquire a nuclear submarine, the official KCNA agency reported on Saturday. Pyongyang “should focus and develop in order to subvert the United States, the greatest obstacle to our revolution and our greatest enemy,” he said on the 8e ruling party congress, according to the agency.

Kim’s statements question his relationship with Joe Biden. Since 2016, his relationship with outgoing President Donald Trump has been tumultuous. After exchanging insults and threats of nuclear war, Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump have made an extraordinary rapprochement, marked by meetings as historic as they are symbolic. But no progress has been made on the thorny issue of Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic programs. Negotiations have stalled since the resounding failure of the second summit between the two men at the end of February 2019 in Hanoi.

“A dead end that is not about to change”

Under Joe Biden’s presidency, the United States is expected to return to a much more traditional approach to Pyongyang, including insisting that significant progress at the working group level will be needed before it even moves. consider a new meeting between heads of state. Kim “sees a dead end that is not about to evolve,” said Harry Kazianis, expert with the Center for the National Interest. For its part, North Korea justifies its nuclear programs banned by the international community by the threat that Washington would pose to the very survival of its regime.

For decades, the government has allocated vast resources to the development of these programs, even if it means receiving ever more penalizing sanctions for its economy and its population. The Kim-Trump process was mediated by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, but the North Korean leader accused Seoul of violating inter-Korean agreements. Pyongyang criticized Seoul for ignoring its warnings to “stop joint military maneuvers with the United States”. Since Kim came to power nine years ago, these programs have made remarkable progress, including several nuclear tests and the testing of a missile that could reach the continental United States.

Towards a strengthening of nuclear technology?

At the Workers’ Party meeting, the North Korean leader also announced that his country has carried out a plan to acquire a nuclear submarine. “New planning research for a nuclear submarine has been completed and is about to enter the final review process,” he said according to the agency. The country should “further develop nuclear technology” and produce light and small nuclear warheads to be used “according to the intended targets,” he added.

The leader made the remarks to the party in a nine-hour, three-day working presentation, details of which KCNA first reported on Saturday. High mass of the ruling party, this congress aims to strengthen the authority of the regime and is closely followed by experts from North Korea who try to detect any sign of a shift in the policy of one of the most isolated to the world.

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