North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un conditioned the improvement of bilateral relations with Donald Trump’s government on the abandonment of what he considers a “hostile policy” by the US, at the same time that he reaffirmed his total rejection of Seoul during the 9th Congress of the Workers’ Party, the country’s most important decision-making body, which ended with a military parade, according to the state news agency reported this Thursday (26). KCNA.
“If the US respects our state’s current status as established in the Constitution and withdraws its hostile policy toward North Korea, we would have no reason not to get along,” Kim said in a report presented last Friday and Saturday, according to the agency.
Kim was referring to the 2023 constitutional amendment, which included the policy of developing its nuclear force.
“Strengthening and further expanding the State’s nuclear forces and fully exercising the status of a State possessing nuclear weapons is the firm and unshakable will of our party”, he defended.
Previously, the North Korean dictator had already conditioned dialogue with Washington on removing the issue of denuclearization from the negotiating table.
American President Donald Trump openly expressed his intention to meet with Kim as soon as possible, although in October last year he was unable to hold a meeting taking advantage of his stopover in South Korea during a trip to Asia.
In relation to Seoul, the North Korean dictator described the conciliatory gestures of Lee Jae-myung’s government as “misleading” and once again defined the South as a “hostile entity”, stating that he has no intention of dealing with the neighboring country.
The South Korean Unification Ministry responded in a statement that it regrets Pyongyang’s decision to maintain the stance of “two hostile states” and not respond to South Korean efforts to achieve “peaceful coexistence” on the Korean peninsula.
It added that Seoul will firmly maintain three principles towards North Korea: respecting the North Korean system, not seeking reunification by absorption and not carrying out any hostile acts.
How was the congress of the Workers’ Party, led by Kim
The Congress of the North Korean Workers’ Party, a crucial event to define North Korea’s political, economic and military roadmap for the next five years, ended on Wednesday night with a military parade in Kim Il-sung Square, in Pyongyang, according to the KCNA in another statement.
Dozens of columns of troops and air units participated, including forces deployed abroad – in this case, soldiers sent to Kursk to support Russia in the war against Ukraine -, according to the state agency.
However, attention was drawn to the fact that recent strategic systems were not mentioned, such as the Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile, presented in October last year, which suggests that they may not have been displayed on this occasion.
During the parade, Kim warned that the North Korean Army will launch “terrible retaliatory attacks” against any force that commits hostile military acts against the regime, according to the speech published by the agency.
