North Korea’s Kim says military should 'thoroughly annihilate' US if provoked
Dictator Kim Jong Un has warned the US that his forces will "thoroughly annihilate" them should they provoke his country.
It is yet another escalation of his threats against the US and South Korea and analysts believe he is pre-empting the possibility of a presidential win for Donald Trump to in a bid to gain concessions on the existing sanctions imposed on his country. In 2018-19, Kim met Trump in three rounds of talks on North Korea’s expanding nuclear arsenal.
While the diplomacy fell apart after the US rejected Kim’s offer to dismantle his main nuclear complex, a limited step, in exchange for extensive reductions in American-led sanctions, observers say his rhetoric is an attempt to increase his leverage in future diplomatic talks with a possible new Trump administration.
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North Korea has increased its missile-launch capabilities (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)State media in the closed country reported that in a five-day major ruling party meeting last week, Kim said his military will launch three more spy satellites into space, produce more nuclear materials and develop attack drones. Kim said it is urgent to sharpen "the treasured sword" to safeguard national security, an apparent reference to his country’s nuclear weapons programme. He cited "the U.S. and other hostile forces’ military confrontation moves", according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
In a meeting with commanding army officers, Kim stressed that "our army should deal a deadly blow to thoroughly annihilate them by mobilising all the toughest means and potentialities without a moment’s hesitation" if they opt for military confrontation and provocations against North Korea, KCNA said.
However, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said he will strengthen his military’s preemptive strike, missile defence and retaliatory capabilities in response to the North Korean nuclear threat. He told his nation in his New Year's Day address that: "The Republic of Korea is building genuine, lasting peace through strength, not a submissive peace that is dependent on the goodwill of the adversary."
The dictator was met with applause as he threatened to start a nuclear war (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)Kim, citing an expansion of US-South Korean military drills at a ruling party meeting, called South Korea "a hemiplegic malformation and colonial subordinate state" whose society is "tainted by Yankee culture". He said his military must use all available means including nuclear weapons to "suppress the whole territory of South Korea" in the event of a conflict.
Following Kim's sabre-rattling address, KCNA said North Korean officials moved to carry out the diktat to disband or reform organisations handling relations with South Korea to fundamentally change the principle and direction of the North’s struggle against the South. There was no immediate explanation of how that might alter inter-Korean relations, which have been stalled for an extended period.
Military watchers of the region say small-scale military clashes between North and South Korea are possible this year along the supposed demilitarised border, which in actual fact is heavily armed border on both sides. They say North Korea is also expected to test-launch intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching continental America, along with other major new, but unspecified weapons.
Trump and Kim Jong-Un in 2018 (AFP/Getty Images)South Korea’s Defence Ministry has responded by warning that should the North attempt to use nuclear weapons, South Korean and US forces will punish it overwhelmingly, resulting in the end of the Kim government.
Since 2022, North Korea has conducted more than 100 missile tests, prompting the U.S. and South Korea to expand their joint military exercises. North Korea has also tried to strengthen its relationships with China and Russia, which blocked efforts by the U.S. and its partners in the U.N. Security Council to toughen U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its weapons tests.
KCNA said Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged New Year’s Day messages on Monday about strengthening bilateral ties. Kim has been accused of supplying conventional arms for Russia’s war in Ukraine in return for sophisticated Russian technologies to enhance the North’s military programs.
Estimates of the size of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal vary, ranging from about 20-30 bombs to more than 100. Many foreign experts say North Korea still has some technological hurdles to overcome to produce functioning nuclear-armed ICBMs, though its shorter-range nuclear-capable missiles can reach South Korea and Japan.
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