Kim Vows to Cement NKorea's Nuke Status03/24 06:19

   

   SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to 
irreversibly cement his country's status as a nuclear power while maintaining a 
hard-line stance toward South Korea, which he called the "most hostile" state, 
state media said Tuesday.

   In a speech Monday to Pyongyang's rubber-stamp parliament, Kim accused the 
United States of global "state terrorism and aggression," in an apparent 
reference to the war in the Middle East, and said the North will play a more 
forceful role in a united front against Washington amid rising anti-American 
sentiment. But Kim didn't call out U.S. President Donald Trump by name and said 
whether his adversaries "choose confrontation or peaceful coexistence is up to 
them, and we are prepared to respond to any choice."

   His comments largely aligned with his statements at last month's ruling 
Workers' Party Congress, where he vilified Seoul but left open the door for 
dialogue with the Trump administration, urging Washington to drop its demands 
for the North's nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks.

   State media said the Supreme People's Assembly, which concluded its two-day 
session Monday, passed a revised constitution but did not specify the changes. 
There had been expectations the revisions would codify South Korea as a 
permanent enemy and remove references to shared nationhood. That's in line with 
Kim's hard-line stance after he declared in 2024 that the North would abandon 
its long-term goal of a peaceful unification with the South.

   Analysts say Kim's vilification of South Korea reflects his view that Seoul, 
which helped arrange his first meetings with Trump in 2018 and 2019, is no 
longer a useful intermediary with Washington but an obstacle to his push for a 
more assertive regional role. He has also shown sensitivity to South Korean 
soft power, driving aggressive campaigns to block the influence of its culture 
and language among North Koreans as he seeks to tighten his family's 
authoritarian grip.

   In his speech, Kim expressed pride in the country's rapid expansion of 
nuclear weapons and missiles in recent years, calling it the "right" choice to 
counter future threats and "hegemonic pursuits" by "gangsterlike" imperialists, 
a term the North often uses for the United States and its allies.

   "The dignity of the nation, its national interest and its ultimate victory 
can only be guaranteed by the strongest of power," Kim said. "The government of 
our republic will continue to consolidate our absolutely irreversible status as 
a nuclear power and will aggressively wage a struggle against hostile forces to 
crush their (anti-North Korean) provocations and schemes."

   Kim has suspended all meaningful dialogue with Washington and Seoul since 
the collapse of his second summit with Trump in 2019 over U.S.-led sanctions on 
the North.

   Kim has recently been prioritizing Russia in his foreign policy, sending 
thousands of troops and large amounts of military equipment to support Moscow's 
war in Ukraine, possibly in exchange for aid and military technology. Facing 
the possibility of the war winding down, analysts say Kim may try to keep his 
options open by taking a more measured approach toward Washington to preserve 
future dialogue, with the long-term aim of securing U.S. sanctions relief and 
tacit recognition as a nuclear state.

   However, some experts believe that the United States and Israel's joint 
attacks on Iran and the killing of Tehran's previous supreme leader may have 
raised Kim's bar for reviving dialogue with Washington.

   Separately, North Korean state media said Belarusian President Alexander 
Lukashenko will visit the country at Kim's invitation, but did not immediately 
say when the visit will take place.