Communist dictator Kim Jong Un says that North Korea is building an “invincible army” to protect itself and accused the United States of causing trouble in the region by treating it as “hostile.”
“The U.S. has frequently signaled it’s not hostile to our state, but there is no action-based evidence to make us believe that they are not hostile,” Kim said on Monday, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s state-run media. “The U.S. is continuing to create tensions in the region with its wrong judgments and actions.”
The Communist leader pinned any increase in tensions in the Korean Peninsula on the U.S., arguing that it was being aggressive toward his nation. The solution he offered was to ward off any attacks on the nation by creating an “invincible military capability.”
His comments, which occurred in commemoration of the 76th Anniversary of the Workers Party, also included military displays. The displays featured an exhibit of new intercontinental ballistic missiles with a military parade and jets flying over, according to The Associated Press.
Other reports detailed how one of the displayed road intercontinental ballistic missiles would be one of the biggest of its kind. “This missile is a monster,” Melissa Hanham of the Open Nuclear Network said per Reuters.
In his speech at the commemoration, Kim claimed that North Korea’s increasing show of military force and technology was solely for defensive purposes.
“We are not discussing war with anyone, but rather to prevent war itself and to literally increase war deterrence for the protection of national sovereignty,” he said.
Kim took the opportunity to assert that he didn’t expect war with South Korea.
“I say once again that South Korea isn’t the one that our military forces have to fight against,” Kim noted. “Surely, we aren’t strengthening our defense capability because of South Korea. We shouldn’t repeat a horrible history of compatriots using force against each other.”
Some experts say though that North Korea’s weapons build-up is part of Kim’s way of demonstrating that his country could survive an attack by either South Korea or the United States.
“More generally, Kim wants to show us that his deterrent is not only ‘complete,’ but that he continues to work on improving survivability and penetrability against both [South Korea] and the U.S., like ‘normal’ nuclear powers do,” Vipin Narang, a nuclear security expert at MIT, said to the Washington Post.
His speech also touched on economic issues.
“I am ashamed that I have never been able to repay you properly for your enormous trust,” Kim added, thanking his citizens for their patience as economic progress in North Korea remains stagnant. “My efforts and devotion were not sufficient to bring our people out of difficult livelihoods.”
Though relations with North Korea have seemingly not been a major priority yet this term, the Biden administration did say that it was “open to and will explore diplomacy.”
However, Kim does not seem content with his most recent speech saying that the U.S. was acting “hostile” toward the country. Some analysts argue that this is from the strict sanctions imposed on North Korea by the U.S.
