Threats from North Korea are not uncommon. Sharp words are regularly uttered in the direction of the USA or South Korea. Now the North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un has again directed threats at the two declared archenemies of the communist regime. His speech comes at a time of growing uncertainty in the region.
"Our armed forces are fully prepared to respond to any crisis, and our country's nuclear war deterrent is also ready to dutifully, accurately and quickly mobilize its absolute power according to its mission," Kim said in a speech, according to state news agency KCNA Wednesday marked the 69th anniversary of the 1953 Korean War Armistice Agreement, according to the US news agency AP. Officially, North and South Korea are still at war; a peace treaty between the two countries does not yet exist.
Kim also accused the United States of "demonizing" North Korea to justify its hostile policies. He said the US-South Korea military drills targeting North Korea exposed US "double standards" and "gangster-like" aspects in branding North Korea's routine military activities as provocations or threats. The dictator was apparently referring to his country's own missile tests.
Together with its ally, the USA, South Korea intends to resume field exercises during joint military maneuvers this year. In recent years, both countries had reduced the maneuvers for diplomatic reasons.
Kim also claimed that the new South Korean government of President Yoon Suk Yeol would be run by "confrontational maniacs" and "gangsters". Since taking office in May, the Yoon government has sought to strengthen Seoul's military alliance with the United States and its ability to neutralize North Korean nuclear threats, the AP reports.
Kim has threatened Yoon Suk Yeol's government and his military with annihilation if South Korea makes a "dangerous attempt" at a pre-emptive strike, the South Korean news agency Yonhap quotes him as saying.
The Defense Ministry dismissed Kim's message as "nothing new," according to Yonhap. Moon Hong-sik, a deputy spokesman for the ministry, on Thursday reiterated an earlier position that South Korea had increased its military capabilities and shared defense stance with the United States to deal with the escalating nuclear threat from North Korea.
The unification ministry in Seoul wants to consult with other relevant government agencies on a possible response to Kim's speech, Yonhap said.
Kim's speech to war veterans was apparently intended to strengthen internal unity in the impoverished country, the AP news agency reports. Kim is seeking more public support as his country's economy has been hit by pandemic-related border closures, US-led sanctions and his own mismanagement.
While Kim increasingly threatens his rivals with nuclear weapons, observers say he is unlikely to use them first against the superior militaries of the US and its allies.
"Kim's rhetoric builds external threats to justify his military-focused and economically struggling regime," Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, told AP.
As early as April, Kim warned that North Korea could use nuclear weapons preemptively if threatened, adding that they would "never" be limited to pure deterrence, according to the AP. Kim's military has also tested nuclear-capable missiles capable of reaching both the US mainland and South Korea. US and South Korean officials have repeatedly said in recent months that North Korea is ready to conduct its first nuclear test in five years.
Cheong Seong-Chang of the Sejong Institute in South Korea told AP North Korea is unlikely to conduct its nuclear test before China, its main ally and biggest benefactor, holds its Communist Party convention in the fall.
"North Korea's nuclear and missile programs violate international law, but Kim is trying to portray its destabilizing buildup as a just attempt at self-defense," Easley said.
Sources: AP news agencies, Yonhap, Reuters, DPA
