North Korea Says US Arms Build-Up Justifies Nuclear Expansion — SkimNews
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- Kim Kang Il, North Korea's vice-defence minister, told the Beijing Xiangshan Forum on Sept 17 that growing US-led military build-up and a nuclear alliance among Washington, Seoul and Tokyo justified expanding Pyongyang's nuclear forces
- Kim Kang Il declared North Korea's nuclear weapons status irreversible and a 'line of no retreat,' accusing Washington of an 'invariable' hostile policy and urging other countries to abandon the 'daydream' of denuclearisation
- Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un, separately dismissed renewed denuclearisation calls on Sept 17 as annual 'noise' and said the North's nuclear position had been permanently established 'physically and legally'
- A North Korean defence ministry spokesman on Sept 16 accused the US and South Korea of escalating through joint WMD response planning and warned Pyongyang could invoke provisions of its nuclear force policy law
- Former US special representative Stephen Biegun said it 'would not be a surprise at all' if Trump proposed meeting Kim Jong Un after the APEC summit in China in November, and that such a meeting could even take place in Pyongyang
- Kim Kang Il's appearance at the Xiangshan forum marked a rare high-profile North Korean presence at an international security gathering in recent years, coming as Pyongyang seeks closer ties with Beijing
Why it matters: North Korea's coordinated messaging across Kim Kang Il, Kim Yo Jong, and a defence ministry spokesman on Sept 16-17 aims to cement its nuclear status as irreversible and justify future nuclear activities, per Kyungnam University professor Lim Eul-chul. The campaign coincides with Biegun's suggestion that Trump could meet Kim Jong Un after November's APEC, potentially in Pyongyang — a path Pyongyang's hardened stance now complicates.
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