North Korea: Kim Jong Un moves his army to a military posture and rules out reconciliation with his southern neighbor

North Korea’s belligerent rhetoric is nothing new, but this time North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was even more strident.

In his long speech at the end of the five-day meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea’s central committee, the year-end high mass that sets the country’s strategic directions, dictator and great supporter Vladimir Putin once again threatened to launch a nuclear strike on Seoul, even though it is located several kilometers from the borders his country.

He also ordered the acceleration of military preparations for a “war” that could “break out at any moment” on the peninsula, state news agency KCNA reported.

Unsurprisingly, the North Korean leader attacked the United States, accusing Washington of “various types of military threats” while ordering his military to maintain an “overwhelming war response capability,” KCNA reported.

“Nuclear Force in Case of Emergency”

Kim Jong Un saw red when the United States sent the USS Missouri nuclear submarine, USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and B-52 strategic bomber to the region. North Korea immediately characterized Washington’s deployment of strategic weapons as a “deliberate provocation of nuclear war.”

“We must respond quickly to a possible nuclear crisis and continue to accelerate preparations to pacify the entire territory of South Korea by mobilizing all physical means and forces, including nuclear force, in an emergency,” Kim Jong Un said.

Probably thanks to Russian support in exchange for arms supplies for the conflict in Ukraine, Kim Jong-un announced the launch of three new spy satellites in 2024, the construction of drones and the development of electronic warfare systems, KCNA reports. After two consecutive failures in May and June, North Korea successfully launched its first military surveillance satellite, Mulligyong-1, into orbit in November.

Ballistic missile test record

In addition, North Korea continues its race for nuclear weapons. The country conducted a record number of ballistic missile tests in 2023, in violation of numerous UN resolutions prohibiting it. Kim Jong Un also had his status as a nuclear power written into his Constitution, and successfully tested the Hwasong-18, the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in his arsenal, capable of reaching the United States.

“It is a fait accompli that war could break out at any time on the Korean Peninsula due to the enemy’s reckless actions to invade us,” the leader warned.

No reconciliation with South Korea

In this context, the leader confirmed that he no longer seeks reconciliation and reunification with South Korea, emphasizing the “persistent and uncontrollable crisis situation.” Suffice it to say that the process of rapprochement between the two Koreas, which began in 2018 and was characterized by three meetings between Kim Jong-un and then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in, appears to be buried for now. Seoul has already partially suspended the 2018 military agreement following Pyongyang’s launch of a spy satellite.

“I think we should no longer make the mistake of considering those who announce us main enemy as a partner for reconciliation and unification,” said Kim Jong-un. So he ordered a reshuffle of the administrations managing relations with the South to “fundamentally change direction.”