“There will never be such a thing as our abandonment of the nuclear weapons or denuclearisation first, nor will there be any negotiations to this end or bargaining chip in these processes,” Kim said on Sep 8.
With US attention focused on the situation in Ukraine and its ongoing rivalry with China, North Korea has had ample time since the Trump administration to grow its weapons arsenal. In fact, Pyongyang sees itself as having the upper hand now, no longer fazed by international sanctions or threats from the United States.
“It is the enemy who feels hard-pressed now; we do not feel hard-pressed, and we are fully able to live by our own efforts and in our own way even in these circumstances,” Kim said in the same September speech to the Seventh Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly.
This bold stance has been reflected over the past 10 days. Notably, North Korea’s recent missile tests were conducted in the midst of US-South Korea joint military drills and while a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was in South Korea.
In the past, North Korea would simply send out statements criticising the joint drills but refrain from conducting actual missile tests during the exercises. This time, however, was different. The USS Ronald Reagan docked in Busan on Sep 23 and was welcomed two days later by a North Korean short-range ballistic missile launch.
While the US and South Korea may have wanted to display a powerful extended deterrence force by including the USS Ronald Reagan and the nuclear-powered submarine USS Annapolis in their exercises, North Korea was undaunted.