North Korean leader calls nuclear expansion to counter alleged US threats

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un renewed his call for a limitless expansion of his military nuclear program to counter US-led threats in comments reported Monday that were his first direct criticism toward Washington since Donald Trump's win in the US presidential election.

At a conference with army officials on Friday, Kim condemned the United States for updating its nuclear deterrence strategies with South Korea and solidifying three-way military cooperation involving Japan, which he portrayed as an Asian NATO that was escalating tensions and instability in the region. 

Kim also criticized the United States over its support of Ukraine against a prolonged Russian invasion. He insisted that Washington and its Western allies were using Ukraine as their shock troops to wage a war against Moscow and expand the scope of US military influence, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.

 

Kim has prioritized his country's ties to Russia in recent months, embracing the idea of a new Cold War and displaying a united front in Russian President Vladimir Putin's broader conflicts with the West.

He has used Russia's war on Ukraine as a distraction to accelerate the development of his nuclear-armed military, which now has various nuclear-capable systems targeting South Korea and intercontinental ballistic missiles that can potentially reach the U.S. mainland.

Kim has yet to directly acknowledge that he has been providing military equipment and troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine and the KCNA's report didn't mention whether Kim made any comments toward Trump, whose election win has yet to be reported in the North's state media.

Kim met Trump three times in 2018 and 2019 in Trump's first presidency, but their diplomacy quickly collapsed over disagreements in exchanging the release of U.S.-led sanctions and North Korean steps to wind down its nuclear and missile program. North Korea has since suspended any meaningful talks with Washington and Seoul as Kim ramped up his testing activity and military demonstrations in the face of what he portrayed as gangster-like U.S. threats. There's concern in Seoul that Kim in exchange for his military support of Russia would receive Russian technology in return to further develop his arsenal.

Trump's election win has touched off speculation about a resumption of a summit-driven diplomacy with Kim, which was described by critics as a bromance. But some experts say a quick return to 2018 is highly unlikely, as too much has changed about the regional security situation and broader geopolitics since then.

While the North Korean nuclear problem was relatively an independent issue during Trump's first term, it is now connected with broader challenges created by Russia's war on Ukraine and further complicated by weakened sanctions enforcement against Pyongyang, Hwang Ildo, a professor at South Korea's National Diplomatic Academy wrote in a study last week.

North Korea's nuclear and missile program is now much more advanced, which would increase Kim's perception of his bargaining powers. Kim's efforts to increase North Korea's presence in a united front against Washington could also gain strength if Trump spikes tariffs and rekindles a trade war with China, the North's main ally and economic lifeline, Hwang said.