Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, said American attacks on Iran justified his decision to expand his country’s nuclear arsenal despite international sanctions, state media reported on Tuesday.
Mr. Kim said that the war in the Middle East, which began with the United States and Israel bombing Iran last month, showed that only strong military power would make his country safe in a world shaped by President Trump’s foreign policy. He delivered a lengthy speech at the Supreme People’s Assembly, North Korea’s rubber-stamp legislature in Pyongyang, on Monday, in which he reiterated hostility toward South Korea and vowed to strengthen his country’s nuclear force to deter Washington.
In his speech, the text of which was released on Tuesday, Mr. Kim said one of the best decisions he had made following the breakdown of talks with Mr. Trump in 2019 was to double down on expanding his nuclear arsenal. Since then, Mr. Kim has urged his country both to build a “self-reliant economy” capable of enduring sanctions and to make more nuclear warheads along with a wider range of delivery missiles.
Mr. Kim did not mention Iran by name in his speech. But he said that “acts of terror and aggression that the United States is committing throughout the world” fully justified his pursuit of a nuclear arsenal. The security afforded by those weapons had also freed up resources for economic development in North Korea in recent years, he said.
Here are key excerpts from his speech, which was full of self-congratulation.
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“Today’s reality clearly demonstrates the legitimacy of our nation’s strategic choice and decision to reject the enemies’ sweet talk and permanently secure our nuclear arsenal.”
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“I affirm that our nation is no longer a country under threat — we now possess the power to pose a threat if necessary. The solid construction of the nuclear shield firmly guarantees and drives the development of all sectors of the country, including the economy and culture, as well as the improvement of the people’s lives.”
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“The dignity of the state, national interests, and ultimate victory are guaranteed only by the strongest power. Our government will continue to resolutely solidify its status as a nuclear power.”
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“We will recognize South Korea as the most hostile state, deal with it by thoroughly rejecting and ignoring it through the clearest words and actions, and make South Korea pay the price mercilessly for any actions that touch our republic, without the slightest hesitation or consideration.”
For decades, Washington and its allies have used both sanctions and incentives to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. All such efforts have failed.
Since his return to the White House, Mr. Trump has expressed an interest in meeting Mr. Kim again; however, the North Korean leader has said that talks are possible only if Washington formally recognizes his country as a nuclear power. North Korea has long maintained that both Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and Saddam Hussein of Iraq would not have met their fates had they possessed a nuclear deterrent.
Choe Sang-Hun is the lead reporter for The Times in Seoul, covering South and North Korea.
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