MOSCOW: On Monday, during a speech marking the 67th anniversary of the end of the Korean War (1950-53), North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that the country’s nuclear weapons are a “reliable, effective” deterrent and were a solid guarantee for the nation’s security, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Kim stated that North Korea has tried to become “a nuclear state” with “absolute might” in a bid to prevent another war on the peninsula, and that now the country has built this kind of deterrent.
“Now we’ve changed to a country which can defend itself reliably and unwaveringly against high-intensity pressure and military threats and blackmailing by imperialistic reactionaries and hostile forces,” Kim Jong-un was quoted by the Associated Press as saying. “There won’t be any war on this land again and our national security and future will be guaranteed firmly and permanently because of our reliable, effective self-defensive nuclear deterrent”.
The North Korean head of state’s remarks came amid stalled talks with the United States regarding the situation on the Korean Peninsula and the possibility of denuclearisation.
In late-June, US deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun said that there was still time for Washington and Pyongyang to resume talks and “make substantial progress”.
In early July, Pyongyang said it did not intend to negotiate with Washington amid hope for a summit before the US election, expressed by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, according to KCNA.
According to AP, it is expected that North Korea will avoid talks with the Trump administration before the US presidential elections in November in the hope of seeing a new occupant in the White House.
Jong-un and Trump have held three one-on-one summits, one in Singapore in 2018 and two in 2019; in Vietnam and at the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea. The two leaders discussed the state of affairs on the Korean Peninsula and the possibility of denuclearisation. None of the summits succeeded in achieving their stated goals, as the US president failed to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons, while the Asian nation’s demand to ease US sanctions has not been met.
(By arrangement with Sputnik)
