North Korea on Tuesday signaled its unwavering resolve to stick to its strategy of countering force with force against the United States, accusing Washington of seeking dominance through military might and vowing stronger countermeasures against what it calls US provocations.
A spokesperson for North Korea’s Defense Ministry issued a press statement, condemning the arrival of the nuclear-powered fast attack submarine USS Alexandria in Busan a day earlier for replenishment.
The statement marks the ministry's first official response since the inauguration of the Donald Trump administration, which has been reviewing its North Korea policy amid Trump’s public overtures to resume in-person summit diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un — a process stalled since June 2019.
The statement denounced the submarine’s presence as a “concentrated expression of the US frenzy for confrontation against the DPRK, which remains unchangeable no matter what,” referring to North Korea’s formal name.
“The practical reality clearly demonstrates why the new nuclear capabilities and self-defense enhancement measures recently declared by our state leader are justified and the direction we must resolutely pursue,” the Korean-language dispatch read.
During a Feb. 8 visit to the Defense Ministry to mark the 77th anniversary of the Korean People’s Army, Kim Jong-un outlined a series of new initiatives aimed at rapidly strengthening the country’s deterrence capabilities, including its nuclear arsenal.
Kim touted the new plans with his public designation of the United States as the primary justification for expanding nuclear and military capabilities. The rhetoric comes at a critical moment, as this year marks the final phase of Kim’s five-year defense development plan, first unveiled at the January 2021 Party Congress.
“The reality presents an answer that the US, a hegemonic entity that blindly believes in domination through force, must be restrained with a thoroughly corresponding force, and this is the response principle we have already been adhering to,” Tuesday's statement read.
North Korea’s Defense Ministry warned that its armed forces are closely monitoring the frequent appearances of US strategic assets in the Korean Peninsula region and "are in a state of readiness to employ any means to safeguard national security interests and regional peace."
“We will further clarify our choices of action and countermeasures against our adversaries," the statement added.
Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, noted that Pyongyang is carefully observing the US’ stance and intentions toward North Korea. Despite Trump's conciliatory messages aimed at Kim, the deployment of nuclear-powered attack submarines and South Korea-US joint military exercises have persisted.
“North Korea is closely monitoring the deployment and frequency of strategic assets, high-precision, long-range strike systems, and South Korea-US or South Korea-US-Japan combined exercises as key indicators for assessing the Trump administration's North Korea policy,” Hong said. “Through this statement, Pyongyang has issued a warning about the deployment of strategic assets that escalate tensions, while also hinting at its conditions for potential North Korea-US dialogue.”
North Korea has repeatedly condemned US military actions and rhetoric, issuing a series of statements denouncing South Korea-US joint exercises, trilateral drills with Japan and the deployment of US strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula since the start of the Trump administration's second term.
Although such criticism aligns with North Korea’s typical rhetoric, analysts interpret it within the context of the early phase of the Trump administration as a meaningful precursor to Pyongyang establishing terms for a potential revival of dialogue with Washington.
dagyumji@heraldcorp.com
