North Korea Signals Nuclear Force Demonstration to Pressure US... Leaves Door Open for Dialogue

Ri Son-gwon, North Korean Foreign Minister, Statement on the 2nd Anniversary of the June 12 North Korea-US Summit
Indicates Strengthening of Nuclear War Deterrence and Possible Abrogation of Singapore Declaration
Calls for Shift and Abolition of Hostile Policies Toward North Korea Including Regime Security Guarantees

Ri Son-gwon, North Korean Foreign Minister (then Chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland), at the inter-Korean high-level talks in June 2018, said, "There was a tree stump as thick as an arm blocking the progress of inter-Korean relations," while showing his arm to Cho Myoung-gyon, Minister of Unification.

North Korea issued a statement on the 2nd anniversary of the June 12 North Korea?U.S. summit, hinting at the possibility of scrapping the 'North Korea?U.S. Singapore Declaration' and signaling a show of force through nuclear capabilities.

On the 12th, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon, in a statement titled "Our Response to the United States is Clear," released through the state-run Korean Central News Agency, targeted U.S. President Donald Trump, saying, "We will no longer throw a bundle of propaganda achievements to the U.S. leadership without any cost," and added, "The unchanging strategic goal of our republic is to build a more reliable force to manage the long-term military threat from the United States."

Foreign Minister Ri then mentioned 'nuclear war deterrence.' He stated that the North Korean top leadership, at the 4th expanded meeting of the 7th Central Military Commission held last month, "solemnly declared to further strengthen the country's nuclear war deterrence to cope with the United States' long-term nuclear war threat," implying that the 'reliable force' refers to the enhancement of nuclear capabilities.

Ri also hinted at the possibility of scrapping the Singapore Declaration, the outcome of the first-ever North Korea?U.S. summit. He said, "Even if the friendship between our top leadership and the U.S. president is maintained, the actual North Korea?U.S. relations have not improved at all, so is there any need to keep holding the hand we shook in Singapore?"

President Trump, aiming for re-election in November, has shown efforts to manage the situation so that North Korea does not become a negative factor in the election. Foreign Minister Ri's statement threatens that they could nullify President Trump's greatest diplomatic achievement and pressures that they are willing to demonstrate nuclear force.

Jo Han-beom, senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, evaluated Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon's statement by saying, "While strongly expressing dissatisfaction and pressuring the United States over the failure to uphold agreements between South and North Korea as well as between North Korea and the U.S., they have left room for dialogue."

This is the first time since his appointment in January that Foreign Minister Ri Son-gwon (pictured) has issued a statement regarding the U.S. The statement was not published in the Rodong Sinmun, which is read by all North Korean citizens. This contrasts with the recent daily publication of critical messages against South Korea by Kim Yo-jong, First Deputy Director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, and the spokesperson of the United Front Department in the Rodong Sinmun.

Yang Moo-jin, professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said, "Through Foreign Minister Ri's statement, it has become clear that the previous statements by Kim Yo-jong, the spokesperson of the United Front Department, and measures such as cutting off inter-Korean communication lines, which ostensibly concern the issue of anti-North Korean leaflets, are ultimately aimed at pressuring the United States." He also explained, "They are accumulating justification for future provocations."

In this statement, North Korea emphasized the U.S.'s hostile policy and military threats against North Korea, dedicating much to 'regime security guarantees.' Foreign Minister Ri claimed, "Our republic remains on the U.S. nuclear preemptive strike list, and various nuclear strike means possessed by the U.S. are directly targeting us, which is today's reality," asserting that the U.S.'s hostile policy toward North Korea remains unchanged.

He continued, "The U.S. administration has openly revealed through two years of utterly unjust and outdated actions that what they have touted as 'improvement of relations' between North Korea and the U.S. is actually regime overthrow, 'security guarantees' mean thorough nuclear preemptive strikes, and 'building trust' means unchanging isolation and suppression of North Korea."

These remarks are seen as North Korea presenting a starting point for resuming North Korea?U.S. dialogue. Lim Eul-chul, professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said, "What North Korea has consistently and coherently demanded as a condition for denuclearization is the abolition of hostile policies against North Korea. Regardless of who becomes president in the U.S. election this November, if there is no domestic political breakthrough to reconsider hostile policies against North Korea, North Korea?U.S. relations will inevitably repeat a 'hamster wheel' cycle."

President Moon Jae-in (center), U.S. President Donald Trump (right), and Chairman Kim Jong-un talking at the inter-Korean-U.S. Panmunjom meeting in June last year.

Additionally, there are calls not to be fixated solely on denuclearization agreements but to simultaneously engage in dialogue on other provisions of the Singapore Declaration.

Professor Jung Dae-jin of Ajou University stated, "Although the second North Korea?U.S. summit in Hanoi ended in a 'no deal,' seemingly nullifying the Singapore Declaration, it is important to clearly distinguish that only the denuclearization agreement among the four articles of the declaration failed, and the other goals such as normalization of North Korea?U.S. relations and establishment of a peace regime have not disappeared." He emphasized, "Initial measures and roadmaps for the peace regime, such as a declaration to end the war or the establishment of liaison offices, can be revived anytime depending on the situation, so we should approach dialogue with a proactive attitude."

The government refrained from commenting on North Korea's recent statement, expressing a principled stance of striving for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula. Cho Hye-sil, deputy spokesperson of the Ministry of Unification, said at a regular briefing, "We will not publicly evaluate the intent of Foreign Minister Ri's statement," and added, "The government will continue to make efforts for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula."

Meanwhile, North Korea strongly reacted against U.N. Secretary-General Ant?nio Guterres, who expressed 'regret' over North Korea cutting off inter-Korean communication channels, saying, "Criticize South Korea instead." A spokesperson for the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a Q&A format with a Korean Central News Agency reporter, claimed, "If the U.N. Secretary-General truly wishes for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, instead of spouting nonsense like 'regret' toward us, he should sternly reprimand South Korea, which has abandoned inter-Korean agreements like trash and allowed the evil deeds of human scum to continue."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.