Kim Jong-un to Announce 'Hardline Stance Against US' at Supreme People's Assembly on the 6th?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Military Specialist Reporter Yang Nak-gyu, Reporter Lee Ji-eun] North Korea's highest sovereign body under the constitution, the Supreme People's Assembly, will be held on the 6th. Attention is focused on whether Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, who has used the Supreme People's Assembly as a channel for external messages in the past, will issue a message this time as well. In particular, since this comes right after seven missile provocations last month, it is expected that Kim's message will contain strong statements against the U.S. and South Korea.

Kim Yong-hyun, a professor in the Department of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University, said in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 3rd, "Even though the Biden administration's term has passed one year, the U.S. has not shown a strong willingness to actively engage in dialogue with North Korea, so there is a possibility that a 'strong statement' against the U.S. will come out at this Supreme People's Assembly."

The Supreme People's Assembly is North Korea's symbolic highest sovereign body, equivalent to our National Assembly. This meeting will discuss domestic issues such as last year's business performance, this year's tasks, budget and settlement, the Childcare Law, and the adoption of the Overseas Compatriots' Rights Protection Law.

However, since Kim Jong-un has used the Supreme People's Assembly as a channel for delivering messages in the past, it is highly likely that he will express positions on inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea relations at this year's meeting. Although Kim is not a delegate to the Supreme People's Assembly, he has attended several meetings in the past and expressed positions on the U.S. and South Korea through policy speeches. In the policy speech at the Supreme People's Assembly on April 13, 2019, he expressed willingness for a third North Korea-U.S. summit for the first time after the Hanoi breakdown, and at the Supreme People's Assembly on September 29 last year, he promised to restore inter-Korean communication lines.

Above all, this meeting is expected to fully reflect the hardline shift seen last month in its message. Since seven missile launches were carried out just last month, there is strong weight on the possibility that military provocations will continue. North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on the 30th of last month, and it is possible that they may conduct nuclear tests or intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test launches.

This pattern of North Korea is similar to when former President Donald Trump took office in 2017. That year, North Korea conducted 24 missile launches along with nuclear tests. After raising the North Korean nuclear crisis to its peak, they dramatically met with the U.S. president three times. Considering this, North Korea is highly likely to carry out even stronger provocations aligned with the 80th anniversary of Kim Jong-il's birth on the 16th and the 110th anniversary of Kim Il-sung's birth on April 15.

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