North Korea Threatens ‘Confrontation’ With the U.S. While Facing Unpredictable Problems at Home – By Paul D. Shinkman (US News) / June 18 2021
Pyongyang must prepare for dialogue with President Biden but also ‘confrontation,’ Kim Jong Un told his government on Friday as the hermit kingdom reels from internal pressure.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday instructed his government to prepare for dialogue with the U.S. but also for “confrontation,” citing the need “to protect the dignity of our state.”
North Korea’s state news service KCNA relayed those remarks from Kim during a meeting of the government’s Central Committee, specifically about “the policy tendency of the newly emerged U.S. administration,” referring to President Joe Biden. Kim stressed “the need to further enhance the strategic position and active role of our state and create favorable external climate on our own initiatives,” KCNA reported.
The aggressive rhetoric serves as a startling reminder of how relations between the U.S. and North Korea have stalled, following three summits the Trump administration organized that failed to produce any tangible positive outcomes. A subsequent freeze in relations has been further exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, with North Korea – already isolated in its foreign policy – becoming among the most locked-down countries worldwide.
The Biden administration deferred on how it would proceed with North Korea in its first weeks, citing the need for a comprehensive, government-wide analysis of U.S. policy toward the country and its aspiring intercontinental nuclear weapons program. Revealing a few conclusions of that review last month, it appears Biden will find a middle ground between his former boss, President Barack Obama, who sought “strategic patience” while Pyongyang nonetheless improved its nuclear weapons and missile programs, and the “grand bargain” that Trump pursued.
