Speaking on “Victory Day,” the armistice day for the Korean War, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, criticizes both the United States and South Korea.
Kim Jong Un stated that Pyongyang needed to strengthen its defenses due to the danger presented by the United States in a speech to commemorate the armistice that put an end to hostilities in the Korean War, known in North Korea as “Victory Day.”
According to state media, the nuclear war deterrence of our country is also completely ready to mobilize its absolute strength truthfully, accurately, and speedily to its task, he added.
“Our military forces are thoroughly equipped to respond to any crisis,” he said.
The declaration that North Korea has finished planning its first nuclear test since 2017 was made by authorities in Seoul and Washington before the speech.
If North Korea conducts the test, it will probably face further restrictions, including measures to limit its capacity for cyberattacks, the foreign minister of South Korea said on Wednesday.
In his speech, Kim claimed that 70 years after the war, Washington still engages in “dangerous, illegal hostile acts” with South Korea against his nation and tries to “demonize” it in order to defend its actions.
The Victory Day address, according to Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Seoul’s Ewha University, may be interpreted as an effort to “bolster national pride” in light of South Korea’s prosperous post-armistice prosperity.
‘Inflating External Threats’
He wrote in an email that Kim Jong Un’s rhetoric “inflates external threats to legitimize his militarily focused and economically struggling state.” Although North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs are illegal under international law, Kim attempts to pass off his unstable armament build-up as a noble act of self-defense.
North Korea has long charged that the US has adopted a “hostile posture” towards Pyongyang and has a double standard when it comes to military exercises.
Due to the lifting of sanctions, denuclearization negotiations ceased in 2019.
“The double act of the United States, which is misrepresenting all the regular acts of our armed forces as” provocation “and “threat, “while performing huge joint military drills that significantly threaten our security, is essentially a theft,” added Kim.
“That is putting bilateral relations in a state of conflict that makes it hard to reverse course.”
Kim Jong Un also denounced the current South Korean government led by President Yoon Suk-Yeol, warning that any efforts to “annihilate” his nation would be met with a strong rebuke.
Kim Jong Un stated, “I would want to reiterate that North Korea is completely prepared for any military conflict with the United States.”
In 2022, North Korea conducted a record number of weapons tests.
It claimed to have tested a hypersonic missile in January and later launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that was forbidden, as well as missiles that were purported to be capable of carrying tactical nuclear bombs.
