North Korea nuclear power status was reaffirmed by leader Kim Jong Un as he closed a major ruling party congress in Pyongyang, signaling conditional openness toward the United States while intensifying his stance against South Korea. State media coverage highlighted Kim\u2019s demand that Washington recognize North Korea\u2019s nuclear position and abandon what he called \u201chostile policies\u201d.<\/p>\n
The remarks came as the Workers\u2019 Party congress concluded with a large military parade and a series of high-profile appearances by Kim\u2019s daughter, fueling renewed debate over succession signals inside the isolated state.<\/p>\n
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Pyongyang could \u201cget along well\u201d with the United States if Washington accepted the country\u2019s officially declared position as a nuclear power and halted what he described as hostile policies. According to the Korean Central News Agency, Kim stated that if the US \u201crespects our country’s current status as stipulated in the Constitution and withdraws its hostile policy, there is no reason why we cannot get along well\u201d.<\/p>\n
The comment follows previous overtures by US President Donald Trump, who last year suggested he was \u201c100 percent\u201d open to meeting Kim and acknowledged North Korea as \u201csort of a nuclear power\u201d, a rare admission coming from a sitting US president. Trump is expected to visit China, North Korea\u2019s main ally, in April, raising speculation about a potential side meeting.<\/p>\n
North Korea formally amended its constitution in 2024 to describe itself as an \u201cirreversible\u201d nuclear state. This marked the first time Pyongyang embedded its nuclear weapons status directly in its legal framework, underscoring its longstanding refusal to consider disarmament.<\/p>\n
Kim reaffirmed this position during the party congress, declaring that the state \u201chas irreversibly established itself as a nuclear power\u201d. The statement aligns with years of North Korean insistence that its nuclear program serves as a core security guarantee.<\/p>\n
While expressing conditional openness toward Washington, Kim sharply escalated his rhetoric toward South Korea. He rejected recent diplomatic overtures from Seoul and described South Korea as North Korea\u2019s \u201cmost hostile entity\u201d.<\/p>\n
KCNA quoted Kim as saying North Korea would \u201cpermanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots\u201d and that Pyongyang has \u201cabsolutely no business dealing\u201d with the South.<\/p>\n
South Korea\u2019s current administration under President Lee Jae Myung has attempted to reduce tensions through humanitarian engagement and by limiting previous practices such as propaganda leaflets. Government officials said Seoul \u201cregrets\u201d Pyongyang\u2019s rejection of efforts aimed at \u201cpeaceful coexistence\u201d on the Korean Peninsula.<\/p>\n
The presidential office emphasized that both sides must \u201crefrain from hostile and confrontational actions\u201d and work toward building trust. Diplomatic sources also confirmed that a UN Security Council committee recently approved exemptions allowing new deliveries of food and medical aid to North Korea.<\/p>\n
Pyongyang ended the party congress with what KCNA described as a \u201cgrand\u201d military parade at Kim Il Sung Square. These parades have historically showcased new military systems, providing rare insights into North Korea\u2019s capabilities. Thousands of party members from across the country attended the gathering, which directs state policy on issues ranging from foreign relations to military planning.<\/p>\n
State media photos from the parade showed Kim\u2019s daughter, Ju Ae, wearing a matching leather jacket alongside her father. Analysts say such symbolic presentation strengthens speculation that she is being groomed as a future leader.<\/p>\n
Experts like Lim Eul-chul emphasized that North Korea\u2019s leadership attire carries political meaning and is often tied to national security symbolism. South Korea\u2019s intelligence service recently stated that Ju Ae \u201chas been clearly designated as a successor\u201d, although she does not yet hold official party titles due to her age.<\/p>\n
Ju Ae has gained prominence in recent years, joining her father at major weapons tests and political events. She has also drawn attention for her luxury fashion items, further elevating her profile within tightly controlled state media coverage.<\/p>\n
North Korea\u2019s reaffirmation of its nuclear identity, combined with hostile rhetoric toward South Korea and conditional openness toward Washington, highlights the complex dynamics shaping the Korean Peninsula. The political symbolism displayed during the military parade also underscores Pyongyang\u2019s focus on leadership continuity amid growing international scrutiny.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
North Korea nuclear power status was reaffirmed by leader Kim Jong Un as he closed a major ruling party congress in Pyongyang, signaling conditional openness toward the United States while intensifying his stance against South Korea. State media coverage highlighted Kim\u2019s demand that Washington recognize North Korea\u2019s nuclear position and abandon what he called \u201chostile […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29121,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"","format":"standard","override":[{"template":"7","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"left-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"topbottom","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"jnews_post_split":{"post_split":[{"template":"1","tag":"h2","numbering":"asc","mode":"normal","first":"0","enable_toc":"0","toc_type":"normal"}]},"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29120"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29123,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29120\/revisions\/29123"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.iq\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}