Tokyo, 20 January, /AJMEDIA/
North Korea on Thursday hinted at resuming nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, saying it may restart “activities” that it had temporarily suspended to build trust with former U.S. President Donald Trump.
A key ruling party gathering held Wednesday concluded that North Korea should take “practical action to more reliably and effectively increase our physical strength” to counter the United States, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who held talks with Trump three times, presided over the meeting held by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, according to KCNA.
At the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit in June 2018 in Singapore, Washington promised to provide security guarantees to Pyongyang in return for “complete” denuclearization of the country. Since then, North Korea has refrained from nuclear and ICBM tests.
Pyongyang, however, has claimed that Washington has not implemented the agreement despite North Korea taking what it says are concrete measures to discard its nuclear arsenal.
Recently, North Korea has carried out test-firings of what appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning Pyongyang from developing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.
Direct talks between the United States and North Korea have been at a standstill for more than two years, with the administration of President Joe Biden unlikely to make concessions over denuclearization and sanctions relief.
North Korea has expressed unwillingness to hold bilateral negotiations with the United States unless Washington withdraws what Pyongyang considers to be its hostile stance. The two nations have no diplomatic relations.
Earlier this month, North Korea lambasted the United States for expanding sanctions following Pyongyang’s missile tests, saying that beefing up its national defense capabilities is the legitimate right of a sovereign state.