North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversees a “strike drill” for several launchers and tactical guided weapons in the East Sea on May 4, 2020
KCNA | Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is due to deliver a vigilante end-of-year speech on Wednesday, which will likely offer a vision of a “new path” he has pledged to take if the United States fails to comply. term to soften its denuclearization stance.
The New Year’s speech is expected to touch on a wide range of issues, from foreign affairs and military development to economics and education.
In his 2020 speech, Kim said that perhaps it should change course if Washington joins its pressure campaign and demands unilateral action, insisting on a “self-sufficient” economy, a boost it has set in motion. of a tightening of sanctions.
The United States was on its way to ignoring the year-end deadline set by Kim, which Washington has downplayed as artificial, to show more flexibility to reopen talks aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
The next speech is expected to be the culmination of an ongoing meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers ’Party, a key body for policy-making, which Kim convened on Saturday. It was still underway on Tuesday, state media reported.
Debates at the rally remain unknown, but KCNA official media said Tuesday that Kim spent seven hours during a Monday session discussing state, economic and military construction. On Sunday, he called for “positive and offensive measures” to ensure the country’s security.
“The Central Committee plenary meeting aims to legitimize the process behind the political decisions that Kim Jong-un will announce in his New Year’s speech,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
“This meeting aims to provide a political justification for the economic and security policies that Pyongyang will pursue in 2021.”
North Korea has provided little clue as to what the “new path” may entail, but U.S. military commanders said Pyongyang’s next step could include testing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which it has stopped. since 2017, along with nuclear bomb testing.
U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien warned that Washington would be “extraordinarily disappointed” if North Korea provided a long-range or nuclear missile, while Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he hoped to choose peace to face.
“We continue to hold our view that we can find a way forward to convince North Korean leaders that their best course of action is to create a better opportunity for their people to get rid of their nuclear weapons. it’s our mission, ”Pompeo said. Fox News said Monday.
The U.S. Air Force flew over an RC-135 surveillance aircraft over South Korea on Monday and Tuesday, according to military flight tracker Aircraft Spots.
Despite increasing speculation about a potential military provocation, any resumption of an ICBM test would risk having a personal relationship with Trump, which Pyongyang has repeatedly announced while denouncing Pompey and other aides, analysts say.
Cho Tae-yong, a former deputy national security adviser to South Korea, said Kim had few options that could leave Trump’s ties intact.
“In any case, North Korea would add many warnings before and after testing to make sure they do not intend to destroy the negotiating table and that it was the Americans who betrayed them,” Cho told Reuters.