Kim Jong Un was one of the only foreign leaders who did not congratulate Joe Biden for winning the presidential election, but North Korea’s supreme leader made several comments alluding to his view of Biden as president of the United States.
A few weeks before Biden’s inauguration, Kim spoke at a meeting of the Workers’ Party Congress in Pyongyang and called the United States the “biggest enemy” of his country, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, according to Reuters .
“Our foreign political activities must be focused and redirected to subdue the United States, our biggest enemy and the main obstacle to our innovative development,” said Kim during the meeting, according to Reuters. “No matter who is in power in the United States, the true nature of the United States and its fundamental policies towards North Korea never change.”
In addition, KCNA reported that Kim said that the “key to establishing new relationships between [North Korea] and the United States is whether the United States withdraws its hostile policy “from North Korea, adding that” the reality is that we can achieve peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula when we constantly increase our national defense and suppress US military threats. “
According to Reuters, Kim also criticized South Korea for engaging in “non-fundamental” issues, such as aid amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and noted that Seoul should stop carrying out military exercises and buying military supplies from USA
In response, the South Korean Ministry of Unification issued a statement saying: “The inauguration of the new US administration could be a good opportunity to improve US-North Korea relations.”
Kim previously met with former President Donald Trump on three separate occasions, but the meetings did not end with a denuclearization agreement or improve relations with the two countries.
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Yoo Ho-yeol, a professor of North Korean studies at the University of Korea in Seoul, told Reuters after Kim’s remarks that “North Korea is declaring that the window for cooperation is much, much less for the Biden government” .
In 2019, the KCNA news agency criticized Biden, calling him a “rabid dog” and said he had signs of “a final stage of dementia”.
Before winning the presidential election, Biden made exclusive comments to the South Korean news agency Yonhap in October and said: “I will engage in principled diplomacy and continue to push for a denuclearized North Korea and a unified Korean Peninsula while working. for reunification Korean Americans have separated from their loved ones in North Korea for decades. “
During the final presidential debate in October, Biden made some harsh criticisms of Kim, calling him a “thug”, but noting that he would meet North Korea’s supreme leader “on the condition that he agree to back down his nuclear capacity. “
Although Biden did not directly mention North Korea or Kim during his inaugural speech, he indicated a shift from Trump’s “America First” ideal and said, “Let’s fix our alliances and get involved with the world once again, no to face the challenges of yesterday, but today and tomorrow. “
Antony Blinken, Biden’s nominated secretary of state, also spoke about North Korea during a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, saying, “I think we have to review, and intend to review, the entire approach and policy towards to North Korea. “
“Because this is a difficult problem that has plagued administration after administration. And it is a problem that has not improved – it actually got worse, ”added Blinken.
Newsweek contacted the White House for comment, but received no response in time for publication.