DM Monitoring
PYONGYANG: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said his country needs to prepare for “both dialogue and confrontation” with the United States under President Joe Biden, state media reported on Friday.
At a plenary meeting of the central committee of the governing Workers’ Party of Korea, Kim outlined his strategy for relations with Washington, and the “policy tendency of the newly emerged US administration”, the Korean media said.
The comments mark the first time Kim has made a reference to the country’s policy towards the US since the inauguration of US President Joe Biden. Kim “stressed the need to get prepared for both dialogue and confrontation, especially to get fully prepared for confrontation in order to protect the dignity of our state” and reliably guarantee a “peaceful environment”, KCNA reported.
The North Korean leader “called for sharply and promptly reacting to and coping with the fast-changing situation”, the agency said. Pyongyang had already accused Biden of pursuing a “hostile policy” and saying it was a “big blunder” for the veteran Democrat to say he would deal with the threat posed by the North’s nuclear programme “through diplomacy as well as stern deterrence”.
