North Korea has credited its nuclear and missile breakthroughs for providing it the standing to meet the world’s largest powersKim Jong-un has indicated nuclear weapons played an important role long into the future, calling them a ‘powerful treasured sword for defending peace’
Amid signs that negotiations between North Korea and the US are stalling, analysts say Pyongyang still sees its nuclear arsenal as a key tool in securing its national safety and winning concessions from international rivals.
Just as the US has doubled down on its sanctions on Pyongyang, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has not retreated from his pledge to expand his operational force of nuclear bombs and ballistic missiles, increasing his leverage under any still elusive denuclearisation deal.
A US think tank said on Monday it had identified at least 13 of an estimated 20 active, undeclared missile bases inside North Korea, underscoring the challenge for American negotiators hoping to persuade Kim to give up his weapons programmes.
As time goes by, North Korea’s likely expansion of its arsenal could force Washington to rethink its insistence on full denuclearisation, said Moon Hong-sik, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy in Seoul.
“This is the choice the United States has to make: whether they keep pursuing the ideal of ‘complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation,’ or take this dilemma into consideration and make a compromise for limited denuclearisation,” he said.
US President Donald Trump met Kim at an unprecedented summit in Singapore in June where they agreed to “work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. But with scant sign of progress on negotiations since and recent high-level meetings cancelled, Trump said last week he’s now in “no rush” and still wants to meet with Kim for a second time.
US officials have said sanctions forced North Korea to the negotiating table and vowed to keep pressure until complete denuclearisation. But North Korea has credited its nuclear and missile breakthroughs for providing it the standing to meet the world’s largest powers.
