SEOUL: North Korea has warned the United States it will “seriously” consider returning to a state policy aimed at building nuclear weapons if Washington does not end tough economic sanctions against the impoverished regime.
For years, the North had pursued a “byungjin” policy of simultaneously developing its nuclear capabilities alongside the economy.
In April, citing a “fresh climate of detente and peace” on the peninsula, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared the nuclear quest complete and said his country would focus on “socialist economic construction.”
But a statement issued by the North’s foreign ministry said Pyongyang could revert to its former policy if the US did not change its stance over sanctions.
“The word ‘byungjin’ may appear again and the change of the line could be seriously reconsidered,” said the statement carried by the official KCNA news agency late Friday.
At a historic summit in Singapore in June, US President Donald Trump and Kim signed a vaguely-worded statement on denuclearization.
But little progress has been made since then, with Washington pushing to maintain sanctions against the North until its “final, fully verified denuclearization” and Pyongyang condemning US demands as “gangster-like.”
“The improvement of relations and sanctions are incompatible,” said the statement, released under the name of the director of the foreign ministry’s Institute for American Studies.
“What remains to be done is the US corresponding reply,” it added.
The statement is the latest sign of Pyongyang’s increasing frustration with Washington.
Last month, the North’s state media carried a near 1,700 words long commentary accusing the US of playing a “double game,” implicitly criticizing Trump for his comments aimed at barring Seoul from lifting sanctions against Pyongyang.
Despite a flurry of diplomacy on and around the peninsula differences are emerging between Seoul and Washington, which stations 28,500 troops in the South to protect it from its nuclear-armed neighbor.
The South’s doveish president Moon Jae-in has long favored engagement with the North, which is subject to multiple UN Security Council sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
He has dangled large investment and joint cross-border projects as incentives for steps toward denuclearization, while the US has been adamant pressure should be maintained on Pyongyang until it fully dismantles its weapons programs.
In an interview with Fox News on Friday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated that sanctions will remain until Pyongyang carries out it denuclearization commitments made in Singapore, adding he will meet with his North Korean counterpart next week.
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North Korea warns of a return to nuclear policy
North Korea warns of a return to nuclear policy
- For years, the North had pursued a “byungjin” policy of simultaneously developing its nuclear capabilities alongside the economy
- US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated that sanctions will remain until Pyongyang carries out it denuclearization commitments made in Singapore
Hegseth says US ‘can’t stop everything’ that Iran fires even as he asserts air dominance
WASHINGTON (AP): Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged Wednesday that some Iranian air attacks may still hit their targets even as he asserted that US military superiority is quickly giving it control of the Islamic Republic’s airspace.
The US has spared “no expense or capability” to enhance air defense systems to protect American forces and allies in the Middle East, Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon days after the US and Israel attacked Iran in a war that has widened throughout the region.
“This does not mean we can stop everything, but we ensured that the maximum possible defense and maximum possible force protection was set up before we went on offense,” he said.
The acknowledgement that additional drone or missile strikes in the region could cause damage and harm to troops comes as President Donald Trump and top defense leaders have warned that additional American casualties were expected in a conflict that could last months.
US service members “remain in harm’s way, and we must be clear-eyed that the risk is still high,” Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same press conference.
Six soldiers were killed when an Iranian drone strike hit an operations center Sunday in the heart of a civilian port in Kuwait, miles away from the main Army base. The husband of one of the slain soldiers, who was part of a supply and logistics unit based in Iowa, says the center was a shipping container-style building and had no defenses.
Hegseth also signaled a possible longer time frame for the conflict than has previously been floated by the Trump administration, saying it could last eight weeks but that the US has the munitions and the equipment to beat Iran in a war of attrition. He declined to set a specific time range, saying the specific duration of the war would depend on how it unfolds.
“You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three,” he said. “Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we’re going to keep them off balance.”
More forces continue to arrive in the region, including jet fighters and bombers, Hegseth said, and the US “will take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed.”
Tehran has vowed to completely destroy the Middle East’s military and economic infrastructure — signaling the war was nowhere near over and could expand further.
President Donald Trump said this week the campaign are likely to last four to five weeks but that he was prepared “to go far longer than that.”
The US has spared “no expense or capability” to enhance air defense systems to protect American forces and allies in the Middle East, Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon days after the US and Israel attacked Iran in a war that has widened throughout the region.
“This does not mean we can stop everything, but we ensured that the maximum possible defense and maximum possible force protection was set up before we went on offense,” he said.
The acknowledgement that additional drone or missile strikes in the region could cause damage and harm to troops comes as President Donald Trump and top defense leaders have warned that additional American casualties were expected in a conflict that could last months.
US service members “remain in harm’s way, and we must be clear-eyed that the risk is still high,” Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same press conference.
Six soldiers were killed when an Iranian drone strike hit an operations center Sunday in the heart of a civilian port in Kuwait, miles away from the main Army base. The husband of one of the slain soldiers, who was part of a supply and logistics unit based in Iowa, says the center was a shipping container-style building and had no defenses.
Hegseth also signaled a possible longer time frame for the conflict than has previously been floated by the Trump administration, saying it could last eight weeks but that the US has the munitions and the equipment to beat Iran in a war of attrition. He declined to set a specific time range, saying the specific duration of the war would depend on how it unfolds.
“You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three,” he said. “Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we’re going to keep them off balance.”
More forces continue to arrive in the region, including jet fighters and bombers, Hegseth said, and the US “will take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed.”
Tehran has vowed to completely destroy the Middle East’s military and economic infrastructure — signaling the war was nowhere near over and could expand further.
President Donald Trump said this week the campaign are likely to last four to five weeks but that he was prepared “to go far longer than that.”
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