SEOUL: US and Israeli military strikes on Iran will reinforce the nuclear ambitions of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, say experts and former officials, as attention focuses on whether he might return to negotiations with President Donald Trump.
Talks to tackle Pyongyang’s arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, subject to heavy international sanctions, broke down despite summits between Kim and Trump in 2018 and 2019, but the attacks on Iran could spur it to reconsider.
“Kim must have thought Iran was attacked like that because it didn’t have nuclear weapons,” said Song Seong-jong, a professor at Daejeon University and a former official of South Korea’s Defense Ministry.
The military operation was inevitable, given the “hegemonic and rogue” nature of the US, a spokesperson for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
Just a few days before the attack, Kim had pledged to build more nuclear weapons at a ruling party congress last week, though he left the door open for more talks, depending on Washington’s attitude.
“If the US withdraws its policy of confrontation with North Korea by respecting our country’s current status ... there is no reason why we cannot get along well with the US,” state news agency KCNA cited Kim as saying.
