North Korea's Kim slams US-South Korea-Japan partnership

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said an elevated US security partnership with South Korea and Japan poses a grave threat to his country and vowed to further bolster his nuclear weapons program state media reported Sunday Kim has previously made similar warnings but his latest statement implies again that the North Korean leader wont likely embrace President Donald Trumps overture to meet him and revive diplomacy anytime soonIn a speech marking the 77th founding anniversary of the Korean Peoples Army on Saturday Kim said the USJapanSouth Korea trilateral security partnership established under a US plot to form a NATOlike regional military bloc is inviting military imbalance on the Korean Peninsula and raising a grave challenge to the security environment of our state according to the official Korean Central News AgencyReferring to a series of new plans for rapidly bolstering all deterrence including nuclear forces he clarified once again the unshakable policy of more highly developing the nuclear forces KCNA said Amid stalled diplomacy with the US and South Korea in recent years Kim has focused on enlarging and modernizing his arsenal of nuclear weapons In response the United States and South Korea have expanded their bilateral military exercises and trilateral training involving Japan North Korea has lashed out at those drills calling them rehearsals to invade the countrySince his Jan 20 inauguration Trump has said he would reach out to Kim again as he boasted of his highstakes summit with him during his first term During a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday Trump said that We will have relations with North Korea with Kim Jong Un I got along with him very well as you know I think I stopped the warDuring a Fox News interview broadcast on Jan 23 Trump called Kim a smart guy and not a religious zealot Asked whether he will reach out to Kim again Trump replied I will yeah Trump met Kim three times in 201819 to discuss how to end North Koreas nuclear program in what was the firstever summitry between the leaders of the US and North Korea The highstakes diplomacy eventually collapsed because Trump rejected Kims offer to dismantle his main nuclear complex a partial denuclearization step in return for broad sanctions reliefNorth Korea hasnt directly responded to Trumps recent overture as it continues weapons testing activities and hostile rhetoric against the US Many experts say Kim is now preoccupied with his dispatch of troops to Russia to support its war efforts against Ukraine They say Kim would still eventually consider returning to diplomacy with Trump if he determines he would fail to maintain the current solid cooperation with Russia after the war endsIn his Saturday speech Kim reaffirmed that North Korea will invariably support and encourage the just cause of the Russian army and people to defend their sovereignty security and territorial integrity Kim accused the US of being behind the war machine which is stirring up the tragic situation of Ukraine In South Korea some worry that Trump might abandon the international communitys longrunning goal of achieving a complete denuclearization of North Korea to produce a diplomatic achievementBut a joint statement issued by Trump and Ishiba after their summit stated the two leaders reaffirmed their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearization of the DPRK the acronym of North Koreas official name the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea The statement said the US and Japan also affirmed the importance of the JapanUSSouth Korean trilateral partnership in responding to North KoreaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever