tirsdag 12. januar 2021

North Korea set for collision course with US as Kim Jong-un solidifies one-man rule

A rare meeting of North Korea’s ruling party has ended with a symbolically important new title for the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, speculation about the future of his influential sister, and a shot across the bow of the incoming US president. Less than two weeks before Joe Biden’s inauguration, much of what Kim told the first congress of the ruling Workers’ party for five years had a familiar ring to it.

Citing the justification the North has used to press ahead with its nuclear weapons programme, Kim labelled the US his country’s “biggest enemy”. Progress on denuclearisation, he said, would be wholly dependent on an end to American aggression.