March 29, 2024
Analysis

Power for peace: Kim Jong Un frames missiles as deterrent against ‘war itself’

In defense expo speech, North Korean leader dismisses US as insincere and criticizes those who ‘incite’ tensions

At a weapons exhibition this week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stood in a room full of ballistic missiles, tanks and other weapons and declared that his country’s “arch-enemy” is not the U.S. nor South Korea but “war itself.”

Yet Kim’s remarks in his speech on Monday don’t aim to let Pyongyang’s traditional enemies off the hook. Instead, they serve to justify the DPRK’s continued diversion of resources toward weapons development as necessary to counter those who “incite” tensions potentially leading to war.

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