(Bloomberg) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said past talks with the US merely confirmed Washington’s “unchangeable” hostility toward Pyongyang, in comments delivered at an arms exhibition showing off the country’s latest missiles designed to hit the US mainland.
“We have already gone as far as we could through negotiations with the US, and what we have confirmed at the end was not the willingness of a superpower to coexist but its uncompromising stance of strength and its unchangeable invasive and hostile North Korea policy,” Kim said in a speech according to a state media released Friday.
Photos released by the Korean Central News Agency showed Kim speaking on podium, flanked by Pyongyang’s latest intercontinental ballistic missiles. North Korea’s most recent ICBM test in October set a fresh flight time record, just days before the US presidential election.
Kim’s comments come amid speculation that Donald Trump’s election victory may lead to another change in tack in the US on dealing with Pyongyang. The president-elect repeatedly touted a “very good” relationship with Kim while on the campaign trail.
During his first term as president, Trump flew halfway around the world for summit meetings with Kim, betting that his personal diplomacy could overcome sticking points both sides have known about for years in a sharp change of approach.
Trump scaled back major joint drills with South Korea as he tried to negotiate directly with Kim, while Pyongyang briefly halted its missile testing.
But the collapse of talks at a second summit in Hanoi exposed just how far apart the adversaries remained, even after the face-to-face meetings. Trump balked at partial concessions and Kim refused to simply walk away from his nuclear program — something the regime has resisted for decades.
Under Kim’s leadership, North Korea has instead accelerated its development of missiles and nuclear weapons, and ratcheted up aggressive rhetoric against South Korea.
The latest remarks suggest Kim has no interest at this point in any potential renewal of direct diplomacy with Trump.
The geopolitical environment has also moved on since the two leaders last met with Pyongyang feeling more emboldened after recent support from Moscow. Kim has emerged as a critical ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine.
North Korea has so far sent more than 10,000 troops to fight alongside Putin’s army in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have occupied part of the border territory since a surprise incursion in August.
The growing ties between Pyongyang and Moscow have raised fears about North Korea’s ability to strengthen its military and sustain its regime with Russian backing.
“We will continue to take decisive action to eliminate all military threats to the country and people,” Kim said.
(Adds background on previous Trump-Kim talks in paragraphs 5-6)
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