Kim Jong Un pushes for ‘toughest anti-US’ posture yet as Trump eyes revived bromance
North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un recently told top aides in his pariah kingdom that he will be launching Pyongyang’s “toughest anti-US counteraction” policy yet, according to state media.
Kim is fixated on growing American influence in the region despite President-elect Donald Trump suggesting he would continue making overtures toward North Korea, with the North Korean despot calling for more “proactive and offensive external activities” against the US.
Kim, 40, alleged that the US, South Korea and Japan have formed a “nuclear military bloc for aggression” and that the three allies are pushing anti-communism, state media outlet Korean Central News Agency reported.
There was no mention of Trump, 78, in the state report of Kim’s remarks during North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party meeting, which wrapped up Friday.
When Trump first entered office in 2017, North Korea was seen as a growing threat, and the 45th president initially responded with hot rhetoric, threatening Kim with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
Trump also embarked on a series of sporadic screeds against Kim, branding him “Rocket Man” and “Little Rocket Man” in a jab at the dictator’s affection for nuclear weapons.
But by the start of 2018, tensions began to cool down. Trump ended up meeting with Kim on three occasions during his presidency, aiming to make a deal over Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal, but that didn’t come to pass.
Since then, Trump has publicly crowed about the “beautiful” letters Kim sent him during that brief detente between them.
Shortly after his 2024 election victory, Trump reportedly explored possible direct talks with Kim and his team amid hopes of rekindling talks aimed at thawing out the icy relations between the two nations.
But half a world away, North Korea has stepped up the tempo of its missiles- and weapons-testing. In October, the impoverished nation also dispatched more than 10,000 troops and weaponry to aid Russia in its bloody war against neighboring Ukraine.
White House spokesman John Kirby claims that North Korean troops have been treated as “expendable” by the Russians and been forced to carry out “hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defenses.
“I hope they’re loading up their commanders with a bunch of body bags because they’re clearly going to need it,” Kirby told reporters of North Korea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has estimated that about 3,000 North Korean troops have been either killed or wounded in the fighting so far.
Pyongyang, which has one of the largest militaries in the world, is believed to have been aiding the Kremlin in exchange for aid such as access to more advanced technologies.
Conflicts raging in Ukraine and the Middle East could loom large over any potential efforts by Trump to ease strained relations between Washington and Pyongyang.
Trump has made clear that ending those conflicts will be among his top foreign policy priorities when he takes office.
