North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has accused the United States of escalating tensions and provocations, and claimed the Korean peninsula is facing an unprecedented risk of nuclear war, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing state news agency KCNA.
In a speech at a military exhibition in Pyongyang, Kim described his past negotiations with Washington as a lesson in its "aggressive and hostile" stance toward North Korea.
“Never before have the warring parties on the Korean peninsula faced such a dangerous and acute confrontation that it could escalate into the most destructive thermonuclear war,” Kim said, as quoted by KCNA.
“We have already gone as far as we can on negotiating with the United States, but what we became certain of from the result is not the superpower's willingness to coexist, but its thorough stance of power and aggressive and hostile policy toward us that can never change,” he added.
Kim's remarks come years after his meetings with then-US President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019, which took place in Singapore, Hanoi, and at the Korean border. While these summits captured global attention, they ultimately failed to deliver tangible outcomes due to disagreements over North Korea’s denuclearization and US sanctions relief.
North Korea has upped its rhetoric in recent months and has also staged dozens of launches of missiles this year.
Earlier this week, Kim called on the country’s military to enhance its warfighting capabilities.
Last week, Kim instructed the initiation of "mass production" for kamikaze-style drones, following his personal observation of testing procedures.
Two weeks ago, North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward the East Sea, just days after it announced it tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, prompting condemnation from the South, the United States and Japan.
In mid-September, North Korea fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles.