West's hostility fuels tensions on peninsula
Australian tiesDec 22, 2022
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday reportedly unveiled new goals for military development and stated that the country will "maintain" a struggle against enemy states in 2023 as foreign policy plans are expected to be detailed in the year-end party plenum final report.
State news agency KCNA claimed that these targets are intended to strengthen the country's self-defense capabilities "under the multilaterally challenging situation" but didn't elaborate on what they might entail.
It's up to the US to put an end to mutual provocations and threats, but it has instead strengthened alliances and boosted joint military drills around the Korean Peninsula while Western propaganda machines spread misinformation to raise suspicion and distrust against Pyongyang. The only way to prevent an open conflict is for the US to cease hostilities and address North Korea's calls for sanctions to be dropped.
The US has sought for years to strike a deal with Pyongyang to contain North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, but all viable options have been exhausted as Kim's regime refuses to engage in dialogue. Now, it's time for Washington to increase defense cooperation with regional partners Japan and South Korea to focus on deterring Pyongyang from using its weapons to launch attacks against them.
There's a 95% chance that Kim Jong-un will remain the de facto leader of North Korea until (at least) Jan. 1, 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.