North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said over the weekend that the country’s economy “has grown,” despite economic sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council, and that North Korea’s nuclear weapons are “a powerful deterrent.”
This comes in the face of President Donald Trump tweeting over the weekend and on Monday, alluding to military action on the Korean Peninsula.
“Our country has been unsuccessfully dealing with North Korea for 25 years, giving billions of dollars and getting nothing. Policy didn’t work,” Trump tweeted Monday morning.
Donald Trump (Twitter)
North Korea’s state-run media, Korean Central News Agency, reported on Sunday that Kim Jong Un said his country’s nuclear weapons are a “powerful deterrent firmly safeguarding the peace and security in the Korean peninsula” against the “protracted nuclear threats of the U.S. imperialists,” Reuters reported.
Kim Jong Un spoke at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party, and said North Korea’s policy of “byungjin” is “absolutely right,” according to reports. Byungjin means the development of both nuclear weapons and the economy at the same time.
Kim Jong Un also claimed North Korea’s economy has “grown.”
“The national economy has grown on their strength this year, despite the escalating sanctions,” he said, according to reports.
President Trump last week ominously hinted at things to come, saying “we’ll see” when asked to elaborate about a comment he made before a meeting with military leaders at the White House.
As they group was taking photos on Thursday night, the President said it was “the calm before the storm.” When asked what he meant, he replied: “You’ll find out.”
“We have the world’s great military people in this room,” he added.
The President recently shut down Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s statements that the U.S. has an open line of communication with Pyongyang, and would hope to solve the conflict diplomatically. Trump alluded to the fact that his Administration and, most likely, the U.S. Military would be taking care of the situation on the Korean Peninsula.
Rhetoric has gone back and forth between the U.S. and North Korea all summer. Tensions can be cut with a knife, and the sometimes bizarre exchanges have left many Americans wondering exactly what is going to take place next.
Recent Rhetoric
- North Korea has claimed that President Trump “declared war” on the country after he tweeted that North Korea “won’t be around much longer” if it keeps threatening the United States. The White House issued a statement on Sept. 25 saying it had not declared war.
- On Sept. 25, North Korea’s foreign minister said Trump “declared war,” and that North Korea would shoot down U.S. bombers if it has to.
- On Sept. 23, the U.S. military sent Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers and F-15C Eagle fighter jets to fly over waters east of North Korea in a show-of-force against the country.
- The North Korean Foreign Minister had threatened to drop a Hydrogen bomb, or H-bomb, over the Pacific Ocean in response to President Donald Trump’s speech at the United Nations in September, telling reporters on Sept. 22. it could mean “the strongest Hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific Ocean.”
- North Korea threatened to test an H-bomb after a slew of accusations from North Korean dictator Jim Kong Un, in response to President Trump’s intense U.N. General Assembly speech on Sept. 19, during which the President said “Rocket Man” Kim Jong Un is on a “suicide mission” and that the U.S. would “totally destroy” North Korea if need be.
- On Sept. 21 – the same day that Trump signed new sanctions against North Korea – Kim Jong Un threatened President Trump that he would “pay dearly” for his threat to destroy North Korea if the U.S. had to defend itself States or its allies, and he also called Trump a “dotard.”
- In a rare appearance on camera on Sept. 21, Kim spoke directly and said that Trump was “unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country.” Kim also said that Trump is “a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire,” and that his U.N. speech showed “mentally deranged behavior.”
- On Sept. 20, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho had said the President’s speech and threats were “the sound of a dog barking.”
September Sanctions
Sanctions against North Korea aim to impact the flow of cash to that country and cut off trade partners, as well.
The sanctions could also have contributed to the intensity of Kim Jon Un’s recent statements, as sanctions further and further alienate North Korea.
The sanctions against North Korea banned about 90 percent of North Korea’s exports, fully banning the country’s textile exports and reducing its oil and petroleum exports. The sanctions also banned the country’s overseas laborers, which provided nearly $500 million in revenue; and cut off all foreign investment with North Korea, its assets being frozen.
They were passed unanimously by the U.N. Security Council – with both China and Russia voting in favor – following North Korea’s sixth ever successful nuclear missile launch and claims that the country now has a Hydrogen bomb it can place on an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
North Korea recently launched yet another missile, on Sept. 14, this one an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean.
The North Korean launch came hours after North Korea threatened to blow the United States to “ashes and darkness” and has said it will “sink” the country of Japan, following a United Nations resolution that banned 90 percent of its exports. North Korea had promised the U.S. would “suffer the greatest pain it ever experienced in history” over the sanctions.
August Sanctions
The United Nations in August also unanimously approved sanctions against North Korea in response to Kim Jong Un’s two successful intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in July.
Then, North Korea threatened “thousands-fold” revenge on the United States following those sanctions, which cut North Korea’s export revenue by $1 billion, or about a third. The sanctions banned North Korea from exporting coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood.
North Korea’s sixth nuclear missile test caused a 6.3 earthquake and was roughly five times as large as the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan. The test came hours after North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un claimed that it now had an H-bomb to put onto its long-range ICBMs.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley has said that North Korea is “begging for war,” and that it’s time for the international community to impose the strongest possible sanctions against North Korea.
North Korea has come out slinging harsh words following U.N. Security Council sanctions that ban nearly all of its exports, saying this week that the U.S. faces “final ruin” it it goes to war with Kim Jong Un.
