Kim Jong Un Offers US Choice: Accept North Korea as Nuclear State or Face Eternal Confrontation

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stated that Pyongyang can coexist with the United States only if Washington accepts North Korea's constitutional status as a nuclear power and withdraws its hostile policy. Kim also declared that North Korea will permanently exclude South Korea, calling it the most hostile entity, and vowed to continue expanding its nuclear arsenal.

Key points

• Kim Jong Un made the diplomatic offer at the close of the Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
• North Korea plans to focus on projects to increase the number of nuclear weapons and expand nuclear operational means.
• Kim stated that the future of US-DPRK relations depends entirely on the US attitude.
• The leader condemned South Korea's conciliatory attitude as a 'clumsy and deceptive farce'.
• The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimated North Korea holds about 50 assembled nuclear warheads.

Why it matters

This declaration signals North Korea's strategic confidence in maintaining its nuclear status and sets clear, non-negotiable terms for potential future engagement with the US, while hardening its stance against South Korea.