Pyongyang fired back after Washington and Seoul pledged to strengthen their military alliance
President Joe Biden toasts with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol during a state dinner at the White House in Washington, DC, April 26, 2023. © AP / Susan Walsh
North Korea has accused President Joe Biden of “senility” after the US leader threatened to annihilate the DPRK in the event of a nuclear attack, denouncing the United States for “extreme” and “hostile” policies. The comments followed Biden’s latest meeting with his South Korean counterpart, where he vowed to boost nuclear cooperation between the two allies.
Senior North Korean official Kim Yo-jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong-un, issued a harsh statement condemning Washington and Seoul on Friday, singling out comments from Biden following a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in the US capital this week.
During a joint press conference alongside Yoon, Biden said a nuclear strike by North Korea would “result in the end of whatever regime” is in power there, stressing the need to “reinforce extended deterrence and respond to the advancing DPRK nuclear threat.”
Kim suggested the statement was a sign of “the man’s senility,” warning that Biden’s “threatening rhetoric” would someday prompt a response from Pyongyang.
“It may be taken as a nonsensical remark from the person in his dotage who is not at all capable of taking the responsibility for security and the future of the US, an old man with no future, as it is too much for him to serve out the two-year remainder of his office term,” she added.
The North Korean party official also cited the creation of a new “Nuclear Consultative Group” (NGC) by the US and South Korea, which is intended to “strengthen extended deterrence” and enhance cooperation on nuclear planning.
“The formation of a ‘Nuclear Consultative Group,’ the regular and continuous deployment of US nuclear strategic assets and the frequent military exercises” by Washington and Seoul have created an “environment in which we are compelled to take more decisive action,” Kim said.
As part of the stepped up military coordination between Washington and Seoul, Biden and Yoon announced that the US would deploy nuclear-armed submarines and bombers to the Korean Peninsula, hoping the move would deter future weapons tests by the DPRK.
North Korea has carried out an unprecedented number of missile launches in recent months, saying it would continue to advance its capabilities in response to continued US and South Korean military drills in the region. Pyongyang has repeatedly condemned such exercises as rehearsals for an invasion, though US officials insist they are purely defensive.
