The Fort Worth Press - North Korea's Kim vows nuclear programme to continue: state media

USD -
AED 3.672987
AFN 73.385132
ALL 95.346755
AMD 396.419624
ANG 1.80514
AOA 911.999994
ARS 1056.864878
AUD 1.590938
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.703608
BAM 1.88303
BBD 2.022346
BDT 121.697019
BGN 1.875953
BHD 0.376919
BIF 2965.444865
BMD 1
BND 1.352262
BOB 6.921585
BRL 5.769398
BSD 1.001593
BTN 87.038401
BWP 13.882711
BYN 3.277956
BYR 19600
BZD 2.011948
CAD 1.424895
CDF 2869.999878
CHF 0.904899
CLF 0.024862
CLP 953.590404
CNY 7.30905
CNH 7.29417
COP 4139.55
CRC 507.873239
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 106.162356
CZK 24.036953
DJF 177.719818
DKK 7.156355
DOP 62.186791
DZD 135.353245
EGP 50.623802
ERN 15
ETB 125.879448
EUR 0.959398
FJD 2.31225
FKP 0.803654
GBP 0.798975
GEL 2.820114
GGP 0.803654
GHS 15.475119
GIP 0.803654
GMD 71.496752
GNF 8659.359069
GTQ 7.73219
GYD 209.553886
HKD 7.78898
HNL 25.535192
HRK 7.225076
HTG 131.066886
HUF 386.353503
IDR 16270.2
ILS 3.56495
IMP 0.803654
INR 86.7542
IQD 1312.094123
IRR 42087.497004
ISK 140.83004
JEP 0.803654
JMD 157.561053
JOD 0.709497
JPY 153.273502
KES 129.149818
KGS 87.449783
KHR 4011.053022
KMF 474.550168
KPW 900.090061
KRW 1448.969964
KWD 0.30875
KYD 0.834753
KZT 500.363454
LAK 21772.597952
LBP 89699.750153
LKR 296.331242
LRD 199.816108
LSL 18.530393
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.928537
MAD 10.019111
MDL 18.780509
MGA 4688.801275
MKD 59.047052
MMK 3247.960992
MNT 3461.151901
MOP 8.035873
MRU 39.860588
MUR 46.519774
MVR 15.419621
MWK 1736.798779
MXN 20.49025
MYR 4.454998
MZN 63.905074
NAD 18.530393
NGN 1507.360193
NIO 36.855711
NOK 11.198785
NPR 139.26326
NZD 1.770675
OMR 0.385011
PAB 1.001603
PEN 3.721483
PGK 4.027363
PHP 57.919
PKR 279.729453
PLN 4.008318
PYG 7878.534052
QAR 3.651681
RON 4.775103
RSD 112.352972
RUB 89.500959
RWF 1426.687078
SAR 3.750677
SBD 8.446964
SCR 14.394698
SDG 601.000323
SEK 10.79096
SGD 1.347745
SHP 0.823587
SLE 22.808965
SLL 20969.505638
SOS 572.388627
SRD 35.35027
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.764303
SYP 13003.016048
SZL 18.519588
THB 33.734498
TJS 10.917695
TMT 3.5
TND 3.194643
TOP 2.342102
TRY 36.0901
TTD 6.797318
TWD 32.756304
TZS 2610.498985
UAH 41.787521
UGX 3685.571105
UYU 43.46047
UZS 13024.661939
VES 61.266985
VND 25465
VUV 123.663246
WST 2.837369
XAF 631.559843
XAG 0.031082
XAU 0.000343
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.766968
XOF 631.550722
XPF 114.822678
YER 248.000316
ZAR 18.57485
ZMK 9001.196327
ZMW 28.020431
ZWL 321.999592
  • CMSD

    0.2400

    23.95

    +1%

  • RYCEF

    0.2800

    7.95

    +3.52%

  • BCC

    1.2450

    119.965

    +1.04%

  • JRI

    0.0640

    12.914

    +0.5%

  • SCS

    0.4050

    12.335

    +3.28%

  • RIO

    1.1000

    63.14

    +1.74%

  • RBGPF

    -0.8400

    64.01

    -1.31%

  • BP

    0.1450

    34.825

    +0.42%

  • CMSC

    0.1690

    23.449

    +0.72%

  • BCE

    0.4650

    23.725

    +1.96%

  • RELX

    0.2190

    51.659

    +0.42%

  • AZN

    0.5300

    74.96

    +0.71%

  • VOD

    -0.1700

    8.42

    -2.02%

  • NGG

    0.5700

    61.15

    +0.93%

  • GSK

    0.3100

    36.44

    +0.85%

  • BTI

    -4.1100

    38.63

    -10.64%

North Korea's Kim vows nuclear programme to continue: state media
North Korea's Kim vows nuclear programme to continue: state media / Photo: © AFP/File

North Korea's Kim vows nuclear programme to continue: state media

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed that Pyongyang's nuclear programme would continue "indefinitely", state media reported Wednesday, days after new US President Donald Trump said he would make renewed diplomatic overtures to the reclusive leader.

Text size:

Kim recently visited a nuclear-material production facility, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said, where Kim warned of an "inevitable" confrontation with hostile nations and said 2025 would be a "crucial year" for bolstering North Korea's nuclear forces.

"It is our firm political and military stand and invariable noble task and duty to develop the state's nuclear counteraction posture indefinitely," Kim said, according to KCNA.

The report, and Kim's nuclear factory visit, follow Pyongyang's test-firing on Saturday of sea-to-surface strategic guided cruise missiles, its first weapons test since Trump returned to the White House on January 20.

In response, an official with the US National Security Council said Trump would pursue "the complete denuclearisation of North Korea, just as he did in his first term", according to a report from South Korean Yonhap news agency.

Trump, who had a rare series of meetings with Kim during his first term, said in an interview last week that he would reach out to the North Korean leader again, calling Kim a "smart guy".

Despite enduring crippling economic sanctions, North Korea declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear state in 2022.

Pyongyang says the weapons are necessary for its self-defence and to counter hostilities from Washington.

Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Wednesday that the Trump administation appeared to be "adopting a two-track approach".

"Trump is extending overtures for dialogue with Kim to encourage discussions from a political perspective," Yang told AFP.

"On the other hand, Washington's working-level officials are now making clear that they focused on negotiating with the ultimate goal of achieving complete denuclearisation," he said.

But Yang added that North Korea might still want to speak to Washington "as they do need sanctions relief to keep its regime".

- 'In love' -

During his first term in office, Trump met with Kim three times, beginning with a landmark summit in Singapore in June 2018.

A few months after, Trump famously told a rally of his supporters that the two men had fallen "in love".

But their second summit in Hanoi collapsed in 2019 over sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up in return.

"I think he (Kim) misses me," Trump said in July last year, adding "it is nice to get along with somebody that has a lot of nuclear weapons".

In a commentary released the same month, North Korea said while it was true Trump tried to reflect the two leaders' "special personal relations", he "did not bring about any substantial positive change" during his first term in office.

"Even if any administration takes office in the US, the political climate, which is confused by the infighting of the two parties, does not change and, accordingly, we do not care about this," it added.

D.Johnson--TFWP