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North Korea’s Kim vows ‘power to power’ military; promotes nuclear envoy

North Korea’s Kim vows ‘power to power’ military; promotes nuclear envoy

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un chairs a session of the 4th plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), in this photo released on December 29, 2021 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). KCNA/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SOUTH KOREA.

KCNA via Reuters

Choe Son-hui, long a key member of Pyongyang's team negotiating over its nuclear program with the United States, has been named foreign minister

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea promoted its key nuclear negotiator to foreign minister, state media said on Saturday, June 11, as leader Kim Jong-un vowed to his ruling party that he would use “power for power” to fight threats to the country’s sovereignty.

Choe Son-hui, long a key member of Pyongyang’s team negotiating over its nuclear program with the United States, was named foreign minister, state news agency KCNA said.

The appointment comes as the United States warned this month that North Korea is preparing to conduct a seventh nuclear test, and says it will again push for United Nations sanctions if that happens. 

Kim did not mention a nuclear test and offered no details about how he would bolster military power as international concerns grow that he would order the first such test in five years.

“The right to self-defense is an issue of defending sovereignty, clarifying once again the Party’s invariable fighting principle of power for power and head-on contest,” Kim was quoted as saying.

He announced goals to boost the country’s military power and defense research to protect North Korea’s sovereign rights, KCNA said in a report of a Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday condemned the North’s ongoing military activities and preparations for a nuclear test as unacceptable provocations.

Meeting on the sidelines of a security conference in Singapore, Lee and Austin “agreed to expand the scope and scale of South Korea-US combined exercises as agreed at the two countries’ summit in order to maintain steadfast deterrence and constant readiness,” South Korea’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. 

“Secretary Austin underscored that the US commitment to the defense of (South Korea) is ironclad and underpinned by the full range of US capabilities, including nuclear,” the US Defense Department said in a statement.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday that Washington is watching “very closely” the continued possibility of a nuclear test by North Korea. – Rappler.com