North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un has threatened South Korea with a “complete collapse” if his country’s security is threatened.
02/26/2026, 05:5602/26/2026, 05:56
He also rejected the overtures of the South Korean government under President Lee Jae Myung as a crude deception, as North Korea’s state news agency KCNA reported.
Kim Jong-un remains hostile to South Korea.Image: keystone
Kim made the comments at the end of a party congress that meets every five years and is considered the country’s highest political decision-making body. He described South Korea as a hostile state.
He signaled a fundamental willingness to engage in dialogue with the USA. If the United States abandons its “hostile policy” and accepts North Korea’s status as a nuclear power, nothing would stand in the way of peaceful coexistence, Kim said. “The prospects of North Korea-US relations depend entirely on the attitude of the United States,” Kim continued.
He met US President Donald Trump several times during his first term in office, including at summits in Singapore (2018) and Hanoi, Vietnam (2019). (sda/dpa)