In an article titled “North Korea Hardens Nuclear Stance at Party Congress”, carried by The Wall Street Journal and written by Alastair Gale, the journalist wrote that:
“North Korean state media reported that the Workers’ Party congress agreed to make the country’s nuclear status permanent and to boost its nuclear arsenal “both in quality and quantity.” On the former, North Korea will likely continue to develop a more powerful hydrogen-based nuclear bomb after outside experts assessed that its January detonation was probably a precursor to such a device.”
In terms of future prospects, Gale remarks that:
“The path of dialogue is closed for now, according to U.S. and South Korean officials, who say that North Korea has shown no willingness under Mr. Kim to discuss denuclearization. Instead, it has insisted the U.S. first talk about a deal that would remove American protection from South Korea, including the roughly 28,500 U.S. troops based in the South.”
Gleb Ivashentsov, member of the Russian Council for International Relations and former ambassador to South Korea and Myanmar (studio guest); Yasuhisa Kawamura, Press Secretary of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan; and Brian Yeung, independent contributor to Chinese and English media in HK joined us to discuss the topic.
