Mick Hartley

From the Telegraph:

Kim Jong-un has declared that North Korea should be ready for negotiations with the United States, striking an unusually conciliatory note amid a growing economic crisis that has led to dire shortages of fuel and food.

The dictator's comments come just days after the United States and others urged the totalitarian regime to abandon its nuclear program and return to talks.

Speaking at a meeting on the ruling Workers’ Party on Friday, the North Korean leader “stressed the need to get prepared for both dialogue and confrontation,” according to the state-run KCNA news agency….

Kim’s latest comments have been interpreted as a sign that he is planning to change tack from his usually bellicose approach to the US.

As recently as 2019, state media proclaimed that President Joe Biden should be “beaten to death with a stick”, and more recently accused him of a “big blunder” for saying he would use “diplomacy as well as stern deterrence” to deal with the North’s nuclear programme.

Mr Kim’s comments “certainly appear more conciliatory”, said Rah Jong-yil, a former diplomat and head of the South Korean intelligence department charged with monitoring North Korea.

“The North has exhausted its means of pressuring the US and South Korea because they can keep developing nuclear weapons, but to what end?” he told The Telegraph.

“They can keep spending money that they don’t really have on more warheads and stockpiling them, but they are facing a different crisis now, of shortages of food and fuel – and the people cannot eat nuclear weapons.”

International aid agencies have cautioned of a possible famine as North Korea faces a shortfall of more than 1.2 million tonnes of grains to feed a population that is already suffering from malnutrition.

There have also been anecdotal reports of families in poorer, rural regions starving to death.

"People's basic household assets are being sold off to procure food. This is not sustainable and action needs to be taken immediately,” warned the South Korea state-run Korea Development Institute think tank earlier this month.

Even among the elite residents of Pyongyang, upon whom Kim relies heavily for support, there have been stories of rations not being delivered and ballooning prices of the few luxuries that are available.

A small packet of black tea is now £50, a bottle of foreign-brand shampoo is £150 and a pack of coffee is more than £70.

The North Korean leader appears to have finally recognised that the US will remain “adamant” on the sanctions and other pressures that are in place against his regime, Mr Rah said.

“Kim will not want to lose face, of course, but it will not harm him to be more conciliatory and see what that brings him.”

Well, I'd hold back on the optimism about some kind of change of heart by the now slightly-less-fat Supreme Commander. He won't be giving up his nuclear weapons anytime soon, but yes, he'd like some food imports thank you very much, with no strings attached. Perhaps Biden and South Korea's ever-appeasement-minded president Moon can help him out. He says"dialogue and confrontation", not just "dialogue".

Here's the speech, as reported by the official Rodong Sinmun:

The third-day sitting of the 3rd Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) continued on June 17 to confirm the fighting policies which would play the guiding role in further accelerating the historic advance of our Party and people for this year and practical tasks.

As the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un appeared at the meeting hall to mount the platform, all the participants raised thunderous cheers of "Hurrah!" for the General Secretary of the ever-victorious Party who has wisely led the plenary meeting to creditably perform its crucial discussion and to fulfill its historic guiding mission and role with all his thinking and efforts directed to the well-being and happiness of the state and the people.

At panel study and consultative meetings that continued in the wake of the second-day sitting, substantial and dynamic tasks to be carried out in the second half of the year and practical ways were fully discussed.

The plenary meeting examined constructive opinions that were put together and adopted with unanimous approval a resolution reflecting additional measures for thoroughly carrying out major state policy tasks for this year and a resolution on unconditionally fulfilling the grain production plan by concentrating efforts of the entire Party, the whole army and all the people on the farming for this year.

The plenary meeting discussed as the fourth agenda item the analysis of the present international situation and our Party's corresponding direction.

The respected General Secretary reviewed and assessed major changes taking place on the international political arena in recent days and the external environment of our revolution.

Especially he made detailed analysis of the policy tendency of the newly emerged U.S. administration toward our Republic and clarified appropriate strategic and tactical counteraction and the direction of activities to be maintained in the relations with the U.S. in the days ahead.

The General Secretary stressed the need to get prepared for both dialogue and confrontation, especially to get fully prepared for confrontation in order to protect the dignity of our state and its interests for independent development and to reliably guarantee the peaceful environment and the security of our state.

"…especially to get fully prepared for confrontation…"