Kim claimed that the United States had engaged in a “hostile and aggressive” policy with his country and, as a result, the two countries had never been closer to nuclear war than now, according to reports from KCNA, North Korea’s state-run media. 

“Never before have the warring parties on the Korean peninsula faced such a dangerous and acute confrontation that it could escalate into the most destructive thermonuclear war,” Kim declared in his speech.

Kim also warned that his country and the United States had achieved everything it could regarding negotiations. He also said that the United States doesn’t want to coexist with his country but rather continue down a path of asserting its geopolitical power and influence over North Korea.

“We have already gone as far as we can on negotiating with the United States, but what we became certain of from the result is not the superpower’s willingness to coexist, but its thorough stance of power and aggressive and hostile policy toward us that can never change,” Kim said.

While tough talk and increased tensions are nothing new in the relationship between the United States and North Korea, the latest round of hostilities stems from the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills conducted by the United States and South Korea in August. Even though these drills were described as reactionary and “defensive in nature,” North Korea considered them a threat.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement declaring the exercises as “provocative war drills for aggression,” the Associated Press reported. As such, North Korea rationalized the drills as a reason to increase their weapons and nuclear arsenal as doing allowed the country to “constantly maintain the balance of power for preventing a war by stockpiling the greatest deterrence.”

Additionally, in August, North Korea called for an increase of its nuclear weapons to “counter threats from the United States”. It held a ceremony marking the “delivery of 250 nuclear-capable missile launchers to frontline military units.”

“Negotiations and confrontation are among our options, but we must be more thoroughly prepared to cope with the latter — this is the review and conclusion we have derived from the 30-odd years of dealing with the United States,” Kim said at the time. “The United States we are now confronting is by no means an administration that remains in power for a tenure of some years, but a hostile state that our descendants, too, will have to counter, generation after generation. This fact testifies to the inevitability of the steady improvement of our defense capability.”

Recent revelations that North Korea forged an alliance with Russia and sent troops to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war also amplified tensions between the two countries. The United States condemned North Korea’s decision to intervene, while North Korea responded by claiming it was another reason to increase its military weapons and nuclear arsenal.