North Korea’s Kim ramps up show of force as US war on Iran raises stakes

As the war on Iran continues to command global attention, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has stepped up his appearances at military events, using drills and missile tests to project confidence at home and defiance abroad.His heightened visibility suggests that Kim feels more secure in his country’s nuclear deterrence as Washington’s focus is pulled in several directions, analysts say.Kim has cast himself as increasingly assertive and is distancing himself from the symbolic rituals observed by his father and grandfather before him.Koh Yu-hwan, professor emeritus at Dongguk University, said Kim was determined to maintain a strong public profile after the kidnapping of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and the US and Israeli strikes on Iran aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear enrichment programme.His father Kim Jong-il, by contrast, often retreated to underground bunkers during periods of perceived threat – most notably at the height of tensions with the US during the 2002 nuclear crisis, Koh said.“Kim Jong-un is boldly standing up to US threats, displaying confidence in the country’s strategic status backed by its nuclear arsenal,” Koh said, adding that security crises could help Pyongyang tighten internal control.“When there is no crisis, it creates one, as the North needs to continuously instil a sense of embattlement among its population to sustain its one-man rule despite economic hardship.”A test-fire of cruise missiles and anti-warship missiles from the destroyer Choe Hyon in North Korea on Sunday. Photo: KCNA/EPADuring his first term in 2017, US President Donald Trump warned that North Korea would be met with “fire and fury” if it threatened the United States, following reports that Pyongyang had developed a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on a missile.Fears of possible US strikes pushed Kim towards negotiations over denuclearisation, leading to summits with Trump in Singapore in 2018 and Hanoi in 2019, both of which failed to produce lasting agreements.“For Kim, things have changed. Backed by a strengthened nuclear deterrent that has enhanced North Korea’s strategic status, he no longer accepts talks for the North’s unilateral nuclear disarmament,” Koh said.On Wednesday, Kim oversaw an army artillery firing contest held on the birthday of his grandfather and state founder Kim Il-sung, calling for such competitive military events to be held on national holidays, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).Further ReadingIt marked the first time he had been seen attending a military event on the founder’s birth anniversary, one of the country’s most important holidays, known as the “Day of the Sun”.“It is good for military units at all levels to frequently organise training competitions on major occasions, including national holidays like today,” Kim said. Achieving “complete combat readiness” fulfilled Kim Il-sung’s vision of building a strong military, he added.Yet Kim appears to have skipped a visit to the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun – the mausoleum where the bodies of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il lie in state – for the fourth consecutive year. The repeated absence signals a deliberate intent not to tie himself too closely to the symbolic authority of his predecessors, according to observers.A building destroyed in US and Israeli strikes as seen on Tuesday in Tehran, Iran. Photo: Xinhua“This suggests a deliberate effort by Kim to project independent leadership, reducing reliance on his father’s and grandfather’s legacy while emphasising a field-oriented, action-driven military leadership style rather than traditional ceremonial practices,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.Oh Gyeong-seob, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said Kim favoured a more assertive leadership style than his father, who rarely spoke publicly.“Given this contrast, it is true that Kim Jong-un has recently increased military-related activities, emphasising the parallel development of nuclear and conventional weapons,” Oh said, adding that the recent surge in military drills appeared to be a direct response to US strikes on Iran.“These are calculated signals to Washington that military options will not be effective in forcing North Korea’s compliance when it returns to the centre of US attention after the Iran conflict,” he said.Kim has also overseen test-firings of strategic cruise and anti-ship missiles from the new destroyer Choe Hyon, with KCNA reporting that he stressed strengthening the country’s nuclear deterrence “without limit” remained its top priority.01:03North Korea’s Kim Jong-un calls for military overhaul in line with modern warfare