NORTH KOREAN leader Kim Jong Un renewed his call for a “limitless” expansion of his military nuclear programme to counter United States-led threats in comments reported today.

This was his first direct criticism towards Washington since Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election earlier this month.

At a conference with army officials on Friday, Mr Kim condemned the US for updating its nuclear deterrence strategies with South Korea and solidifying three-way military co-operation involving Japan, which he portrayed as an “Asian Nato” that was escalating tensions and instability in the region.

Mr Kim also slammed the US over its support of Ukraine against a prolonged Russian invasion. He insisted that Washington and its Western allies were using Ukraine as their “shock troops” to wage a war against Moscow and expand the scope of US military influence, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

The North Korean leader met the president-elect three times in 2018 and 2019 during Mr Trump’s first presidency, but their diplomacy quickly collapsed over disagreements in exchanging the release of US-led sanctions and North Korean steps to wind down its nuclear and missile programme. 

Some experts have played down the chances of returning to 2018-type diplomacy between Mr Kim and Mr Trump, as the regional security and geopolitics circumstances have changed significantly.