Speaking at North Korea\u2019s weeklong Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers\u2019 Party<\/a> in Pyongyang, Kim labeled South Korea the “most hostile enemy” and said “the conciliatory attitude that South Korea’s current government advocates on the surface is clumsily deceptive and crude,” according to state media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).<\/p>\n Kim said North Korea “can initiate arbitrary action” if South Korea engages in “obnoxious behavior” directed at his country, dismissing recent efforts by Seoul to improve relations.<\/p>\n “South Korea’s complete collapse cannot be ruled out,” Kim said, according to KCNA.<\/p>\n TRUMP SAYS HE’D BE WILLING TO EXTEND ASIA TRIP TO MEET WITH NORTH KOREA’S KIM JONG UN<\/a><\/p>\n North Korean leader Kim Jong Un spoke during the Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers\u2019 Party in Pyongyang on Feb. 23, 2026. (\u00a0Korean Central News Agency via REUTERS)<\/p>\n During the congress, Kim outlined sweeping five-year policy goals centered on expanding North Korea\u2019s nuclear arsenal<\/a>. The country is believed to possess around 50 warheads and enough fissile material to produce up to 40 more, according to an estimate last year from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.<\/p>\n The North Korean leader said the country’s “international status has risen extraordinarily.”<\/p>\n “It is our party’s firm will to further expand and strengthen our national nuclear power, and thoroughly exercise its status as a nuclear state,” Kim said, according to KCNA. “We will focus on projects to increase the number of nuclear weapons and expand nuclear operational means.”<\/p>\n NORTH KOREA RELEASES IMAGES OF DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR-POWERED SUBMARINE<\/a><\/p>\n North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was re-elected as general secretary during the Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang, North Korea, Feb. 22, 2026. (Korean Central News Agency via REUTERS\u00a0)<\/p>\n Kim laid out plans for North Korea to develop more advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of underwater launches, along with artificial intelligence-driven weapons systems and unmanned drones, KCNA reported.<\/p>\n Kim, who met with President Donald Trump<\/a> three times during Trump\u2019s first term, signaled he may be open to future negotiations with Washington but placed responsibility squarely on the United States.<\/p>\n “Whether it\u2019s peaceful coexistence or permanent confrontation, we are ready for either, and the choice is not ours to make,” he said.<\/p>\n NORTH KOREAN LEADER KIM JONG UN’S DAUGHTER SEEN AS FUTURE SUCCESSOR: SPY AGENCY<\/a><\/p>\n North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter Kim Ju Ae attended an event to celebrate the New Year, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (KCNA via Reuters)<\/p>\n Kim said that if the U.S. “withdraws its policy of confrontation” with North Korea<\/a> and acknowledges the country’s “current status,” there would be “no reason why we cannot get along well with the U.S.”<\/p>\n Following the congress, Kim\u2019s teenage daughter attended a military parade in Pyongyang on Wednesday, according to KCNA. Ju Ae, believed to be 13 or 14, was photographed standing beside her father and senior military leaders.<\/p>\n![\"North](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/north-korean-leader-kim-jong-un-speaks-during-congress-session.jpg\")
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