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In this photo released by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends the third day of the 3rd Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea on Wednesday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un responded to the rapid geopolitical changes following the inauguration of US President Joe Biden by saying that the North “should be prepared for both dialogue and confrontation and, more particularly, should be completely prepared for confrontation.” Kim’s remarks are thought to mean that Pyongyang is willing to consider not only confrontation but also dialogue with the Biden administration, but that it will keep watching developments until conditions are more favorable for negotiations.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official organ of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), said that Kim “summarized and assessed the external environment for our revolution and the major changes that have been occurring recently on the stage of international politics” on June 17, the third day of the 3rd Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the WPK.

More specifically, the Rodong Sinmun said that Kim had “analyzed in detail the direction of the newly inaugurated US administration’s policy toward the Republic [that is, North Korea] and laid out an appropriate strategic and tactical response and course of action to take in our relations with the US going forward.”

Kim is quoted at length in a front-page story in the Friday issue of the Rodong Sinmun.

According to the report, North Korea’s strategic and tactical goals are “defending the dignity and the autonomous developmental interests of our state” and “credibly guaranteeing a peaceful environment and the safety of the state.” To achieve those goals, Kim said, North Korea “should be prepared for both dialogue and confrontation and, more particularly, should be completely prepared for confrontation.”

In short, Kim revealed a “two-track” approach of preparing for both dialogue and confrontation while still seemingly placing the focus on confrontation.

The Rodong Sinmun went on to say that Kim had “expressed the foreign policy positions and principles of the Party and the government of the Republic on important international and regional issues.” But the newspaper didn’t specify Kim’s assessment or stance on those issues, which include the results of the North Korea policy review that the Biden administration announced at the end of April.

The Biden administration said it would focus North Korea policy on achieving the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through a gradual and step-by-step approach. The US also said it would treat the Singapore Joint Statement — which was released during the first North Korea-US summit on June 12, 2018 — as the starting point for dialogue.

The US went a step further in its summit with South Korea on May 21, in which it mentioned not only the Singapore Joint Statement but also the Panmunjom Declaration, which South and North Korea reached on April 27, 2018.

“We also reaffirm our common belief that diplomacy and dialogue, based on previous inter-Korean and US-DPRK commitments such as the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration and Singapore Joint Statement, are essential to achieve the complete denuclearization and establishment of permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula,” the US and South Korea said in a statement.

But since the US hasn’t offered any specific incentives that could convince North Korea to join the dialogue, the North has also remained silent without providing a meaningful response.

Blinken addressed the “silent standoff” with North Korea in an interview with ABC on May 23. “We’re prepared to do the diplomacy,” Blinken said, adding that “the ball’s in their court.”

North Korea has repeatedly expressed the hardline position that the US must retract its “policy of hostility” toward the North before meaningful dialogue between the two sides can resume after talks broke down in Hanoi in late February 2019.

How exactly could the US roll back what the North regards as a “policy of hostility”? The North has asked the US to halt joint military exercises with South Korea and stop deploying strategic assets that represent a serious threat to the North, such as the F-35 fighter.

During the 3rd Plenary Meeting of the WPK Central Committee, Kim was quoted as saying that North Korea needs to “further enhance the strategic position and active role of our Republic and to take the initiative in creating a favorable external environment.”

“We need to react and respond sensitively and nimbly to a situation that’s changing every minute while working to maintain stability in Korean Peninsula affairs,” Kim also said.

Kim means to keep watching developments for now while holding open the possibility of dialogue given the Biden administration’s willingness to begin negotiations on the gradual denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula based on the Singapore Joint Statement. While the Biden administration’s position is that the ball is in North Korea’s court, it will probably take the North a little longer to kick the ball back to the US.

By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter

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