North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament was set to meet on Sunday along with Kim in order to discuss and pass decisions for the future of the nation. The meeting usually includes discussion of budgetary concerns, changes in personnel, and priority of policies. During this past meeting, however, much more intense subject matter was brought up. The Assembly and Kim did speak on a five year plan to improve North Korea’s economy, they also heavily discussed nuclear weaponry. Kim spoke about increasing nuclear weapons in the midst of hostility from the United States. He stated he wanted an arsenal that could target the United States in their Asian locations as well as their actual location out west. With Trump’s presidency slowly but surely coming to a close, these sorts of discussions from Kim are a little surprising. Trump and Kim shortly had a breakthrough of sorts but that ended in failed agreements. As Trump leaves office, I am confused as to what hostilities Kim mentioned. Either way, Kim’s requests are cause for concern for the United States and particularly their allies in the East Asian Region. It seems that Kim has no desire to re-escalate tensions between the two countries and is not concerned with countries caught in the crossfire. Though it may be without much cause, North Korea has taken to flexing their different types of power. Firstly, North Korea has the capability to produce the military arsenal mentioned by Kim. More importantly, however, is North Korea’s ideologic advantage. Though the people of North Korea may not agree with Kim’s actions, his status as Supreme Leader gives him the power to do as he pleases without citizen interference. The United States on the other hand, is an extremely vocal democratic country where decisions made by leaders are widely discussed and criticized. I think that North Korea adamant on making itself an increased concern for the United States and the new Biden administration.
