Pyongyang`s Ambition-Kim, Conflict, and North Korea

Recently, Pyongyang has been making no secret of its new, aggressive, foreign policy towards Seoul and the West, which has been on an unprecedented level ever since talks broke down between Washington and Pyongyang in 2019. And the upsetting fact still remains, that Pyongyang`s unprecedented aggressiveness may be the one of the most aggressive stances that the east Asian nation ever took. 

On January 15, 2024, North Korea conducted its first missile launch of 2024, when it launched an intermediate ballistic missile into the sea. Before, North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, called South Korea “our principal enemy” in a fiery, aggressive rhetoric that abandoned all considerations for reconciliation whatsoever. And on January 17, 2024, in a historical moment, Kim announced that North Korea will no longer pursue reunification with South Korea, and called for the rewriting of the Constitution that said so. Furthermore, Kim has gone so far to reject all ideas of reconciliation, declaring the South as a ‘permanent adversary’,and not a partner towards reunification. Moreover, Kim has ordered the North Korean military to accelerate its war preparations, including its nuclear programmes, as it becomes increasingly clear that Pyongyang has made its partners clear-Moscow and Beijing. As Pyongyang pursues closer relationships with the two powers, both challengers of Washington, it has made its ambitious goals for 2024 clear. It wishes to challenge the Western influence in East Asia, especially that of Washington, as well as Seoul, and hold political influence and power in the region through its aggressive stance against the West. At the same time, it aims to boost its economy and military as much as possible to prepare for another challenge against Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo. With the upcoming elections for both America and South Korea, Pyongyang wishes to ramp up its influence in both countries, so that it can potentially influence the elections there with the challenge against the America-led restrictions and sanctions that have hampered the country's struggling economy. Also, Pyongyang`s increasing alignment to Moscow and Beijing also suggest that it wishes to unburden some of the sufferings of its economy through stronger relations, defying the sanctions of the West as they do so. 

Overall, only time will tell of Pyongyang`s true motives and intentions, but it has made its stance clear in a turbulent world, and no doubt, that this will influence the ‘Second Cold War’ ongoing.