North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the world will witness a new strategic weapon from his country in the near future, and Chinese analysts said Washington should take responsibility for the backward Korean Peninsula situation, as it didn't adopt flexibility in its policy and accept China's and Russia's proposal to ease sanctions when Pyongyang already showed its sincerity on denuclearization.
Kim made the remarks at the 5th Plenary Meeting of 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, the country's national news agency Korean Central News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Kim solemnly declared that there is no need to hesitate with any expectation of the US lifting sanctions, even now that "we have had a close look into the real intention of the US," adding if the US persists in its hostile policy towards the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), there will never be denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.
Kim left vague whether the new weapon would be a nuclear test or an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), but he said "the scope and depth" of bolstering the DPRK's nuclear deterrent "will be properly coordinated depending on the US' future attitude to the DPRK."
Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times that new strategic weapons Kim mentioned in the report are clearly targeting the US.
The weapons could mean an ICBM with solid fuel, which has a longer range that can reach US territory, presenting a more effective deterrent to Washington; or it could also be the successful miniaturization of a nuclear warhead, so that the ICBM can carry multiple nuclear warheads with more advanced capability to break the missile defense system of the US, he noted.
Lü Chao, a research fellow at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the Singapore summit in 2018 was actually a historic opportunity for both sides to realize sustainable peace, and North Korea desperately wants to boost its economy and embrace the outside world, but US' stubborn stance and lack of flexibility left North Korea disappointed after the Hanoi summit in 2019, he said.
"Although continuing to develop strategic weapons will put North Korea in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, the US should take responsibility for the backward situation, as North Korea has already showed its sincerity by stopping nuclear and missile tests for a very long time," Lü noted.
Song said US President Donald Trump might be satisfied with the previous situation so it has no further intention to push forward the peace process, as he needs North Korea to keep quiet so that he can flaunt his diplomatic achievements to voters, adding however that Kim won't keep quiet and promise denuclearization forever when the US makes no positive response.
"Kim won't help Trump or be used by Trump for the presidential election. He has his own desire and his potential actions may affect Trump's reelection," Song said.
Lü said some analysts from South Korea and the US predicted that North Korea will restart its military-first policy and abandon its adjustment from military to economic development, "but I think the situation is not as bad as they thought since both sides are still open for negotiations."
China and Russia had already proposed to the UN Security Council the easing of sanctions against North Korea to encourage further efforts on denuclearization by the end of 2019.
"The US should understand that sanctions are not the only way and history has already proved that North Korea won't submit to sanctions and military pressure. If the situation gets worse again in 2020, the US will likely lose the historic chance to solve the problem," Lü noted.
