North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his military should "thoroughly annihilate" the United States and South Korea if provoked, state media reported Monday, after he vowed to boost national defense to cope with what he called an unprecedented U.S.-led confrontation.
In an uncompromising signal aimed at Pyongyang, the government of South Korea is vowing to prosecute those who violate human rights in North Korea if and when the two countries are reunited.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un praised what he called achievements and victories that strengthened national power and boosted the country's prestige this year, as he opened a key political meeting to set new policy goals for 2024, state media reported Wednesday.
North Korea and Russia clashed with the United States, South Korea and their allies at an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Tuesday on Pyongyang's latest intercontinental ballistic missile launch, which it called "a warning counter-measure" to threats from the U.S. and other hostile forces.