[Anchor]

I am joined by reporter Kim Ayeong to discuss North Korea. Kim, I understand that a series of events expressing hostility toward the United States have been held in North Korea recently?

[Reporter]

North Korea now refers to June 25, the day the Korean War began, as the Day of Struggle Against Imperialism. It designates the month leading up to July 27, the date the Armistice Agreement was signed, as the so-called Month of Anti-Imperialist and Anti-U.S. Joint Struggle.

What you are seeing now is footage from the so-called revenge resolution rallies reported on June 24 and 25. You can see various intense phrases that North Korea traditionally uses to express hostility toward the U.S., such as "Annihilate the sworn enemy, the U.S. imperialist aggressors" and "U.S. imperialist murderers."

While these events criticize both the U.S. and South Korea, the primary target remains the United States.

The June 26 edition of the Rodong Sinmun featured expressions such as, "The U.S. imperialists, our sworn enemies, are plotting nuclear war provocations even at this very moment," and "Settling the score with the U.S. imperialists is a generational duty that cannot be delayed."

In other words, they are emphasizing that hostility toward the U.S. is not a thing of the past, but a very urgent and necessary reality in the present moment.

[Anchor]

North Korea has been consistently stating that South Korea is its primary enemy. Hasn't its stance toward the U.S. been relatively moderate until now?

[Reporter]

North Korean media has been completely silent regarding President Trump, which is analyzed as an intentional silence. However, the regime is organizing various events to cultivate hostility toward the U.S. itself, and related footage is being released.

Although Kim Jong-un has stated that he recognizes South Korea as the most hostile state, in these contexts, the U.S. can be seen as being portrayed as the de facto primary enemy.

Kim Jong-un has also been observing events since the beginning of this year, such as the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro and the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei by an explosion, both involving the U.S. From North Korea's perspective, regardless of the relationship between leaders, the U.S. remains a hegemonic, hostile state.

Even though they have declared South Korea as the primary hostile state, it is difficult for them to simply ease their anti-U.S. propaganda.

However, one cannot directly conclude that a high level of anti-U.S. rhetoric means that their hostile policy toward the South has eased. In fact, a demonstration of weapons aimed at the South was actually carried out around June 25.

To summarize, it can be assessed that North Korea is still alternating between South Korea and the U.S. as targets of hostility, depending on the international situation and the needs of its regime.