North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the ruling party congress in Pyongyang, Saturday. / AP-Yonhap

Deadlock in inter-Korean ties expected to continue

By Kang Seung-woo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's long-awaited Workers' Party Congress message clarifying his "steadfast will" to develop his regime's nuclear program is throwing cold water on any gleam of hope for progress in the U.S.-North denuclearization talks ― even after the leadership change in Washington ― and possible developments in inter-Korean relations, according to Pyongyang watchers, Sunday.

Negotiations on North Korea's denuclearization have been stalled since the collapse of the Hanoi summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim in February 2019, and as a result, inter-Korean relations have also seen little progress as well.

On Saturday, Kim delivered his message, through the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), regarding his country's respective bilateral ties with the United States and the South. In particular, his comments on the U.S. carried extra weight as they were the first from Kim to publicly address President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office next week.

In Kim's "chilling" message to the U.S., calling it the North's principal enemy, he said he did not expect the incoming Biden administration to drop its hostile policy toward his country. Also, he said the North will approach the U.S. on the principle of strength for strength and goodwill for goodwill, stating, "A key to establishing a new relationship between the DPRK and the U.S. lies in the U.S. withdrawal of its hostile policy towards the DPRK." The DPRK refers to the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"Relations between the U.S. and the North could be further deadlocked," said Shin Beom-chul, the director of the Center for Diplomacy and Security at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.