Report: North Korean Hardliners Challenge Kim to Get Tougher on U.S.

Hardliners in communist North Korea have denounced dictator Kim Jong-un’s softball approach to negotiations with the United States, the 38 North website, a component of the Stimson Center think tank, reported Thursday.

The report went on to note that Kim “loyalists” and hardliners who oppose his approach, described as the “orthodox” forces, have used the North Korean newspaper Rodong Sinmun, the official outlet of the country’s communist party, to advance their positions.

On the first anniversary (June 12) of the first round of negotiations between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore, the newspaper disseminated an attack on Kim’s diplomacy efforts.

“War can be prevented not by diplomacy or begging, but only through powerful physical strength,” the newspaper declared, according to 38 North.

Hardliners even appeared to raise “the specter” of curbing Kim’s grip on power, the Stimson Center website noted.

“The respected and beloved Comrade Supreme Commander is also human and loves everyday life more than anyone. Even our marshal needs a rest when mental and physical overwork is accumulated,” the article reportedly said.

38 North continued, “Referring to the leader’s fatigue caused by [a] relentless commitment to the people’s welfare is not unprecedented. In the current context, however, it may have more than routine significance.”

The Stimson Center website further noted that hardliners attacked Kim’s negotiations with Trump, saying:

In language that could be read as an attack on the Singapore Summit but equally on Chinese pressure on the North—significant in view of the announcement of Xi Jinping’s visit—the article warned about the “[T]emptation of hegemonic powers who offered ‘prosperity’ in return for ‘changing the path.’”

The reference to “prosperity” looks to be a barely disguised reference to Washington’s oft-stated promises of a bright future for the North if it gives up with WMD [weapons of mass destruction] programs.

Hardliners made clear that they prefer “restoring the military to its previous positions of status and influence,” 38 North said.

Kim has held two failed rounds of negotiations with Trump — in Singapore and Vietnam — to discuss the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions and security guarantees.

Signaling Kim’s frustration, North Korea carried out a ballistic missile test in May, after 522 days without one.

Trump administration officials have vowed to keep the economic pressure on until North Korea takes credible steps towards getting rid of its WMD program.

Despite the failed summits, the Trump administration remains committed to reaching an agreement.

In May, the United Nations revealed that North Korea had reduced food rations to their lowest level ever after the worst harvest in a decade.