Repeated 'Sanctions-Provocations' by North Korea and the US Raise Concerns of 'Strongest vs Strongest' Confrontation

[Asia Economy Reporters Inho Yoo and Jieun Lee] North Korea hinted at further provocations, describing the U.S. sanctions as a "confrontational stance."

Meanwhile, the United States remains open to dialogue, stating that "some of North Korea's actions are attempts to attract attention."

On the 14th, the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement through its spokesperson warning, "If the U.S. insists on maintaining this confrontational stance, we will have no choice but to respond more strongly and clearly." This was in response to the U.S. imposing sanctions on six North Korean nationals related to missile development program procurement on the 12th (local time), signaling additional countermeasures.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed, "The recent new weapons development projects we have undertaken are solely activities to modernize national defense capabilities, not aimed at any specific country or power, and have not endangered the safety of neighboring countries at all."

It added, "Nevertheless, the U.S. has taken these activities to the United Nations Security Council and stirred up condemnation, even imposing unilateral sanctions, deliberately escalating the situation. This shows that the current U.S. administration talks about diplomacy and dialogue but is persistently committed to a policy of isolating and suppressing North Korea."

With the U.S. responding to North Korea’s New Year missile launches with sanctions and North Korea retaliating, the North Korea-U.S. relationship is likely to continue on a ‘strong against strong’ trajectory for the time being. Professor Im Eul-chul of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies at Gyeongnam National University predicted, "Since North Korea has presented the ‘strong against strong, preemptive strike’ principle as the basis for its relations with the U.S., it will maintain a policy of reciprocal responses depending on the level of U.S. rhetoric and actions."

However, since North Korea chose to issue a statement through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, indicating a form of restraint, there appears to be some room for dialogue.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also appeared on MSNBC on the 13th, criticizing North Korea by saying, "It undermines stability and violates the entire UN Security Council resolutions," but clarified that "some of North Korea’s actions are attempts to attract attention," indicating no hostile intent.