A low-ranking diplomat took the stage at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday to represent the communist dictatorship of North Korea, celebrating the existence of the country’s nuclear weapons as critical to the ongoing absence of active war on the Korean Peninsula.
Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Kim Son Gyong took the stage on the last day of speeches that form part of what the U.N. calls the General Assembly’s “high-level debate,” when the heads of state of every U.N. member country are invited to take the stage and discuss whatever matter is of importance to them. Typically, the last day is reserved for the countries that send the lowest-ranked individuals to address the forum, while the first three days feature the largest number of presidents, prime ministers, and kings invited to attend. North Korea’s communist dictator Kim Jong-un has never addressed the General Assembly, likely avoiding any travel to the United States given that the two countries have been in a formal state of war for over 70 years. New York nonetheless regularly welcomes adversarial leaders with special diplomatic status to preserve the tradition of the General Assembly.
Vice Minister Kim used much of his speech to scold the United Nations for insufficiently protecting world peace and standing on the sidelines of major conflicts. He did not name any of these major conflicts, however, studiously avoiding offering commentary in detail outside of North Korea’s relationship with the South, Japan, or America. He condemned the United Nations for failing to address the “most despicable, world-startling act of state-sponsored terrorism” that opened 2026, but did not name what act he was talking about. It is possible that he was addressing the arrest of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on January 3, as it was one of the earliest geopolitical events in 2026, but Kim did not mention Maduro or Venezuela by name, nor did he suggest he was referring to anything else.
“Regrettably, however, the Organization still fails to recover from functional paralysis owing to the high-handedness and unilateralism of a handful of countries pursuing only chauvinistic interests,” Kim asserted.
Kim went on to similarly condemn “a hegemonic state” that was allegedly fueling “unilateral high-handedness and tyranny,” but did not name his target. He omitted mention of any allies by name, as well – no support for Iran, Russia, China, Cuba, or other traditional partners. Kim promised that his country would “always be with the anti-imperialist, independent countries,” but did not specify which countries those are.
Kim was more specific on matters pertaining to the North Korean government. He claimed that the ruling communists were engaging in “new massive projects,” without elaborating – contradicting the widely known reality that most North Koreans are forced to live in abject poverty, trapped in an asphyxiating communist system that does not allow them to engage in enterprise and siphons all their wealth into an illicit nuclear program. He spoke extensively about that nuclear program, celebrating it as single-handedly preventing war on the Korean Peninsula, rather than increasing tensions and bringing the region closer to conflict.
“No physical conflict has occurred on and around the Korean peninsula, a hot spot of the world, and the security index is being maintained at a higher level than any other part of the globe,” he claimed. “We owe it to the fact that the DPRK [North Korea] has a war deterrent in place powerful enough to break anyone’s will to start a war of aggression against the DPRK and that we are thoroughly containing and managing the hostile forces’ intention to use force. … No one can deny such an obvious fact.”
“The DPRK’s nuclear deterrent is the absolute might and irresistible force designed, from A to Z, to safeguard the sovereignty, security, and peace against aggression and threat from outside,” Kim continued. He insisted, “The status of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea as a nuclear weapons state, that has been uncompromisingly and permanently fixed both physically and legally with absolutely no turning back, can never be reversed in any circumstances or by any means, no matter how hard and loudly the hostile forces may deny in chorus with all sorts of rhetoric.”
Kim did not mention any North Korean foreign policy aside from its anti-Japanese, anti-American stance. Especially notable was the absence of any mention of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, in which North Korea is actively and openly participating. Dictator Kim Jong-un confirmed in December that North Korean troops had died participating in the conflict, though he claimed they had been deployed to help remove mines and clean areas of Russia that Ukraine had counter-invaded. Ukrainian officials estimate that Kim has deployed tens of thousands of troops to active war in Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the situation at the General Assembly podium, revealing that not only had his troops captured North Korean prisoners of war, but that he had transferred them to South Korea. The South Korean government demanded a formal apology on Sunday for this disclosure, claiming the two countries had agreed to keep the transfer a secret and that Zelensky had “unilaterally” broken that agreement.
Vice Minister Kim also did not discuss Kim Jong-un’s personal relationship with American President Donald Trump, nor did he address the president’s recent overture to Kim suggesting they should open dialogue and potentially meet again.
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