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| Kim Jong-un |
Kim Jong-un has said he is committed to denuclearisation, but
warned he will change course if the US continues its sanctions.
He made
the remarks during his closely-watched annual New Year's address.
Last year's
speech set the country on an unprecedented path of international diplomacy with
South Korea and the US.
Mr Kim met US
President Donald Trump to discuss denuclearisation in June 2018 but with few
results so far.
Last year's
rapprochement came after a turbulent 2017 marked by North Korea testing
missiles that could reach the US mainland and an escalation in rhetoric between
Pyongyang and Washington with both sides trading insults and threats of nuclear
destruction.
The
annual New Year's address is a tradition Mr Kim picked up from his grandfather,
founder of the communist country, Kim Il-sung.
The speech is
aimed primarily at a domestic audience and, like in previous years, focussed
largely on the economy, but international observers scan every line for clues
to Pyongyang's international agenda as well.
In this
year's speech, broadcast on state television early on Tuesday, Mr Kim said
"if the US does not keep its promise made in front of the whole world...
and insists on sanctions and pressures on our republic, we may be left with no
choice but to consider a new way to safeguard our sovereignty and
interests".
this could mean that North Korea is waiting
for the US to act in 2019 and unless it does, the current pause on nuclear
weapons testing could be over.
North Korea
is subject to various sets of United Nations Security Council sanctions related
to its banned nuclear and ballistic missile weapons programmes.
Mr Kim
said that North Korea had already pledged not to make, use or spread nuclear
weapons and had taken concrete steps to implement this.
He also said
he was ready to meet Mr Trump again at any time.
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