North Korea respects Iran's choice of a new supreme leader, state media said on Wednesday (March 11, 2026), accusing the U.S. and Israel of undermining regional peace. Mr. Trump said during his Asia trip in October that he was "100%" open to meeting with Mr. Kim, a remark that went unanswered by the North. During the occasion, Kim stressed the importance of expanding a "powerful and reliable nuclear war deterrent," KCNA said. There, Mr. Kim said "important successes" have been made in the practical deployment of "strategic and tactical strike means". North Korea appears to be "securing the legitimacy and justification for bolstering war deterrence," Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP.

Source: The Hindu March 12, 2026 02:21 UTC