▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends the Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in this photo from the Korean Central Television on Feb. 23, 2026. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom on June 30, 2019. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) N Korea-party congress

(LEAD) N. Korea's Kim says willing to get along with U.S. if Washington drops hostile policy

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout; RECASTS headline)

By Park Boram

SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said Pyongyang has no reason not to get along with the United States if Washington withdraws its hostile policy against the North, but rejected Seoul's overtures for talks as "deceptive," according to the North's state media Thursday.

Kim made the remarks during a policy review session held Friday-Saturday at the Ninth Congress of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, which concluded its weeklong run the previous day, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

"We have no reason not to get along with the United States if it respects our country's current status, as defined in the North Korean constitution, and drops its hostile policy toward North Korea," Kim was quoted as saying.

"The prospects of North Korea-U.S. relations entirely depend on the attitude of the U.S.," Kim said, adding the regime will take "corresponding" responses if Washington maintains its confrontational stance.

"Whether it's peaceful coexistence or eternal confrontation, we are prepared for both, and the choice is not ours," he said.

The remarks suggest the North is leaving the door open for talks with Washington, as President Donald Trump's April visit to China is widely expected to provide an opportunity to resume summit talks with Kim, following the U.S. president's repeated overtures.

Toward Seoul, however, Kim called the Lee Jae Myung administration's reconciliatory gestures "deceptive," warning that the regime will permanently exclude South Korea from "the category of the same people."

In 2023, Kim described inter-Korean relations as those of foes and has since maintained a hostile policy toward Seoul.

"We will have no business dealing with South Korea, the most hostile entity," Kim said, adding that this stance will be confirmed at the ruling party's policy.

He accused past South Korean administrations of "attempting to upend the North Korean regime," saying "the reconciliatory attitude pursued by the current South Korean government on the surface is a clumsy deceit."

The North Korean leader also reasserted the country's status as a nuclear-armed state, vowing to further step up arms development.

"It is our party's firm and unwavering will to further strengthen state nuclear forces and thoroughly exercise nuclear-armed state status," Kim was quoted by the KCNA as saying.

"Our status as a nuclear-armed country plays an important role in deterring enemies' potential threats and maintaining regional stability," Kim said, calling the country's nuclear weapons "a guarantee and safety device" of its security and interests.

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