After weeks of distinctly watered-down criticisms of its enemies, North Korea is once again ratcheting up its rhetoric as South Korea and the United States carry out joint military exercises and Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president, holds talks in Washington with President Donald Trump.
The state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper unloaded its spleen into an editorial recently, declaring: “Our hearts burn with the blood of endless revenge toward the murderous US imperialist and class-enemy man-eaters who enjoy the slaughter of human beings”.
Condemning the governments of the US and South Korea for going ahead with the military exercises, the Korea Central News Agency said in an English-language article that the decision was a “rude and wicked provocation” that ignored “all the peace-loving efforts and good intentions which the DPRK has shown”.
South Korea was also roundly condemned for permitting defectors – whom KCNA described as “human scum” – to “brazenly hurl mud at the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK”.
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For North Korea watches, the websites, newspapers and propaganda operations allow a view into the mindset of Pyongyang. Or at least a view of what officials want to broadcast.
More positive noises emerged during an unprecedented period of detente.
The criticisms were not suspended entirely, although much of the blood-curdling threats and personal insults of last year – when state media described Mr Trump as a “mentally deranged US dotard” – were toned down.
Korea Summit Press Pool/AP
The propaganda remained low key in the run-up to the ground-breaking meeting between Mr Kim and Mr Moon at the Panmunjom border village in late April, but appears to have reverted to type as the North suggests it will resist pressure to abolish its nuclear arsenal and stocks of long-range missiles.
The ferocity of some of the language now suggests that Pyongyang is less concerned about offending the US ahead of the scheduled summit between Kim Jong-un and Mr Trump in Singapore next month, with analysts suggesting that the North Korean dictator has also been emboldened by China’s renewed support.
The Uriminzokkiri website – a well-known propaganda operation – on Friday also accused the US of increasing military spending in order “to change the world in its favour, dominating it single-handedly” and, in another article, said Washington continues to use mobile phones, the Internet and other propaganda tools to carry out “ideological and cultural poisoning against the DPRK” through “corrupt music, movies and dramas of capitalist countries”.
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