U.S. Secretary of State: "Kim Jong Un Seeks Regime Survival... Unlike Iran"

Emphasizes Need to Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons, Comparing It with North Korea
"Kim Jong Un Is Not Interested in Invading Japan or China"

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un seeks only to preserve his regime and survive, not to pursue external expansion. His remarks, made while emphasizing that Iran must be prevented from acquiring nuclear weapons, distinguished the threats posed by North Korea and Iran. They have drawn attention as a glimpse into The Trump Administration's view of North Korea.

According to a transcript of his remarks released by the U.S. State Department on November 15 (local time), Secretary Rubio made the comments on November 13 at the National Lawyers Convention of the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization, in Washington, D.C., while comparing the nuclear threats posed by Iran and North Korea.

Asked what the United States should seek to achieve in its war with Iran, Secretary Rubio said, "Victory means ensuring that Iran never gets nuclear weapons," adding, "If it does acquire them, Iran will hold the entire Middle East hostage."

He then turned to North Korea, saying, "Kim Jong Un is not interested in conquering Japan. He simply wants to preserve his regime and survive."

"I'm not trying to justify the terrible things that have happened in North Korea," Secretary Rubio said, "but he is not an expansionist. He is not trying to invade Japan or China."

By contrast, he said of Iran's leadership, "They are expansionists and revolutionaries," and asked, "What would happen if people like that also had nuclear weapons?"

Secretary Rubio also expressed deep concern over suspicions that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. "Iran claims it is not interested in nuclear weapons, but it is interested in everything needed to build them," he said. "If its goal were nuclear energy, it could have obtained it already, just like South Korea or Japan."

He also pointed out that Iran has expanded its influence across the Middle East by supporting Hezbollah and pro-Iranian armed groups in Iraq, among others. He said Iran's leadership is pursuing the goal of spreading its revolution abroad based on its religious beliefs.

Secretary Rubio's remarks have drawn attention because they highlight how a senior U.S. diplomatic and security official views the nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran differently. They suggest that the United States sees North Korea's nuclear weapons primarily as a means of regime survival, while viewing Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons as a threat that could upend the balance of power in the Middle East.

In particular, while emphasizing that North Korea has no intention of expanding beyond its borders, Secretary Rubio made no separate mention of the country's military threat to South Korea or its nuclear weapons development.

It is also noteworthy that Secretary Rubio, who strongly criticized North Korea's nuclear weapons development and human rights record when he was a senator, has drawn a distinction between the threats posed by North Korea and Iran from his current position overseeing The Trump Administration's foreign and security policies.

The Trump Administration has used military force to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, while leaving open the possibility of improving relations with North Korea through dialogue.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.