North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has doubled down on his regime persevering through tough sanctions that have choked his economy, urging his country to deal a "telling blow" to those imposing the sanctions and pitching self-reliance as an "eternal lifeline," state-run media reported Thursday.
The remarks, which came before top officials of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea on Wednesday, were Kim's first official comments on the North's position since denuclearization talks with the United States broke down in Vietnam in late February, in part over Pyongyang's demands for immediate sanctions relief.
In his remarks, Kim "underscored the need to more vigorously advance" the North's "self-supporting national economy ... under the uplifted banner of self-reliance, so as to deal a telling blow to the hostile forces who go with bloodshot eyes miscalculating that sanctions can bring the DPRK to its knees," the official Korean Central News Agency said, using the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.