Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday described North Korea’s government as “an illegal and illegitimate regime”.
Mr Kerry used the unusually tough language as he met Kuwait foreign minister Sabah Al Khalid Al Sabah and credited the Gulf nation for its efforts in countering the North’s proliferation activities.
Mr Kerry said Kuwait had “recently taken steps to curb flights and to make sure that revenues from workers are not sustaining an illegal and illegitimate regime in North Korea”.
The US routinely condemns North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests as violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
It is less typical for US officials to question directly the legitimacy of the hereditary regime of leader Kim Jong Un. State Department spokesman John Kirby said later that Mr Kerry’s comments reflected deep US concern over illegal and provocative actions by Mr Kim’s government and did not signal a policy change.
“The actions of the North Korean regime are what give the international community such concern... the provocative behavior that the regime continues to display, are absolutely violations of international law,” said Mr Kirby.
