The US military strike on Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro have sent a stark warning to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, reinforcing his belief that nuclear weapons are essential for survival, South Korean experts said Monday.
According to Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, the US operation could deliver two powerful messages to Kim: an “existential threat” and a “justification for nuclear fixation.”
“The humiliating capture of Maduro is likely to imprint more decisively on Kim Jong-un the belief that giving up nuclear weapons would amount to suicide,” Lim said. “This will make denuclearization negotiations on the Korean Peninsula even more difficult.”
Lim noted that the psychological impact on Kim may be amplified by the long-standing ties between North Korea and Venezuela, which have maintain
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