SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said an elevated U.S. security partnership with South Korea and Japan poses a grave threat to his country and vowed to further bolster his nuclear weapons program, state media reported Sunday.
Kim has previously made similar warnings, but his latest statement implies again that the North Korean leader won’t likely embrace President Donald Trump’s overture to meet him and revive diplomacy anytime soon.
In a speech marking the 77th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army on Saturday, Kim said the U.S.-Japan-South Korea trilateral security partnership established under a U.S. plot to form a NATO-like regional military bloc is inviting military imbalance on the Korean Peninsula and “raising a grave challenge to the security environment of our state,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
“Referring to a series of new plans for rapidly bolstering all deterrence including nuclear forces, he clarified once again the unshakable policy of more highly developing the nuclear forces,” KCNA said.
Amid stalled diplomacy with the U.S. and South Korea in recent years, Kim has focused on enlarging and modernizing his arsenal of nuclear weapons. In response, the United States and South Korea have expanded their bilateral military exercises and trilateral training involving Japan. North Korea has lashed out at those drills, calling them rehearsals to invade the country.
Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has said he would reach out to Kim again as he boasted of his high-stakes summit with him during his first term.
During a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, Trump said that “We will have relations with North Korea, with Kim Jong Un. I got along with him very well, as you know. I think I stopped the war."
During a Fox News interview broadcast on Jan. 23, Trump called Kim “a smart guy” and “not a religious zealot.” Asked whether he will reach out to Kim again, Trump replied, “I will, yeah.”
Trump met Kim three times in 2018-19 to discuss how to end North Korea’s nuclear program in what was the first-ever summitry between the leaders of the U.S. and North Korea. The high-stakes diplomacy eventually collapsed because Trump rejected Kim’s offer to dismantle his main nuclear complex, a partial denuclearization step, in return for broad sanctions relief.
North Korea hasn’t directly responded to Trump's recent overture, as it continues weapons testing activities and hostile rhetoric against the U.S. Many experts say Kim is now preoccupied with his dispatch of troops to Russia to support its war efforts against Ukraine. They say Kim would still eventually consider returning to diplomacy with Trump if he determines he would fail to maintain the current solid cooperation with Russia after the war ends.
In his Saturday speech, Kim reaffirmed that North Korea “will invariably support and encourage the just cause of the Russian army and people to defend their sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.” Kim accused the U.S. of being behind “the war machine which is stirring up the tragic situation of Ukraine.”
In South Korea, some worry that Trump might abandon the international community’s long-running goal of achieving a complete denuclearization of North Korea to produce a diplomatic achievement.
But a joint statement issued by Trump and Ishiba after their summit stated the two leaders reaffirmed “their resolute commitment to the complete denuclearization of the DPRK,” the acronym of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The statement said the U.S. and Japan also affirmed the importance of the Japan-U.S.-South Korean trilateral partnership in responding to North Korea.
FILE - A soldier stands at a North Korean military guard post flying a national flag, seen from Paju, South Korea, June 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
FILE - In this undated photo provided Oct. 6, 2024, by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un, center, visits an artillery exercise at an undisclosed place in North Korea. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Chaz Lanier made 4 of 5 3-pointers and finished with 20 points, and No. 2 seed Tennessee advanced to a program-record third straight Sweet 16, beating seventh-seeded UCLA 67-58 in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night.
The Volunteers (29-7) will play either sixth-seeded Illinois or No. 3 seed Kentucky, who play Sunday in Milwaukee. The Midwest Region semifinals will be Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Senior guard Jahmai Mashack said this kind of streak is what he wanted when he signed to play for coach Rick Barnes at Tennessee.
“I'm not saying that to be cocky,” Mashack said. “I'm saying that because I put in the work ... Just knowing that the Sweet 16 was a possibility that I wanted to get to, I wanted to do it and I knew this team was going to be able to do it.”
Lanier also set the Tennessee single-season record for 3s with 120, topping the 118 by Chris Lofton in 2007-08. Lofton was in the stands at Rupp Arena to witness Lanier's performance. Lanier called it a blessing and said the glory went to God. He hoped to talk with Lofton postgame.
“It's just a blessing," Lanier said of the record. “I want to shout out my teammates as well. They're always setting good screens for me and passing the ball on the money for me. So without them, I wouldn't be making the shots.”
Zakai Zeigler added 15 points for Tennessee, and Jordan Gainey had 13 points to help the Vols take a 19-point lead with 5:15 left.
UCLA (23-11) made its earliest exit from the tournament in the six-year tenure of coach Mick Cronin.
This was just the second meeting between these programs and first since 1977, a game won in a rout by UCLA in Atlanta. Tennessee took this round with smothering defense, holding UCLA to the fewest points the Bruins had scored in a loss this season.
Cronin said Tennessee’s experienced starting lineup, including a graduate transfer in Lanier and seniors in Zeigler, Mashack and Igor Milicic, was a huge advantage for Barnes and the Vols.
“Offensively, we weren't good enough,” Cronin said.
UCLA last led 25-24.
Tennessee scored the final eight points of the first half and led 32-25. The Vols, with Zeigler and Mashack two of the four finalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award, held UCLA scoreless over the final 3:21 of the half.
Skyy Clark, limited to barely three minutes of play in the first half by foul trouble, finished with 18 points for UCLA. Tyler Bilodeau added 15. Clark said he smacked himself on the head as he watched from the bench in the first half.
“Skyy not being able to play really threw us off for a long time,” Cronin said. “It messed the game up. We had a chance if that wouldn’t have happened, we might’ve had a lead at half.”
UCLA: The Bruins came in with the Big Ten's best scoring defense, holding opponents to 65.2 points a game. They committed just 11 turnovers compared to the Vols' 18, giving them fewer than their opponent in 28 of 34 games this season.
Tennessee: The Vols led the Southeastern Conference by allowing just 63 points a game and limiting opponents to 38.4% shooting — fourth stingiest in the nation. They also led the SEC and were third in the country in defending 3s with teams shooting just 28.2% outside the arc. The Vols shot 11 of 22 from 3.
The Vols opened the second half by outscoring UCLA 14-6. Cronin took a timeout with 14:11 left after Lanier hit his fourth 3, capping a 9-0 spurt for a 46-31 lead.
Tennessee is two wins away from the program's first Final Four berth in a season where the Vols spent five weeks ranked No. 1 in the country. Cronin got UCLA back to the tournament after last year's miss, with the Bruins turning in a good inaugural season in the Big Ten.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
Tennessee guard Chaz Lanier (2) shoots against UCLA center Aday Mara (15) during the second half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Lexington, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Tennessee's Felix Okpara, center, battles with UCLA's Kobe Johnson, left, while UCLA's Tyler Bilodeau (34) defends during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/James Crisp)
Tennessee's Cade Phillips (12) and UCLA's Aday Mara (15) stretch for a rebound during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/James Crisp)
