Why didn't the North Korean media mention the killing of Soleimani, not even Gaddafi and Saddam before him?

The prospect of a military confrontation between the United States and Iran has dominated global media coverage since the US air raid that killed the most powerful military commander in Iran, but the matter in North Korea was different, as the killing of Major General Qassim Soleimani and the stirring it raised in the organs of the state under control the government.

The Washington Post - in an article for its Tokyo head of office Simon Denier - said that North Korea's media coverage was occupied by Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un's speech last week, and his visit to the fertilizer plant this week.

The media coverage there was not without the leader’s news - according to the author - except from a small report issued by the Central News Agency on Monday that stated that China and Russia condemned the American strike in Baghdad, and the last paragraph of it indicated that the raid led to the killing of the leader of the Iranian Quds Force and a militia figure. Iraqi, without naming them or presenting any real sense of the importance of Soleimani.

The author pointed out that another brief report on Tuesday spoke about an anti-war demonstration that took place in Washington, and wondered surprisingly why the leadership was alienated from Iran, although it tended to criticize what it described as American aggression in the government media.

"The fact that they (North Korea) have not mentioned Soleimani's name or Tehran's response, means that Soleimani's killing is a sensitive issue for the Pyongyang regime," said Rachel Minyoung Lee, chief analyst at the NK Pro news service.

Some experts say that Pyongyang's warning stems from its fear of an American military action that may happen, and that it does not want to admit that important leaders can be eliminated, fearing that anyone in the inner house will start looking for new ideas.

The author pointed out that government media has a proven record of withholding information related to "the fate of the former dictators targeted by the United States and who ended up killing" like the Iraqi leaders Saddam Hussein and Libyan Muammar Gaddafi.

She told me, "The government media in North Korea did not mention to this day the fate of Saddam and Gaddafi, and instead I only referred to (the word) overthrowing them, and how Libya and Iraq have become good examples of yielding to foreign powers and getting into ruin."

Diplomacy with Washington gave nothing

Nevertheless, Iran's events with regard to North Korea support Kim's conclusion that two years of principled diplomacy with Washington brought nothing, in his justification for his family's decades-old decision to develop a nuclear deterrent.

The writer said that the American attack on Soleimani came a few days after North Korea formally abandoned its efforts with the (President Donald) Trump administration to lift sanctions, and announced that it would return to a more confrontational approach, in a political speech on New Year's Eve, in which Kim explained that His country has no intention of giving up its nuclear weapons, which he considers the only guarantee of the security of his regime.

Kim has repeatedly stressed that North Korea cannot abandon this security even for economic happiness and convenience, that it is ready for a long-term confrontation with the United States, and that it must achieve economic progress through its own efforts.

He also said, "It is true that we urgently need an external environment conducive to our economic construction, but we can never sell our dignity that we have defended so far as as valuable as our lives, in the hope of a wonderful transformation."

Some experts believe that it is fiction to think that North Korea will trust in an American administration that did not respect the nuclear deal with Iran, forgetting that it is a country with a history of regime change abroad, and in fact Kim explained that dealing with the United States over the past two years has strengthened his convictions.

In the policy speech, the Korean leader said that the United States - even if the nuclear issue is resolved - will find anything wrong with something "what we do" and that its military and political threat will not stop, stressing, "We have stressed our resolve not to trade anything for the security, dignity, and safety of our nation."

Trump uses the weapon

However - according to the author - Trump still insists that Kim promised nuclear disarmament when they met in Singapore in 2018, and he says he still hopes the Korean leader will fulfill this pledge as "a man who stands by his word."

The author notes that Pyongyang continued to confirm that it had never agreed to give up its nuclear weapons unilaterally, noting that the two leaders agreed only to work for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a formula that also involved the withdrawal of the American nuclear threat.

He believes that Trump's decision to kill Soleimani may persuade the Korean leader, who sees the danger before him, to move faster in developing his country’s nuclear arsenal, because it shows that the words of the US President when he talks about "fire and anger" are not just empty words.

"Trump will now be seen in North Korea as someone who can use force (...) and this is a very bad sign because it means that they have to act with more caution," said Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kokmin University in Seoul.

Lev Erik Easley, a professor at the University of Oeh in Seoul, believes that the escalation of tensions between Iran and the United States will discourage North Korea from escalating, but it will also prevent it from giving up its nuclear weapons.