Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's adoption of an offensive posture towards South Korea during a plenary session of North Korea's ruling party late last year was an attempt to deflect internal discontent over economic difficulties and the country's hereditary succession of power.

In a New Year's discussion aired on KBS on Saturday, the Unification Minister said North Korea faced a tough internal situation due to chronic economic problems and food shortages.

He said interviews with North Korean defectors also indicated a growing negative perception of the communist state's hereditary succession of power and Kim Jong-un's regime and that Kim's aggressive posture during last year's party meeting aimed to redirect such discontent.

He also said recent statements by Kim Yo-jong - Kim Jong-un's powerful sister - blaming South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for North Korea's military buildup reflected Pyongyang's tendency to blame others for the country's faults, calling it part of the North's psychological warfare.

The Unification Minister also addressed concerns that former U.S. President Donald Trump could recognize North Korea as a nuclear state if he retakes power in November's presidential election.

He said such a move would prompt South Korea and Japan to develop their own nuclear deterrents, but South Korea will continue to adhere to non-proliferation norms.