By The Associated Press In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during a session of the Supreme People's Assembly at parliament in Pyongyang, North Korea Monday, March 23, 2026. 朝鮮通信社/AP/KCNA via KNS hide caption SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to irreversibly cement his country's status as a nuclear power while maintaining a hard-line stance toward South Korea, which he called the "most hostile" state, state media said Tuesday. In a speech Monday to Pyongyang's rubber-stamp parliament, Kim accused the United States of global "state terrorism and aggression," in an apparent reference to the war in the Middle East, and said the North will play a more forceful role in a united front against Washington amid rising anti-American sentiment. But Kim didn't call out U.S.…