Kim orders an ‘exponential increase’ in North Korea’s nuclear arsenal

GBNEWS24DESK//

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for developing new intercontinental ballistic missiles and a larger nuclear arsenal to counter US-led threats, state media said on Sunday, amid flaring tension between the rival Koreas.

At a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, Kim highlighted the need to secure “overwhelming military power” to defend its sovereignty and security.

The meeting came amid cross-border tensions over last week’s intrusion by North Korean drones into the South, and the North’s series of missile launches, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

Kim accused Washington and Seoul of trying to “isolate and stifle” Pyongyang with US nuclear strike assets constantly deployed in South Korea, calling it “unprecedented in human history.”

He vowed to develop another ICBM system “whose main mission is quick nuclear counter-strike” under a plan to bolster the country’s nuclear force, the official KCNA news agency said.

“The prevailing situation calls for making redoubled efforts to overwhelmingly beef up the military muscle … in response to the worrying military moves by the US and other hostile forces,” it said.

South Korea has become “our undoubted enemy” being “hell-bent on imprudent and dangerous arms buildup” and hostile military moves, Kim said.

“It highlights the importance and necessity of a mass-producing of tactical nuclear weapons and calls for an exponential increase of the country’s nuclear arsenal,” Kim said, adding these would be a “main orientation” of the 2023 nuclear and defence strategy.

As part of the plan, the country will also launch its first military satellite “at the earliest date possible” by accelerating its drive to build a spy satellite, with preparations for the vehicle being in the final stage, KCNA said.