The North Korean ruler plans to further expand the nuclear arsenal.
(Photo: AP)
Seoul North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has announced a further expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal. This will be done in a “practical and offensive” manner, he said at a meeting with military leaders Tuesday, state media reported. At the meeting, the country’s war preparations should be discussed in view of military exercises by North Korea’s rivals.
In recent weeks, Pyongyang has increased its weapons testing activities while US-South Korean military exercises have intensified. North Korea sees joint US military maneuvers with regional rivals Pyongyang as preparations for an invasion.
Kim has reviewed his country’s frontline attack preparations, reviewed various documents, and stressed the need to expand nuclear deterrence “in a more practical and offensive manner at an accelerating rate,” KCNA reported, without being more specific.
Kim and the military officials analyzed the security situation on the Korean peninsula, “in which the US imperialists and the (South) Korean puppet traitors are becoming more and more open in their steps towards a war of aggression,” it said. Preparations had been made for proposals for military strikes to which the enemy could not respond. The South Korean government initially did not respond to Kim’s rumored statements.
The United States and South Korea undertook their largest joint military exercises in years in March. KCNA said they simulated an all-out war against North Korea. Seoul and Washington have described the drills as defensive in nature and expanding them as a necessary response to increasing threats from North Korea.
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