The country must be able to “preventively contain and thwart all dangerous attempts and threats … if necessary,” the leader said.
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un has reiterated that Pyongyang could have a “preemptive” use of nuclear weapons to counter enemy forces, state media reported on Saturday.
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In order to “maintain” the “absolute superiority” of North Korea’s armed forces, the country must be able to “contain and pre-emptively thwart all dangerous attempts and threats…if necessary,” the leader told senior officers, according to official KCNA news Agency.
Pyongyang must continue to expand its arsenal in order to have “overwhelming military power that no power in the world can provoke,” Kim Jong-un said. According to him, it is the “lifeline that guarantees the security of our country”.
At an imposing military parade on April 25, he asserted that he would be able to fall back on the nuclear arsenal if North Korea’s “fundamental interests” were threatened.
More than ten test shots since the beginning of the year
Kim Jong-un reiterated the remarks during a meeting with senior officers whose work he wanted to pay tribute to during the April 25 military parade organized as part of the 90th anniversary of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army.
On this occasion, the most powerful ICBMs were presented. Despite strict international sanctions, North Korea continues to modernize its army.
Since the beginning of the year, Pyongyang has conducted more than a dozen test launches, including launching a long-range ICBM for the first time since 2017.
The country continues to ignore Washington’s proposals to resume negotiations. The North Korean leader’s comments could be aimed at South Korea’s new president-elect, conservative Yoon Suk-yeol, who will take office on May 10, analysts say.
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Kim Jong-un has promised to crack down on provocations from the north. Analysts say Kim Jong Un’s warnings show he is not open to dialogue with Seoul’s new government.
“Mr Kim’s comments show he has no intention of engaging with Mr Yoon’s new administration or resuming denuclearization talks with the United States,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul.
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