Kim Jong Un: “It is necessary to increase the country’s nuclear arsenal”

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Wrapping up its annual work in Pyongyang, the Workers’ Party of Korea announced that the country will “develop a new system of intercontinental ballistic missiles” (ICBMs), the purpose of which will be “rapid counterattack with nuclear weapons.”

Kim Jong Un has ordered an “exponential increase in North Korea’s nuclear arsenal” to counter the “enemy” South Korea and the United States, North Korea’s official KCNA news agency reported today.

Wrapping up its annual work in Pyongyang, the Workers’ Party of Korea announced that the country will “develop a new system of intercontinental ballistic missiles” (ICBMs), the purpose of which will be “rapid counterattack with nuclear weapons,” according to KCNA.

“The current situation requires redoubled efforts to massively strengthen military power to fully guarantee the national sovereignty, security and fundamental interests” of North Korea, in response to “the alarming military maneuvers of the US and other hostile powers,” said Mr. Kim, according to an account of the party’s work carried by the agency.

He underlined the “need” for “mass production of tactical nuclear weapons” and “exponential growth of the country’s nuclear arsenal.”

In another cable, KCNA said Mr. Kim noted that South Korea was “entirely” within range of his country’s nuclear weapons.

Tensions rose dramatically in 2022 between North Korea, its southern neighbor, the US and Japan. The year just ended was marked by a record number of missile tests by Pyongyang, which in March launched an ICBM for the first time in five years. Another intercontinental ballistic missile, tested in November, crashed off the coast of Japan.

Three ballistic missiles were launched by North Korea yesterday Saturday, another one early today (local time; last night Greek time). KCNA said it was a “very large-scale multiple missile launch exercise”.

In early November, a missile landed very close to South Korea’s territorial waters, prompting South Korean President Yoon Sok-gil to speak of an “invasion.”

And on December 26, five North Korean UAVs penetrated South Korean airspace, with one landing north of the capital Seoul. Despite a hasty take-off of fighter jets and attack helicopters that attempted for five hours to shoot down the drones, they were not intercepted, sparking criticism. It was the first such episode in five years.

“Let’s play with nuclear weapons”

This is not the first time Pyongyang has announced mass production of nuclear weapons, recalls Goh Myung-hyun, a researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Its “intention” is with “mass production of nuclear weapons”, even without “engaging in aggressive provocations”, to force the US, to give it “no choice” but to “one day recognize North Korea as nuclear power,” this analyst told AFP.

“Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s message is something like: let’s play with nuclear weapons,” he continued. In his view, the North Korean leader wants to show that Pyongyang “will not beg for dialogue and that it will put pressure on South Korea and the US, above all on the US, by strengthening its nuclear arsenal.”

Kim Jong Un already said at the end of November that he wants North Korea to acquire “the most powerful nuclear arsenal in the world”. Two months earlier, Pyongyang adopted a new doctrine, which states that the acquisition of a nuclear arsenal by North Korea is “irreversible”, while foreseeing the preemptive use of nuclear weapons in case the existence of the regime is threatened.

South Korean and US officials have warned since last year that North Korea is preparing to conduct another nuclear weapon test, its seventh in its history and first since 2017.

The North Korean leadership says acquiring a nuclear arsenal that guarantees an effective deterrent is essential to the country’s survival, as it is under constant threat of attack by the US.

For their part, Washington, Seoul and Tokyo are strengthening their military cooperation and have multiplied in 2022 the joint high schools, especially after the announcement of the new North Korean doctrine.

But the strengthening of this cooperation has further angered North Korea, which sees high schools as rehearsals for an invasion of its territory or an attempt to overthrow the regime.

RES-EMP

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