N.Korea’s Kim Jong Un Orders ‘Explosive’ Nuclear Arsenal Expansion

(CTN NEWS) – SEOUL, South Korea – State media reported on Sunday, amid escalating tension between the rival Koreas, that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for building new intercontinental ballistic missiles and expanding the country’s nuclear weapons to confront threats from the United States.

Kim emphasized the necessity for “overwhelming military might” to protect its security and sovereignty at a gathering of the ruling Workers’ Party.

Cross-border tensions over North Korea’s use of drones to intrude into the South last week and its recent tests of missiles, especially intercontinental ballistic missiles, are the causes of the meeting (ICBMs).

According to a statement from his office, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol demanded “strong mental preparation and practical training” during phone discussions with military chiefs to ensure that any provocation from North Korea would be dealt with retribution.

With persistent American nuclear strike assets stationed in South Korea, Kim charged that Washington and Seoul attempted to “isolate and suffocate” Pyongyang. He called this “unique in the history of mankind.”

According to the official KCNA news agency, he promised to create a new ICBM system “whose principal objective is swift nuclear counter-strike” as part of a strategy to strengthen the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

The disturbing military actions by the United States and other hostile powers, it stated, “demand for making redoubled efforts to overwhelmingly shore up the military muscle.”

In his year-end comments, Kim Jong Un called for an "exponential increase" in his country's nuclear arsenal.

He also promised a new ICBM and said North Korea would soon launch its first spy satellite.

Via KCNA: pic.twitter.com/u6wBctXpZI

— William Gallo (@GalloVOA) January 1, 2023

Because of its “hell-bent on reckless and dangerous armaments buildup” and aggressive military actions, South Korea has turned into “our undeniable enemy,” according to Kim.

Kim added, adding that this would be a “primary orientation” of 2023 nuclear and defense

strategy, that it “highlights the relevance and necessity of a mass-producing of tactical nuclear weapons and asks for an exponential development of the country’s nuclear arsenal.”

According to the plan, the nation would also accelerate the development of a spy satellite and launch its first military satellite “at the earliest date possible,” according to KCNA.

ROCKET LAUNCHER OF SUPER-LARGE SIZE

The news came hours after North Korea conducted an unusual late-night New Year’s Day weapons test, firing a short-range ballistic missile off its east coast.

Kim Jong Un, the head of North Korea, is present during the 12th meeting of the political bureau of the WPK’s eighth central committee in Pyongyang.

The remote nation concluded a year highlighted by a record number of missile tests on Saturday by launching three ballistic missiles.

A new, nuclear-capable 600 mm super-large multiple rocket launcher was being tested, according to a separate report from KCNA.

Kim praised the munitions industry for supplying 30 units of the system, describing it as a “core, offensive weapon” capable of conducting a surprise and precise launch and having a range that encompasses all of South Korea.

At a delivery ceremony on Saturday, Kim reaffirmed his country’s will to “respond with nuclear for nuke and an all-out showdown for an all-out conflict,” ordering more potent weapons to “totally defeat the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces and their puppet army.”

Inter-Korean relations have always been difficult, but they have been even more hostile since Yoon took office in May and promised to take a harder position against Pyongyang.

Following further criticism of South Korea’s air defenses following the most recent drone penetration, Yoon once more urged the military to be prepared to take appropriate action on Sunday.

Yoon urged the military leaders, “Our military must forcefully retaliate against any provocation by the enemy with determination to battle.”

The most recent missile was launched from the Ryongsong neighborhood of Pyongyang’s capital city at roughly 2:50 a.m. local time (1750 GMT), according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea. It traveled about 400 kilometers (249 miles).

The JCS demanded an immediate end to the North’s recent missile testing and harshly denounced them as “grave provocations.”

According to Japan’s coast guard, the missile flew 350 kilometers and reached an altitude of about 100 miles. Yasukazu Hamada, the minister of defense, stated that Tokyo had protested the launch to North Korea through diplomatic channels in Beijing.

The launch, according to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, did not immediately represent a threat to American personnel or territory, but it did illustrate the destabilizing effect of North Korea’s nuclear program.

In 2022, North Korea launched an unprecedented number of missiles, continuing to strengthen its arsenal amid predictions that it would conduct a seventh nuclear weapon test.

The North also started ICBM testing again in November for the first time since 2017, successfully launching the enormous new Hwasong-17, which may be able to target any place in the US.

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