North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for expanding the country’s war deterrence capabilities in a “more practical and offensive” way, state media said yesterday, to counter what it called “frantic” aggression by the US and South Korea.
Pyongyang has opened the year with a flurry of weapons tests, including what state media has reported are nuclear-capable underwater drones and the launch of two intercontinental ballistic missiles.
On Monday, Kim attended a meeting of the North Korean Central Military Commission to discuss ways to “cope with the escalating moves of the US imperialists and the South Korean puppet traitors to unleash a war of aggression,” Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Kim ordered that the country’s deterrence capabilities be strengthened with “increasing speed” and in a “more practical and offensive” manner.
North Korea last year declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power, effectively ending the possibility of denuclearization negotiations.
Earlier this year, Kim ordered the military to intensify drills to prepare for a “real war.”
In response, Washington and Seoul have intensified defense operations, staging joint military exercises with stealth jets and high-profile US strategic assets.
North Korea views such exercises as rehearsals for invasion, and yesterday described them as “frantic” drills “simulating an all-out war against” Pyongyang.
Meanwhile, Seoul accused North Korea of being “irresponsible” after Pyongyang cut hotline contact last week.
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