North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for an “exponential” increase in the country’s nuclear arsenal, including the mass production of tactical nuclear weapons and the development of new missiles for nuclear counterstrikes, according to state media.
In a report following a key party meeting in Pyongyang, Kim said that North Korea must “overwhelmingly beef up the military muscle” in 2023 in response to what it perceives as hostility from the United States and South Korea.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), a North Korean mouthpiece, cited Kim as saying these goals will be the “main orientation” of the 2023 nuclear and defense strategy.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been high in recent years, with North Korea conducting numerous weapons tests, including the firing of its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to date. The country also fired three short range ballistic missiles on Saturday and conducted another late-night launch on Sunday, according to the South Korean military. In a separate report, Kim claimed that these weapons put South Korea “as a whole within the range of strike” and are capable of carrying a tactical nuclear warhead.
In response to these latest threats, South Korea’s defense ministry called for North Korea to immediately abandon its nuclear programs and warned that “if North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, the Kim Jong Un regime will face an end.”
The ministry added that these latest statements from North Korea are “provocative rhetoric that seriously damages the peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.”