North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will accelerate steps towards becoming a military superpower with nuclear weapons and will not rule out using them if it suffers an enemy attack, state news agency KCNA reported on Tuesday ( 8).
Kim mentioned South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol by name for the second time in a week as he denounced Seoul for conspiring with Washington to destabilize the region, to cover up the fact that the country does not even have adequate strategic weapons.
“Yoon Suk Yeol made a vulgar and tasteless comment about the end of the Republic in his speech, and this shows that he is completely consumed by his blind faith in his master’s strength,” Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA, referring to the South’s alliance with the USA.
“To be honest, we have absolutely no intention of attacking South Korea,” he said in a speech at Kim Jong Un National Defense University, a training camp for elite military experts.
“Every time I have stated our position on the use of military force, I have clearly and consistently used the ‘if’ qualification. If enemies attempt to use force against our country, the Republic’s military will use all offensive power without hesitation. This does not prevent the use of nuclear weapons.”
“Our steps towards becoming a military superpower and a nuclear power will accelerate,” he added.
North Korea has pursued a nuclear weapons program for decades and is believed to have enough fissile materials to build dozens of weapons. She conducted six underground nuclear detonation tests.
Last week, South Korea celebrated its annual Armed Forces Day with a massive military parade showcasing a ballistic missile capable of carrying a massive warhead and featuring a flyby of a U.S. strategic bomber.
In his speech that day, Yoon warned the North against the use of nuclear weapons. “That day will see the end of the North Korean regime.”
North Korea may be building a new submarine, the South Korean defense ministry said citing intelligence indications in a report to a member of parliament. In January, Kim reportedly ordered the construction of a nuclear submarine.
Construction was at an early stage and it was unclear whether the ship was a nuclear-powered submarine, the report said.
North Korea is also working on an underwater drone that could be developed to carry nuclear weapons, possibly with help from Russia, he said.
KCNA said Kim made his “military superpower” comments on Monday, the same day the North said its Supreme People’s Assembly would meet to discuss amending the country’s constitution.
The news agency has made no mention of the assembly’s deliberations since Monday.
The session is being closely watched due to the likelihood of passing a constitutional amendment to reflect Kim’s declaration that unification is no longer possible and that the South is a separate country and “a main enemy.”
Such a move would formalize Kim’s break with both countries’ decades-long goal of national unification and attempts to improve ties, including a summit in 2018 where their leaders declared there would be no more wars and a new era of peace was opened. .
In a separate report, KCNA said Kim sent a birthday message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling him his “closest comrade” and saying that “strategic and cooperative relations” between the two countries will be elevated to a new level.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said “there is a strong possibility” that North Korea will send troops to help Russia in its war with Ukraine.
Kim also told a parliamentary hearing that news reports of North Korean military officers killed in a Ukrainian attack on Russian-occupied territory were likely true.
Kim Jong Un and Putin in June adopted a comprehensive strategic partnership that includes a mutual defense pact.
Both countries denied accusations by U.S. and South Korean officials that the North was supplying weapons to Russia.
This content was originally published in Kim Jong Un wants to accelerate North Korea’s transformation into a nuclear superpower on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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