Kim calls for a “massive” increase in North Korea’s nuclear arsenal | world News

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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he wants to increase his country’s nuclear arsenal “exponentially”.

At a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, Kim said “overwhelming military force” was needed to defend the national interest against threats from countries such as South Korea and the United States.

He said the two countries were trying to “isolate and strangle” North Korea, with US nuclear assets deployed in South Korea – a situation “unprecedented in human history”, he said.

The official Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim as saying: “The prevailing situation calls for redoubled efforts to strengthen military power by an overwhelming majority … in response to the alarming military moves by the United States and other hostile forces.”

He called South Korea “our unquestioned enemy,” adding that it was “deeply bent on an unwise and dangerous arms build-up.”

“It highlights the importance and necessity of producing large quantities of tactical nuclear weapons and calls for a massive increase in the country’s nuclear arsenal,” he added.

“We have declared our firm determination to respond with nuclear weapons and a comprehensive confrontation,” he said.

The 38-year-old called for the development of new intercontinental ballistic missiles and the launch of the country’s first military satellite “as soon as possible”.

Read more: North Korean drones ‘violating airspace’ – South Korea fighter jets scramble, fire warning shots

This comes just hours after the country launched a ballistic missile over the sea east of the Korean Peninsula in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

Pyongyang also fired three ballistic missiles on Saturday, capping a year marked by a record number of missile tests.

There is growing speculation that it could be preparing to test a nuclear weapon for the seventh time.

The relationship between North and South Korea has always been tense, but it has worsened since Yoon Sok-yul took office as South Korean president, promising to take a tougher stance against Pyongyang.

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