North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un said that the country should be ready to launch nuclear attacks any time to deter war, as he slammed US and South Korea for expanding military ties involving American nuclear assets, state media KCNA said on Monday.
Kim’s remarks came after the hermit country launched short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, the latest in a barrage of weapons test.
KCNA said that the exercise was aimed at bolstering its “war deterrence and nuclear counterattack capability” on Saturday and Sunday to send strong warnings against the allies.
Kim, who oversaw the test, asserted that the missile launch exercise bolstered the military’s actual war capability and highlighted the need to ensure its readiness posture for any “immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack” through such drills.
“The present situation, in which the enemies are getting ever more pronounced in their moves for aggression against the DPRK, urgently requires the DPRK to bolster up its nuclear war deterrence exponentially,” KCNA quoted him as saying.
DPRK, which stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is the official name of North Korea.
North Korea test-fires short-ranged ballistic missile amid U.S.-South Korea military drills
In the exercises, a ballistic missile equipped with a mock nuclear warhead flew 800 km (497 miles) before hitting a target at the altitude of 800 m (0.5 mile) under the scenario of a tactical nuclear attack, KCNA said.
The North Korean leader said that the nuclear force of the country will “strongly deter, control and manage the enemy’s reckless moves and provocations with its high war readiness, and carry out its important mission without hesitation in case of any unwanted situation.”
Notably during missile test launch, Kim was spotted with his young daughter, as both saw the soaring missile before it hit the target.
On Sunday, the air forces of the United States and South Korea on Sunday (March 19) conducted a combined air drill led by B-1B bombers. This drill was part of the ongoing joint drills dubbed “Freedom Shield 23”
A video by South Korea’s defence ministry showed two bombers flying in with South Korean F-35A jets and American F-16.
(With inputs from agencies)
