North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un warned on Wednesday that his country is ready to use nuclear weapons in potential future military conflicts with the United States (US) and South Korea.
In a speech Kim gave to mark the 69th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, North Korea’s state media, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), reported the leader saying that the country’s armed forces are “completely prepared to respond to any crisis” and that its “nuclear war deterrent is also ready to mobilise its absolute power dutifully, exactly, and swiftly in accordance with its mission.”
In his address, Kim said that Washington is continuing its “dangerous, illegal hostile acts” against Pyongyang in collaboration with Seoul even after almost 70 years after the war; he accused the US of trying to justify its own behaviour by “demonising” North Korea. He further said that the US’ “duplex act” of showcasing the North’s “routine actions” as ‘provocations’ and ‘threats,’ “while holding large-scale joint military exercises that seriously threaten our [North Korea’s] security,” is an act of “robbery.” Kim thus warned that the double standard is “driving bilateral relations to the point where it is difficult to turn back, into a state of conflict.”
BREAKING: North Korea's Rodong Sinmun released photos Thursday of the large-scale event in Pyongyang to commemorate the end of the Korean War. pic.twitter.com/dUZtQWRXbm
— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) July 27, 2022
Keeping this in mind, the leader underscored that any attempts to attack North Korea would be met with a stern response and “annihilation.” “I once again make it clear that North Korea is fully ready for any military confrontation with the United States,” Kim declared.
Kim also called South Korea’s new President, Yoon Suk-yeol, “a confrontation maniac,” adding that his conservative administration is comprised of “gangsters.” “Talking about military action against our nation, which possess absolute weapons that they fear the most, is preposterous and is very dangerous suicidal action. Such a dangerous attempt will be immediately punished by our powerful strength and the Yoon Suk-yeol government and his military will be annihilated,” the North Korean leader warned.
Both American and South Korean intelligence agencies have warned in recent times that the country is gearing up for its seventh nuclear test following a five-year hiatus. In fact, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service has said North Korea has already “completed its preparations.” In fact, US spy satellites have spotted new tunnels in areas where such tests have taken place in the past.
North Korea is thoroughly ready to respond to "any military conflict" with the U.S., leader Kim Jong Un said in a speech marking the anniversary of the end of the Korean War, according to state media on Thursday.
— NK NEWS (@nknewsorg) July 27, 2022
In a joint press conference in June, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and his American counterpart Antony Blinken said North Korea has already made preparations for a nuclear test and is only waiting for a “political decision” before conducting it. Blinken remarked that in the event of a nuclear test, the US is ready with all contingencies, and prepared to make “both short and longer-term adjustments to our military posture”. Park added that such a test would “only isolate North Korea from the international community.”
Pyongyang has already conducted 18 weapons tests, including 33 rockets and six Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), this year. Furthermore, Kim has vowed to “continue to take steps to strengthen and develop” the country’s nuclear capabilities “at the highest possible speed.”