North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to bolster his nuclear forces at “maximum speed” and threatened to use them if provoked in a speech he delivered during a military parade that featured a long-range missile and other weapons, state media reported Tuesday.
His remarks suggest he will continue provocative weapons tests in a pressure campaign to wrest concessions from the U.S. and other rivals.
The parade Monday night was to mark the 90th anniversary of North Korea’s army — the backbone of the Kim family’s authoritarian rule — and comes as the country faces pandemic-related difficulties while seeking relief from U.S.-led sanctions imposed over its nuclear ambitions.
“We will continue to implement measures aimed at strengthening and developing our country’s nuclear forces at the maximum speed,” Kim told his troops and the crowd gathered for the parade at a Pyongyang plaza, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
U.S. and South Korean officials say there are signs of new construction at North Korea's only known nuclear test site, which has been officially shuttered since 2018, suggesting Pyongyang may be preparing to resume testing nuclear weapons.
"The nuclear force of the Republic must be ready to exercise its responsible mission and unique deterrence anytime," Kim told the gathering, according to KCNA.
The fundamental mission of the North's nuclear force is to deter war, but that may not be the only use, he added.
"If any force seeks to intrude on the fundamental interests of our nation, our nuclear forces will be forced to unexpectedly carry out their second mission," Kim said.
The parade featured North Korea's largest known ICBM, the Hwasong-17, KCNA reported. The massive missile was test fired for the first time last month, but officials in South Korea believe efforts to conduct a full test ended in an explosion over Pyongyang.
North Korea has flaunted an array of increasingly sophisticated weapons in recent months, including a manoeuvrable “hypersonic glide vehicle” and a “monster” ICBM potentially capable of striking the US mainland.
This month, it tested a new type of short-range missile that state media said was the first to boast a tactical nuclear weapons delivery role.
Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un’s sister and a high-ranking regime official, recently spelt out a scenario in which North Korea inflicted “extermination” on South Korean forces poised to launch a pre-emptive strike.
Typically, Pyongyang showcases its new weapons at its military parades which often feature long processions of tanks, artillery and soldiers.
Monday's military parade was closely watched as North Korea has tested several missiles this year, heightening tensions on the peninsula.
The recent election of South Korea's new president Yoon Suk-yeol, who has voiced a harsher line on North Korea's actions, has also heightened tensions.
South Korean defence minister Suh Wook earlier this month said the South had the capacity to strike the North's missile launch points - sparking a furious reaction from Pyongyang.
North Korea’s recently tested weapons are potentially capable of striking the U.S. homeland as well as South Korea and Japan. The North has spent much of the past three years focusing on expanding its short-range arsenal targeting South Korea as nuclear negotiations with the United States stalled.
Kim’s aggressive military push could also be motivated by domestic politics since he doesn’t otherwise have significant accomplishments to show to his people as he marks a decade in power.
He failed to win badly needed sanctions relief from his diplomacy with then-President Donald Trump, and the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed further shocks to the country’s broken economy, forcing him to acknowledge last year that North Korea was facing its “worst-ever situation.”
