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Reuters

Agence France-Presse

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says the country will increase its number of nuclear weapons “exponentially”, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.
In a speech at an event to mark the 76th anniversary of North Korea’s founding, Kim said the country must more thoroughly prepare its “nuclear capability and its readiness to use it properly at any given time in ensuring the security rights of the state”, KCNA said.
State media images showed thousands of people gathering in central Pyongyang to celebrate Monday’s founding anniversary.
North Korea’s “nuclear force” and its ability to deploy it “should be more thoroughly perfected”, Kim said, adding that a strong military presence was needed to face “the various threats posed by the United States and its followers”.
Pyongyang “will steadily strengthen its nuclear force capable of fully coping with any threatening acts imposed by its nuclear-armed rival states”, he said.

Kim also said North Korea was facing a “grave threat” from what it said was a US-led nuclear-based military bloc in the region, adding that the country will “redouble its measures and efforts to make all the armed forces of the state, including the nuclear force, fully ready for combat”.
Kim said his country was a “responsible nuclear weapons state”, adding that “our nuclear weapons for defending ourselves do not pose a threat to anyone”.
Kim’s speech comes as relations between North and South Korea are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North recently announcing the deployment of 250 ballistic missile launchers to its southern border.
South Korea will hold a defence ministerial meeting with the member states of the United Nations Command (UNC) on Tuesday.
The UNC is led by the commander of the US military stationed in South Korea.


Last month, Germany became the latest to join the UNC in South Korea that helps police the heavily fortified border with North Korea and has committed to defend the South in the event of a war.
North Korea has criticised the UNC as an “illegal war organisation” and Germany’s entry into the US-led UN border monitoring force as raising tensions.
Pyongyang has previously vowed an “exponential increase” in nuclear weaponry and routinely uses major state anniversaries as a chance to show off its purported prowess.
“After the 8th Party Congress in 2021, North Korea suggested the direction of diversification of nuclear weapons, especially tactical nuclear weapons,” said Yang Uk, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
“From the end of the following year, they started to mention ‘exponential increases’,” he said.
“We believe that by 2027 North Korea can secure enough nuclear material for about 200 warheads and by 2030, this can reach 300.”


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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches the test firing of a projectile barrage earlier this year. Photo: KCNA via KNS/AFP

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A North Korean flag flutters atop a 160-metre tower in Kijong-dong village, near the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone between the Koreas. Photo: AP

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An image released by North Korean state media shows Wednesday’s test of what it said was a missile guidance control and combat separation system. Photo: KCNA via Reuters 

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A rally at the Mayday Stadium in Pyongyang on Tuesday to mark the “Day of Struggle Against US imperialism”, on the 74th anniversary of the Korean war. Photo: AFP

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This photo provided by the North Korean government shows what it says rocket drills that simulate a nuclear counter-attack against enemies, at an undisclosed place in North Korea on April 22. Photo: KCNA/KNS via AP

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Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, during an event in Pyongyang in August 2022. Photo: KCNA via KNS / AFP

A photo released by KCNA on April 23 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (centre) during a missile drill at an undisclosed location. Photo: KCNA/KNS/dpa

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Asia

East Asia

Experts predict that by 2027, North Korea could amass enough nuclear material for 200 warheads, raising alarms about its military ambitions


Experts predict that by 2027, North Korea could amass enough nuclear material for 200 warheads, raising alarms about its military ambitions.
