Kim vows nuclear buildup to take on US, South Korea

Bloomberg

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un pledged to increase his nuclear arsenal in the new year to stifle US and South Korean hostile acts, in a policy-setting address where he left almost no opening for a return to long-stalled disarmament talks.
In a speech that came at the end of a nearly weeklong meeting of his ruling Workers Party, Kim said Washington and Seoul are taking aim at his government, which raises his need to produce even more nuclear weapons, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
“Now that the south Korean puppet forces who designated the DPRK as their ‘principal army’ and openly trumpet about ‘preparations for war’ have assumed our undoubted enemy, it highlights the importance and necessity of a mass-producing of tactical nuclear weapons and calls for an exponential increase of the country’s nuclear arsenal,” KCNA cited Kim as saying in a report. His state’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and it uses lower case in its media in referring to its neighbour.
Kim’s report to wrap up the plenary meeting of the Central Committee of his ruling Workers’ Party appeared to take the place of his traditional New Year’s Day address. He also pledged that his state would launch its first military satellite and develop a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile, which could be used to deliver a warhead to the US mainland.
“The prevailing situation calls for making redoubled efforts to overwhelmingly beef up the military muscle to thoroughly guarantee the sovereignty, security and fundamental interests of the Republic in response to the worrying military moves by the US and other hostile forces precisely targeting the DPRK,” KCNA cited Kim as saying in the report.
With little threat of new sanctions and plans already afoot to further develop weapons including drones, submarines and missiles, Kim has been looking to continue honing his ability to deliver a credible nuclear strike against the US and its allies, such as South Korea and Japan.
The North Korea leader has raised tension to levels not seen in years by firing off more than 70 ballistic missiles in 2022, lowering his guardrails for the use of nuclear weapons and saying he sees no need to going back to the bargaining table for talks on winding back his nuclear arsenal in return for relief from sanctions choking his state’s paltry economy. His state fired three short-range ballistic missiles on the last day of the year and then fired off one more a few hours after the new year started in a defiant show of force that could set the tone for a further ratcheting up of tensions.
North Korea will keep advancing its nuclear and missile threat and South Korean armed forces should retaliate sternly against any provocation, President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a call with the chief of general staff, according to his office in Seoul.