The U.S. military has warned any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies and partners “will result in the end of that regime.'
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the “exponential” expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal and the development of a more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile, state media reported Sunday, after he entered 2023 with another weapons launch following a record number of testing activities last year.
During the six-day meeting meant to determine new state objectives, Kim called for “an exponential increase of the country’s nuclear arsenal” to mass produce battlefield tactical nuclear weapons targeting South Korea. He also presented a task to develop a new ICBM missioned with a “quick nuclear counterstrike” capability — a weapon he needs to strike the mainland U.S. He said the North’s first military reconnaissance satellite will be launched “at the earliest date possible,” KCNA said.
Kim’s identification of South Korea as an enemy and the mention of hostile U.S. and South Korean policies is “a reliable pretext for the regime to produce more missiles and weapons to solidify Kim’s negotiating position and concretize North Korea’s status as a nuclear weapons power,” Soo Kim said. Senior diplomats from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan spoke by phone and agreed that provocations by North Korea would only deepen its international isolation and prompt their trilateral security cooperation. They still reaffirmed that the door to dialogue with North Korea remains open, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
Panda said the reference to a new ICBM appears to concern a solid-propellant system, which could be tested soon. He said a satellite launch could take place in April, a month that includes a key state anniversary. North Korea test-fired more than 70 missiles last year, including three short-range ballistic missiles detected by South Korea on Saturday. The testing spree indicates the country is likely emboldened by its advancing nuclear program. Observers say the North was also able to continue its banned missile tests because China and Russia have blocked the U.S. and others from toughening U.N. sanctions at the Security Council.
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