North Korea vows expansion of its nuclear arsenal

Pyongyang must keep improving its military capabilities to check “reckless expansion” of West, leader Kim Jong-un has said

North Korea is planning to boost its stockpile of nuclear weapons to counter threats posed by the US and its allies, the country’s leader Kim Jong-un has said.

In a speech on Tuesday marking the 76th anniversary of North Korea’s founding, Kim stressed that Pyongyang must continue enhancing its defense capabilities, citing the “reckless expansion of the military bloc system led by the US.”

In light of this process, “the obvious conclusion is that the nuclear force of [North Korea] and the capability to properly use it for ensuring the state’s right to security in any time should be more thoroughly perfected,” Kim said, as quoted by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Therefore, he continued, Pyongyang is “increasing the number of nuclear weapons by geometrical progression,” adding that his country “will… redouble its measures and efforts to make all the armed forces of the state including the nuclear force fully ready for combat.”

At the same time, he noted that North Korea is “a responsible nuclear weapons state” that intends to use its atomic arsenal only for self-defense.

In June, North Korea accused the US and its key regional allies Japan and South Korea of forging an alliance in Asia that bears strong similarities to NATO, and denounced what it called the West’s “reckless and provocative military muscle-flexing.” The comments came as the US and its allies regularly conduct military exercises around the Korean peninsula, which Pyongyang views as a rehearsal for a potential invasion.

Against this backdrop, North Korea routinely conducts missile launch tests. In July, Pyongyang claimed to have tested a new tactical ballistic missile, the Hwasongpho-11Da-4.5, which is said to be capable of carrying a 4.5-ton super-sized warhead and can hit targets at a distance of about 300 miles (500 km).

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North Korea is currently estimated to possess around 50 nuclear warheads. In 2022, the country amended its constitution to state that it has the right to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike for self-protection, with Kim saying the move would make Pyongyang’s nuclear status “irreversible.”