Kim inspects North Korean nuclear warship, assails US and Seoul's ‘will to ignite war'
Kim Jong-un condemned South Korean-US military drills and vowed a rapid expansion of his nuclear forces to counter rivals, state media said on Tuesday, as he inspected his most advanced warship being fitted with nuclear-capable systems.
Kim's visit to the western port of Nampo on Monday came as the South Korean and US militaries kicked off their annual large-scale summertime exercise to bolster readiness against growing North Korean threats. The 11-day
Ulchi Freedom Shield , which the allies describe as defensive, will mobilise 21,000 troops, including 18,000 South Koreans, for computer-simulated command post operations and field training.
North Korea has long denounced the allies' joint drills as invasion rehearsals, and Kim has often used them to justify his own military displays and testing activities aimed at expanding his nuclear weapons programme.
The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war, divided by the demilitarised zone into North Korea and South Korea.
While inspecting the warship Choe Hyon, a 5,000-tonne-class destroyer first unveiled in April, Kim said the allies' joint military drills show hostility and their supposed 'will to ignite a war', the North's Korean Central News Agency said. He said that the exercises have grown more provocative than before by incorporating a 'nuclear element', requiring the North to respond with 'proactive and overwhelming' countermeasures.
'The security environment around the DPRK is getting more serious day by day and the prevailing situation requires us to make a radical and swift change in the existing military theory and practice and rapid expansion of nuclearisation,' KCNA paraphrased Kim as saying, using the initials of North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
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South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
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Kim inspects North Korean nuclear warship, assails US and Seoul's ‘will to ignite war'
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un condemned South Korean-US military drills and vowed a rapid expansion of his nuclear forces to counter rivals, state media said on Tuesday, as he inspected his most advanced warship being fitted with nuclear-capable systems. Kim's visit to the western port of Nampo on Monday came as the South Korean and US militaries kicked off their annual large-scale summertime exercise to bolster readiness against growing North Korean threats. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield , which the allies describe as defensive, will mobilise 21,000 troops, including 18,000 South Koreans, for computer-simulated command post operations and field training. North Korea has long denounced the allies' joint drills as invasion rehearsals, and Kim has often used them to justify his own military displays and testing activities aimed at expanding his nuclear weapons programme. The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war, divided by the demilitarised zone into North Korea and South Korea. While inspecting the warship Choe Hyon, a 5,000-tonne-class destroyer first unveiled in April, Kim said the allies' joint military drills show hostility and their supposed 'will to ignite a war', the North's Korean Central News Agency said. He said that the exercises have grown more provocative than before by incorporating a 'nuclear element', requiring the North to respond with 'proactive and overwhelming' countermeasures. 'The security environment around the DPRK is getting more serious day by day and the prevailing situation requires us to make a radical and swift change in the existing military theory and practice and rapid expansion of nuclearisation,' KCNA paraphrased Kim as saying, using the initials of North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
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