North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for strengthening his country’s military deterrence capabilities in a “more practical and offensive” way in order to confront the “frenzied” aggression of the United States and South Korea, state media reported on Tuesday.
Pyongyang opened the year with a wave of weapons tests, including, it claimed, a test of a drone submarine capable of carrying a nuclear weapon underwater, as well as the launch of two intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The North’s Korean Central News Agency said that Kim attended a meeting of the Central Military Commission on Monday to discuss ways to “counter the escalatory moves of the US imperialists and traitorous puppets in South Korea to wage an aggressive war.”
Kim ordered the country’s deterrence capabilities to be strengthened “increasingly quickly” and in a “more practical and offensive” manner.
North Korea last year declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power, effectively ending the possibility of talks on denuclearization.
Earlier this year, Kim ordered the military to step up its training in preparation for a “real war”.
Washington and Seoul responded by strengthening their defense cooperation and conducting joint air military exercises that included advanced aircraft and strategic bombers.
North Korea considers these maneuvers as rehearsals for its invasion, and on Tuesday it described them as “frenzied” and simulating an all-out war against “Pyongyang”.