Amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, North Korea’s largely isolated leadership has announced a drastic expansion of its nuclear arsenal. In a report on political priorities for the new year, ruler Kim Jong-un accused the United States and South Korea of trying to exert maximum military pressure on his country. It was necessary to develop another ICBM for “a rapid nuclear counterattack”.
Tactical nuclear weapons must also be mass-produced and a spy satellite sent into space as soon as possible. State media reported this on Sunday, citing Kim’s speech at the end of a party rally in Pyongyang on Saturday.
The US and South Korea are blamed
Kim accused Washington and Seoul of a plot “unprecedented in human history” to isolate and suppress Pyongyang in the report. Kim specifically attacked neighbors this time during the year-end plenary session of the Central Committee of his ruling Labor party, which lasted several days.
South Korea has declared North Korea its main enemy and has recently spoken openly about “war preparations”. South Korea is “our undisputed enemy,” Kim said. This clearly calls for “an exponential increase in the country’s nuclear arsenal”.
Tactical nuclear weapons
The goals are not fundamentally new. Kim has repeatedly called on his country, which is subject to international sanctions because of its nuclear weapons program, to expand its nuclear capabilities. Pyongyang’s goal is to have the full spectrum of nuclear weapons and missiles. Tactical nuclear weapons are considered weapons whose range and explosive power are significantly lower than strategic nuclear weapons such as ICBMs, which can be used across a continent. The Stockholm peace research institute SIPRI estimates that North Korea has at least 20 ready-to-use warheads in stock.
North Korea has accused the United States of hostile policies for decades. Kim accused them on Saturday of bringing nuclear weapons to South Korea and wanting to create a regional, NATO-like military bloc in conjunction with their allies Seoul and Tokyo.
The conflict on the Korean peninsula is coming to a head once again
The conflict on the Korean Peninsula has become significantly more explosive in recent months. North Korea not only fired more nuclear missiles, but also intensified its rhetoric against the governments of South Korea and the US. The armed forces of both countries resumed large-scale joint military exercises this year.
Short-range missile fired
Before the release of the Central Committee report, North Korea had fired another short-range ballistic missile eastward into the open sea, the fourth in 24 hours, according to the South Korean military. The military accused North Korea of another provocation. UN resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles. Depending on the design, such missiles can be equipped with a nuclear warhead. North Korean media on Sunday spoke of projectiles from a “super-sized multiple rocket launcher” used in the tests.
Source: Krone
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