“It emphasizes the importance and necessity of mass production of tactical nuclear weapons and calls for an exponential increase in the country’s nuclear arsenal,” Kim said, adding that this would be a “main orientation” of the 2023 nuclear and defense strategy.
Kim Jong-un oversees a test of a “high-thrust solid-fuel engine” at North Korea’s Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on December 15, 2022. Independent journalists were denied access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. Credit:AP
As part of the plan, the country will also launch its first military satellite “as soon as possible” by accelerating its drive to build a spy satellite, with preparations in the final stages, KCNA said.
The report came hours after North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile off the east coast, during a rare weapons test late into the night on New Year’s Day.
The isolated country also launched three ballistic missiles on Saturday, capping a year with a record number of missile tests.
KCNA said in a separate report that it was testing a new 600mm supersized multiple rocket launcher capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
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Kim praised the munitions industry for supplying 30 units of the system, calling it a “core, offensive weapon” with all of South Korea within its range, and the ability to perform a surprise and precision launch.
“We have expressed our determination to respond with nuclear bomb for nuclear bomb and all-out confrontation for all-out confrontation,” Kim told a handover ceremony on Saturday, ordering more powerful weapons to “defeat the US imperialist aggressive forces and their puppet army.”
Inter-Korean ties have long been tested, but have become even more tense since Yoon took office in May, promising to take a tougher stance against Pyongyang.
The recent drone intrusion sparked further criticism of South Korea’s air defenses, and Yoon on Sunday again urged the military to stand ready to retaliate.
“Our army must resolutely retaliate against any provocation from the enemy with the determination to fight,” Yoon told military leaders.
The latest missile flew about 400 kilometers after being fired from the Ryongsong area of the capital Pyongyang at around 2:50 a.m. local time, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
The JCS strongly condemned the North’s series of missile tests as “serious provocations” and urged an immediate halt.
The Japanese Coast Guard said the missile reached an altitude of about 100 km and flew about 350 km. Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Tokyo had protested to North Korea through diplomatic channels in Beijing against the launch.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the launch posed no immediate threat to US personnel or territory, but stressed the destabilizing impact of North Korea’s weapons program.
North Korea fired an unprecedented number of missiles in 2022 and continued weapons development amid speculation it could test a nuclear weapon for the seventh time.
In November, the North also resumed ICBM testing for the first time since 2017, successfully launching the massive new Hwasong-17, which could potentially strike anywhere in the United States.
Reuters