North Korean leader lashed out at Seoul and Washington, reiterating Pyongyang will “never change its stance of strengthening its nuclear forces”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has described the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, as “appropriate military action” amid heightened tensions with South Korea and allegations of North Korean military deployment in Russia.
“The launch is an appropriate military action that fully meets the goal of informing rivals, who have exacerbated the situation in the region and pose a threat to the security of our republic, of our willingness to carry out countermeasures,” Kim said.
He explained that this launch “also constitutes an indispensable process within the framework of the constant development of strategic offensive forces” in the face of the “dangerous strengthening of the nuclear alliance by the enemies,” according to the North Korean state news agency, KCNA.
Kim stressed that “the risky military maneuvers” by South Korea and the United States “underline the importance of strengthening the nuclear forces (of North Korea).” “We must not allow any threat to approach the security sphere of our State,” he argued.
“The security situation and the growing threats and challenges require us to continue promoting our modern strategic offensive forces and to round off the response posture of our nuclear forces even more perfectly,” he said, before adding that Pyongyang “will never change its position of strengthening its nuclear forces.”
North Korea’s Defense Ministry has confirmed that the launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile took place early Thursday on Kim’s orders, while stating that this event “demonstrates the modernity and credibility of its most powerful strategic deterrent.”
Hours earlier, South Korean authorities had denounced the launch, just hours after the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, and his South Korean counterpart, Kim Yong Hyun, condemned the alleged deployment of North Korean troops in Russia with the alleged aim of participating in the invasion of Ukraine.
After that, the spokesman for the National Security Council of the White House, Sean Savett, has “strongly condemned the test of intercontinental ballistic missiles by North Korea.” “This launch is a flagrant violation of multiple resolutions of the Security Council of the United Nations,” he stressed.
Tensions have been rising on the Korean peninsula for months, marked by the sending of hundreds of balloons with garbage by North Korea across the border. Seoul also resumed propaganda broadcasts via loudspeakers on the border in June for the first time in six years, as well as live-fire exercises near the demarcation line, activities that are in addition to joint military exercises with the United States.
North Korean authorities have also been increasing their launches of ballistic missiles and other projectiles in recent years, operations they describe as “warnings” against actions by Seoul, with which it has not yet signed a peace agreement despite the fact that the Korean War (1950-1953) ended with an armistice, so both countries are still technically at war.
