Kim Jong Un pushes North Korea toward new nuclear arms race
Photo: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (Getty Images)
North Korea will expand its nuclear arsenal "with a goal of overtaking the world," according to Yonhap, which quotes North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
From June 20 to 22, North Korea held a plenary session of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party. At the session, the party reaffirmed its policy of expanding its nuclear forces, which it called "the core of the military sovereignty."
Participants unanimously agreed that leveraging the status of a nuclear power is the most appropriate and unique way to act amid an unstable international situation.
What Kim Jong-un plans
- To build up nuclear capabilities without pause and to stay ahead of the world
- To accelerate the construction of a 10,000-metric-ton strategic missile cruiser
- To strengthen the border with South Korea and build new naval bases.
Kim Jong Un also emphasizes the need for new defense infrastructure facilities along the southern border.
Pyongyang sharply criticized the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG)—a joint US-South Korean body on nuclear deterrence. The DPRK called it an organ of nuclear war directed against North Korea.
Earlier, the DPRK’s Foreign Ministry stated that the issue of the country’s nuclear disarmament is definitively closed—Pyongyang has no intention of renouncing its status as a nuclear power.
In June, Kim Jong Un announced plans to transform the DPRK’s navy into a key element of nuclear deterrence and integrate it into the overall military doctrine.
