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Kim Jong-un orders his troops to prepare for ‘IMMEDIATE and overwhelming nuclear counterattack’ against ‘enemies’ as he accuses US of holding ‘aggressive’ military drills with Seoul using nuclear assets
- Kim Jong Un has called for North Korea to be ready to conduct nuclear attacks at any time to deter war, state media reported on Monday
- Kim said his remarks were in response to the United States and South Korea expanding joint military drills involving American nuclear assets
- Pyongyang this weekend carried out ‘war deterrence and nuclear counterattack capability’ tests, firing a ballistic missile equipped with a mock nuclear warhead
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Kim Jong Un ‘guided’ military exercises at the weekend which included firing a ballistic missile with a mock nuclear warhead, warning his country was ready to launch an ‘immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack’, as the United States and South Korea ready to carry out their first amphibious landing exercises in five years.
The North Korean leader was accompanied by his nine-year-old daughter Kim Ju Ae during the missile tests – continuing a trend that has led to speculation the young girl is being lined up to inherit the hereditary hermit kingdom.
State media, KCNA, said on Monday that the missile launch and accompanying military exercises on Saturday and Sunday were aimed at bolstering North Korea’s ‘war deterrence and nuclear counterattack capability’.
In the exercises, a ballistic missile equipped with a mock nuclear warhead flew 500 miles before hitting a target at the altitude of 800m under the scenario of a tactical nuclear attack, KCNA said.
Kim, who oversaw the test, said the exercises improved the military’s actual war capability and highlighted the need to ensure its readiness posture for any ‘immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack’ through such drills.
Kim Jong Un is accompanied by his nine-year-old daughter, Kim Ju Ae, as he watches missile launches on Sunday
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches on Thursday what it says is an intercontinental ballistic missile test, launched at the Sunan international airport in Pyongyang
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, is pictured witnessing the launch of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from Pyongyang International Airport on Wednesday
‘The present situation, in which the enemies are getting ever more pronounced in their moves for aggression against the DPRK, urgently requires the DPRK to bolster up its nuclear war deterrence exponentially,’ KCNA quoted him as saying.
Kim was using the acronym of his country’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
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‘The nuclear force of the DPRK will strongly deter, control and manage the enemy’s reckless moves and provocations with its high war readiness, and carry out its important mission without hesitation in case of any unwanted situation,’ he added.
KCNA photos showed Kim attended the test, again with his young daughter, as flames roar from the soaring missile before it hit the target.
South Korea and Japan reported a launch of a North Korean short-range ballistic missile off the east coast on Sunday, the latest in a series of missile tests in recent weeks.
North Korea has reacted furiously to South Korea-U.S. combined military drills, calling them a rehearsal for invasion against it.
People watch the news at a station in Seoul, South Korea, on Sunday
A woman walks past a television on Sunday showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test
This picture released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday shows the launch of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at Pyongyang International Airport
The allies have been carrying out a multitude of their annual exercises since earlier this month, including air and sea drills on Sunday involving U.S. B-1B strategic bombers.
The U.S. and South Korea navies and marine corps are set to kick off their first large-scale Ssangyong amphibious landing exercises in five years on Monday for a two-week run until April 3.
Last month, the two countries staged tabletop exercises simulating North Korea’s nuclear attack amid South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s push for more confidence in U.S. extended deterrence – its military capability, especially nuclear forces, to deter attacks on its allies.
In another dispatch, KCNA said more than 1.4 million North Koreans have volunteered to join or re-enlist in the military to fight against Seoul and Washington, up from some 800,000 reported by a state newspaper just two days before.
