North Korean leader Kim Jon Un warned this week that he could preemptively use nuclear weapons if threatened.
The statement came during a military parade Monday in the capital Pyongyang to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, according to the Associated Press.
Kim spoke of a “firm will” to continue developing his nuclear arsenal so that it could “preemptively and thoroughly contain and frustrate all dangerous attempts and threatening moves, including ever-escalating nuclear threats from hostile forces, if necessary,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said Saturday.
Speaking to thousands of troops and spectators at the parade, Kim said he would develop his nuclear forces at the “fastest possible speed” and threatened to use them if provoked. He said his nuclear weapons would “never be confined to the single mission of war deterrent” in situations where the North faces external threats to its “fundamental interests.”
North Korea has conducted 13 rounds of weapons launches so far this year, including its first full-range test of an ICBM since 2017, the news service reported.