SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has warned once again that the North could use its nuclear weapons as a precaution if threatened, praising its top military for organizing a huge military parade. Pyongyang capital.  this week.
Kim expressed “firm will” to continue to develop its nuclear weapons, so that it could “preventively and diligently limit and thwart all dangerous efforts and threatening moves, including the ever-escalating nuclear threat if needed by enemy forces.” The Central News Agency said on Saturday.
The KCNA said Kim called on his military officials to praise their work at Monday’s parade, in which the North unveiled the largest weapons in its military’s nuclear program, including intercontinental ballistic missiles that could possibly land in the United States. and a variety of short-range solid-fuel missiles that pose a growing threat to South Korea and Japan.  The KCNA did not say when the meeting took place.
The parade for the 90th anniversary of the North Korean military took place as Kim revived the nuclear conflict with the aim of forcing the United States to accept the idea of ​​his country as a nuclear power and lift ambitious economic sanctions.
Speaking to thousands of soldiers and spectators who mobilized for the event, Kim promised to deploy his nuclear forces at “the fastest speed possible” and threatened to use them if provoked.  He said his nuclear program would never be limited to a single combat deterrence mission in situations where the North faces external threats to unspecified “fundamental interests”.
Kim’s comments suggest he will continue a provocative course in arms testing to ease pressure on Washington and Seoul.  South Korea will inaugurate a new Conservative government in May that could take a tougher line on Pyongyang following the derailed policies of incumbent Liberal President Moon Jae-in.
Kim’s threat to use its nuclear powers to protect his country’s ambiguously defined “fundamental interests” could foreshadow a escalating nuclear dogma that could be of greater concern to South Korea, Japan and the United States. specialists.
North Korea has conducted 13 rounds of weapons launches in 2022 alone, including its first full-scale ICBM test since 2017, as Kim takes advantage of a favorable environment to advance its weapons program as the UN Security Council remains fragmented and virtually fragmented. for Russia.  war in Ukraine.
There are also indications that North Korea is rebuilding tunnels in a nuclear test site last active in 2017 in possible preparations for a nuclear test.  Some experts say the North may try to conduct the test sometime between the inauguration of South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol on May 10 and the scheduled summit with US President Joe Biden on May 21 to maximize political of the result.
Kim’s recent remarks followed a fiery statement issued by his strong sister earlier this month, in which he accused the South Korean defense minister of using preemptive strikes against the north and said his country’s nuclear forces would eliminate conventional forces of the South if provoked.
Yoon also spoke during the campaign about strengthening its pre-emptive strike and missile defense capabilities in the South, as he promised to strengthen the South’s defense in conjunction with his alliance with the United States.
While Kim’s ICBM collection has garnered much international attention, North Korea from 2019 is also expanding its arsenal of short-range solid-fuel missiles threatening South Korea.
The North describes some of these missiles as “regular” weapons, which experts say threaten to arm them with smaller nuclear weapons on the battlefield and use them during conventional warfare to overtake South Korea’s most powerful conventional forces. and the United States, which has about 28,500 troops stationed in the South.
North Korea could use its next nuclear test to claim to have built a nuclear warhead small enough to fit those missiles or other weapons it tested this year, including a supposed supersonic missile, analysts say.
“Solid-fuel rockets are easier to hide, move, and launch faster, making them less vulnerable to a pre-emptive strike,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
“Combined with ambitions for tactical nuclear warheads, submarine-based launch capabilities and more sophisticated ICBMs, Pyongyang does not just want to prevent an attack.  “His goals are to overtake South Korea in an arms race and force the United States to reduce sanctions and security cooperation with Seoul.”
Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled since 2019 over disagreements over a possible easing of US-led sanctions in exchange for North Korea’s disarmament steps.
Kim has insisted on his goals of simultaneously developing nuclear weapons and the country’s miserable economy in the face of international pressure and has shown no willingness to fully hand over a nuclear arsenal that he sees as his greatest guarantee of survival.