North Korea wants to improve its nuclear capabilities “both qualitatively and quantitatively” as part of the modernization of its army and the strengthening of its state of combat readiness, the official KCNA agency reported on Friday.
The announcement was made Thursday during an expanded meeting of the ruling party’s Central Military Commission, the North Korean news agency said.
Among the military measures adopted during this meeting was the decision to “strengthen the nuclear force both qualitatively and quantitatively and to continue the plan of standardization, specialization and modernization of military bases,” specifies the same source.
The technical infrastructure of combat systems must also be modernized, and Pyongyang will focus on “accelerating the construction of modern naval bases,” KCNA also reports.
At the meeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the country’s peace and security could only be guaranteed by a “strong army” and the neutralization of all threats, she continued.
Earlier this month, Kim Jong-un oversaw a weapons test of the 5,000-ton destroyer Kang Kon. This ship partially overturned last year when it was launched, before being repaired.
Mr. Kim had earlier claimed that the country’s military was “equipping the navy with nuclear weapons.”
North Korea has repeatedly declared itself an “irreversible nuclear state” since the failure of the 2019 summit between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, due to differences over the denuclearization of the country and the lifting of sanctions targeting it.
The country, diplomatically isolated, is the subject of several rounds of sanctions due to a nuclear program that its leaders have pledged to pursue in order to deter the United States and South Korea.
North and South Korea remain technically at war, as their 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. They are separated by a demilitarized zone along the border.
