North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged during a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party to accelerate the buildup of the country’s military capabilities, state media reported on Tuesday, pointing to efforts by South Korea and the United States to modernize their forces in the region.
اضافة اعلان
The two Koreas remain technically at war because their 1950–1953 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty, and Pyongyang is subject to multiple sanctions over its nuclear program.
The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) quoted Kim emphasizing in a speech "the unwavering political stance of our Party and state to accelerate the pace of strengthening the country's defense capabilities."
Kim's remarks came at the conclusion of a three-day party meeting that ended on Monday, according to the agency.
Kim stated that "the United States and South Korea have increasingly and overtly intensified their efforts to expand and modernize military capabilities in the region, with South Korea even seeking to acquire nuclear-powered submarines."
In the face of these developments, Kim Jong Un stressed that North Korea's stance remains firm and unshakable, which is to accelerate efforts aimed at "expanding and strengthening a powerful and thoroughly reliable self-defense deterrent."
Regarding the nuclear arsenal, KCNA reported that the party reached a consensus that "the country's nuclear forces... and exercising its full status as a nuclear-armed state constitute the optimal and sole path" to confronting geopolitical challenges.
Since the collapse of the 2019 Hanoi summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump over disputes regarding the scope of denuclearization and sanctions relief, Pyongyang has maintained that its status as a nuclear state is "irreversible" and that it will not abandon its arsenal.
AFP
