North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is ignoring international pressure by announcing an increase in his country's nuclear arsenal. Photo / AFP
North Korea’s production of weapons-grade nuclear material has more than doubled in the past five years, and leader Kim Jong Un has vowed an “exponential” increase in military nuclear capabilities.
During a visit to a new nuclear material production facility, Kim said North Korea has confirmed an “ambitious future plan designed to beef up our state’s nuclear forces at an exponential rate”, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.
North Korea sees its nuclear arsenal as protection against attack from South Korea and United States forces stationed there.
Of the planned increase, Kim said: “This signifies an amazing, successful change that is beyond rhetorical description, a historic event that has set up an epochal milestone in rapidly upgrading our nuclear capabilities”.
Rejecting pressure from the US, North Korea insists it will not give up its nuclear arsenal, describing its path as “irreversible”.
Pyongyang withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1993 and has since conducted six nuclear tests, subjecting it to multiple United Nations resolutions, and is believed to possess dozens of nuclear warheads.
- AFP