Kim Jong-un "Hostile forces' nuclear threat, preemptive suppression if necessary"... Indicates strengthening of nuclear force

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, stated, "In order to preemptively and thoroughly suppress and crush all dangerous attempts and threatening actions encompassing the nuclear threats continuously sustained and aggravated by hostile forces, we will firmly maintain and continuously enhance the absolute superiority of our revolutionary armed forces."

On the 30th, the Korean Central News Agency reported that General Secretary Kim made these remarks while calling the military leadership who commanded the military parade commemorating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army to the headquarters building of the Party Central Committee to encourage them, saying, "Overwhelming military power is the lifeline that guarantees the security of our state and people and the future of generations to come."

General Secretary Kim urged the leadership, "Never forget the noble sense of mission before the homeland, revolution, and people even for a moment, and with confidence in certain victory, devote your body, mind, wisdom, and passion without reserve to the sacred cause of fully strengthening the self-defense capability of our great state," adding, "We must firmly grasp the Party's direction for military construction and the general line and decisively open a new stage of development for the revolutionary armed forces."

The meeting was attended by Pak Jong-chon, Vice Chairman of the Party Central Military Commission and Party Secretary, Ri Yong-gil, Minister of Defense, commanders of military branches, and corps commanders.

Experts interpret General Secretary Kim's remarks as a reaffirmation of an offensive military construction direction and predict that North Korea will continue nuclear tests and other activities under the pretext of "strengthening national defense capabilities." Professor Park Won-gon of Ewha Womans University’s Department of North Korean Studies analyzed, "They will continue nuclear missile development and nuclear tests under the guise of strengthening national defense capabilities," adding, "this aligns with the meaning of the statement made in the recent military parade speech that nuclear weapons could be used if the fundamental interests of our state are violated."

Professor Im Eul-chul of Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies also said, "He explicitly stated that the conditions and environment for preemptive use of nuclear weapons are 'all dangerous attempts and threatening actions encompassing the nuclear threats continuously sustained and aggravated by hostile forces,'" adding, "the evaluation of 'all dangerous attempts and threatening actions' here raises serious concerns as it increases the possibility of a preemptive nuclear strike due to misunderstandings and misjudgments."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.