SEOUL, South Korea (FN) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to accelerate the country’s defense buildup, warning that military modernization efforts by South Korea and the United States are pushing the Korean peninsula “to the brink of a nuclear war,” state media reported Tuesday.
Kim’s remarks came at the conclusion of a three-day meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, where senior officials reviewed policy initiatives. The official Korean Central News Agency quoted him as reaffirming the “steadfast policy stand” to strengthen national defense capabilities at greater speed.
He accused Washington and Seoul of escalating tensions by advancing South Korea’s acquisition of a nuclear submarine and reinforcing regional armed forces. “The US and the ROK are pushing forward with the ROK’s possession of a nuclear submarine while getting evermore undisguised in their moves,” Kim said, referring to South Korea by its official acronym.
Analysts in Seoul said the rhetoric reflects Pyongyang’s strategy to justify expanding its nuclear arsenal. “This effectively shuts down any room for denuclearisation talks and treats the irreversibility of its nuclear status as a fait accompli,” said Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification.
KCNA reported that the meeting unanimously agreed to “steadily expand and strengthen the nuclear forces” as the most reliable way to cope with what it described as an unpredictable international military and political situation.
Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, recently described the North’s nuclear policy as a “line of no retreat,” reiterating Pyongyang’s position that it has no intention of giving up its arsenal.
The comments come as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said last week that U.S. President Donald Trump had agreed sanctions on the North were “ineffective” and that the nuclear issue required a new approach.
North Korea has been under multiple international sanctions for its nuclear and missile programs. The two Koreas remain technically at war, as the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
Global observers warn that Pyongyang’s stance could further destabilize regional security and complicate diplomatic efforts to resume talks.
