North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has again warned he could use nuclear weapons in potential conflicts with South Korea and the US, accusing them of provoking North Korea and fuelling hostility on the Korean peninsula, Korean media reported.
Mr. Kim has repeatedly made similar threats to use nuclear weapons, but his latest warning comes at a time when outside experts say North Korea could step up military action ahead of next month’s US presidential election.
Speaking at the university named after him, the Kim Jong Un National Defence University, on Monday, he said North Korea “will not hesitate to use all its capabilities to attack its enemies” if they try to use “armed forces” against North Korea, the official North Korean Central News Agency reported. He said:
In that case, the use of nuclear weapons cannot be ruled out.
Mr. Kim said North Korea’s nuclear capabilities should be fully strengthened as South Korea and the US seek to strengthen their military alliance based on joint nuclear and strategic planning, which he said would increase the risk of upsetting the balance of power on the Korean Peninsula.
Mr. Kim is apparently referring to the new deterrence guidelines between South Korea and the US, which the two countries signed in July to integrate South Korean conventional capabilities with US nuclear weapons to better counter North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats. South Korea has no nuclear weapons.
Since late May 2024, North Korea has launched thousands of debris balloons in response to anti-Pyongyang leaflets launched by activists from the Republic of Korea. In late June, North Korean balloons that flew into the South paralysed Seoul airport for three hours.
