North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said his state has a policy of not hesitating to launch a nuclear strike against its rivals if provoked, state media reported.
He praised the troops involved in a recent test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Kim has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons preemptively, adopting a nuclear escalation doctrine last year. However, many foreign experts say North Korea has not yet acquired operational nuclear missiles and is unlikely to use nuclear weapons first.
North Korea conducted its first ICBM test in five months on Monday, calling the exercise a warning of confrontational actions by the US and South Korea. North Korea cited a recent meeting between the US and South Korea to strengthen their nuclear deterrence plans.
North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Mr Kim met with members of the missile general bureau on Wednesday to congratulate them on the launch of a prototype Hwasong-18 solid-fueled missile, North Korea’s newest and most powerful ICBM.
During the meeting, Mr Kim expressed the view that the launch demonstrated the development of the North’s nuclear doctrine and strategy “not to hesitate even with a nuclear attack when the enemy provokes it with nuclear weapons”, KCNA reported.
Mr Kim said peace was guaranteed by a military posture of readiness to launch pre-emptive strikes against an enemy anywhere, KCNA reported.
North Korea passed a law last year stipulating a wide range of situations in which it can use nuclear weapons. It has also test-fired about 100 ballistic missiles since the start of 2022, many of which have nuclear capability and are aimed at the US and South Korea. The launch of the Hwasong-18 on Monday was the third test flight of the weapon this year.
After North Korea’s latest ICBM launch, the US, South Korea and Japan began sharing real-time missile warning data on North Korea and set out details of their trilateral exercises for the coming years.
On Wednesday, Washington sent B-1B long-range bombers for joint air exercises with South Korean and Japanese warplanes as a show of force against North Korea.
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday, the United States, South Korea and their partners said North Korea’s repeated missile launches threaten international peace and violate Security Council resolutions banning any ballistic activity by North Korea.
