The leader’s remarks follow North Korea’s assertion that it completed a test of an engine designed for long-range ballistic missiles
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has indicated that the nation has developed “secret weapons” to enhance its deterrent capabilities against the United States and its allies.
In a speech reported by the state-run KCNA news agency on Monday, Kim stated that Pyongyang must “continuously stockpile even more formidable forces capable of repelling all military threats.” He further accused Washington and its partners of destabilizing the region through “provocative actions that further escalate tensions” and by disregarding North Korea’s security concerns.
To counteract the perceived threat, North Korea has “acquired new secret weapons and has achieved a significant number of research achievements in defense science,” Kim declared, without providing further specifics.
He added that Pyongyang also “successfully built a strategic axis for safeguarding maritime sovereignty by producing destroyers capable of performing various maritime military missions.”
These comments come after North Korea announced earlier this month that it had finalized the ground test of a solid-fuel engine intended for the Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile, a weapon with the potential to reach the continental US.
Last week, Kim also oversaw trials of tactical attack drones, known as Kumsong, and an unmanned strategic reconnaissance aircraft. In March, he observed tests of AI-powered “suicide drones.”
In his address, Kim reiterated his disapproval of the concept of “phased denuclearization,” stressing that “we will never give up our nuclear weapons,” and affirming that North Korea’s nuclear status is a “national law.”
Concurrently, he adopted a conciliatory tone, suggesting that if the US abandons what he described as a “vain obsession with denuclearization and acknowledges reality,” an opportunity could arise for the two countries to forge ties.