North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un, on Tuesday urged a swift increase in his nation’s nuclear weapons, citing joint military drills conducted by the United States and South Korea.
North Korean state media reported that Kim described the exercises as an “obvious expression of their will to provoke war.” The United States and South Korea initiated their yearly military drills, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, this week, and these operations are set to proceed periodically throughout September.
The North Korean leader contended that the drills illustrate the U.S. and South Korea’s intent to “remain most hostile and confrontational,” necessitating North Korea to “rapidly expand” its nuclear arsenal.
Hong Min, a North Korea analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, informed Reuters that “Through this move, North Korea is demonstrating its refusal to accept denuclearization and the will to irreversibly upgrade nuclear weapons.”
This escalation in tensions follows just days after the South Korean President announced plans to halt some military activities along its border with North Korea and to reinstate a 2018 military agreement with its neighbor.
That agreement had halted certain military activities along the border between the two nations, including the creation of buffer zones on land and sea, and no-fly zones above the border to prevent conflict. It also ceased military drills close to the border and led to the removal of some guard posts within the Demilitarized Zone.
The pact was formalized at a 2018 inter-Korean summit but eventually dissolved as cross-border tensions escalated.
South Korea additionally removed its border loudspeakers that had transmitted anti-North Korea messages for years, an action Pyongyang reciprocated.
The South Korean President stated his government would persist in taking “gradual steps to restore the September 19 Military Agreement.”
He further expressed his hope that North Korea would “reciprocate our efforts to restore trust and revive dialogue.”
Reuters contributed to this report.