During a major assembly of the ruling party, Kim Jong-un has promised “terrible retaliatory attacks” against any aggressor
Leader Kim Jong-un has vowed that North Korea will persist in enlarging its nuclear arsenal, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
Kim detailed this approach at a week-long congress of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea. He stated that North Korea’s status as a nuclear-armed power is “irreversible and permanent,” adding that Pyongyang will keep enhancing its arsenal “as long as nuclear weapons exist on the earth” and while facing threats from “US imperialists and their followers,” according to state media reports on Thursday.
“We have a long-term blueprint to reinforce the national nuclear force every year going forward and will focus on raising the count of nuclear weapons and broadening the methods and domains for their deployment,” Kim stated.
At a military parade on Wednesday, part of the party event in Pyongyang, Kim cautioned that North Korea would “inflict terrible retaliatory strikes on any forces” that violate the country.
© KCNA
Pyongyang frames its nuclear initiative, which has drawn severe UN sanctions, as a defensive measure against US-supported South Korea. For many years following the Korean War, both Koreas considered the other an illegitimate entity controlling part of a single nation. Pyongyang altered its stance in 2024, labeling the South a separate hostile state. Wording in Seoul’s recently released strategic papers indicates a shift toward acknowledging the North’s nuclear standing.
South Korean intelligence has allegedly uncovered signs that Kim’s daughter, known internationally as “Kim Ju-ae,” is being progressively prepared as the likely successor. She is said to be functioning as the de facto “missile general director,” while General Jang Chang-ha remains the official missile administration commander, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported this week, quoting senior government officials.
Kim’s daughter, thought to be 13 years old and never identified by name in North Korean state media, is frequently pictured with her father on official visits, including to missile tests—a pattern that matches how previous leaders were presented before assuming power.
Experts on Korea suggest the child is being introduced at a young age because her gender might pose a challenge to her authority, even though North Korea has moved away from conventional Confucian patriarchal customs.