North Korea leader Kim threatens to use nuclear weapons

4/10/2024 6:19

        North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
        said the country would not hesitate to use all available
        offensive forces including nuclear weapons if the enemy
        attempted to use force to encroach on its sovereignty, state
        news agency KCNA reported on Friday.
        
        Kim criticised South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for
        threatening to end the North Korean regime at a military day
        event on Tuesday, saying the comment showed which side was
        destroying regional security and peace.
        
        Kim said Yoon "bragged about overwhelming counteraction of
        military muscle at the doorstep of the state possessed of
        nuclear weapons and it was a great irony that caused the
        suspicion of being an abnormal man," KCNA reported.
        
        "He affirmed that 'if' the enemy, seized with extreme
        foolishness and recklessness, attempt to use armed forces
        encroaching upon the sovereignty of the DPRK ... the DPRK would
        use without hesitation all the offensive forces it has
        possessed, including nuclear weapons," KCNA added.
        
        DPRK is short for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea,
        North Korea's official name. KCNA said Kim made the comments at
        a training base of army special operation units on Wednesday.
        
        North Korea has for decades pursued a nuclear weapons
        programme and is believed to have enough fissile materials to
        build dozens of such weapons. It has conducted six underground
        nuclear detonation tests.
        
        On Tuesday, South Korea marked the annual armed forces day
        with a military parade showcasing a ballistic missile capable of
        carrying a massive warhead that also featured a flypast of a
        U.S. bomber.
        
        In a speech, Yoon warned Pyongyang against using nuclear
        weapons, saying that would be met with "a resolute, overwhelming
        response from our military and the U.S. alliance."
        
        "That day will see the end of the North Korean regime," Yoon
        said.
        
        Kim said "the enemies' threatening rhetoric, action, trick
        and attempt did not check the DPRK's powerful military strength
        and will not take away our nuclear weapons forever," KCNA
        reported.