North Korean leader urges military to be ready to use nuclear weapons
by Jack Kim,
2016-03-04 12:55:07.0
SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his country to be ready to use its nuclear weapons at any time and the military to be in "pre-emptive attack" mode in the face of growing threats from its enemies, state media said on Friday.
The comments, carried by the North’s official KCNA news agency, marked a further escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula after the United Nations (UN) Security Council imposed harsh new sanctions against the isolated state on Wednesday for its nuclear programme.
North Korea, known for belligerent rhetoric, has previously threatened pre-emptive attacks on its enemies, including South Korea and the US. Military experts doubt it has yet developed the capability to fire a long-range missile with a miniaturised warhead to deliver a nuclear weapon as far as the US.
Mr Kim made the comments as he supervised military exercises involving newly developed rocket launchers, KCNA reported. It did not mention the date of the drills but said the new weapons had South Korea within range.
South Korea’s defence ministry said on Thursday North Korea launched several projectiles off its coast into the sea up to 150km away, an apparent response to the UN sanctions.
Mr Kim said North Korea should "bolster ... (its) nuclear force both in quality and quantity" and stressed "the need to get the nuclear warheads deployed for national defence always on standby so as to be fired any moment", KCNA reported.
"Now is the time for us to convert our mode of military counteraction toward the enemies into a pre-emptive attack one in every aspect."
Mr Kim criticised South Korean President Park Geun-hye in his first direct published mention of her by name for acting "in league with the US scoundrels", adding that "her hysteria will precipitate only her ruin in the long run", KCNA said.
A spokesman for South Korea’s unification ministry, which handles relations with the North, said Mr Kim’s comments were not helpful and could have been intended for the domestic audience to boost morale in the face of the new UN sanctions.
In response to the report, a US defence department spokesman, Com Bill Urban, said, "We urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions that aggravate tensions and instead focus on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments."
The latest UN sanctions, drafted by the US and China, the North’s main ally, punish the isolated country following its fourth nuclear test, in January, as well as February’s satellite launch, which the US and others say was really a test of ballistic missile technology.
Possible engine test eyed
South Korea and the US militaries are set to formally begin talks on Friday on deployment of the advanced antimissile terminal high altitude area defence (THAAD) system with the US military in the South.
China and Russia oppose the deployment of defence system, which has powerful radar capable of penetrating deep into their countries, but South Korea and the US have said it is needed in response to the heightened missile threat from the North.
Johns Hopkins University’s 38 North project, which monitors North Korea, said recent commercial satellite imagery showed new activity in the isolated country including a convoy of trucks at its satellite launch station that could be preparations for a rocket-engine test.
"One possibility is that these vehicles are returning from a delivery of supplies, fuel, or even engine components for testing to the stand," the report said.
The site on the North’s west coast is the upgraded rocket station where it launched a long-range rocket on February 7 that put an object into space but was condemned by the Security Council as violation of past resolutions that ban the use of ballistic missile technology by the North.
On Thursday, Ms Park repeated a warning to the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions and said she would work to "end tyranny" by the North’s leader. They were the toughest-ever comments against Pyongyang by Ms Park, whose recent hardline against the North is a shift from her earlier policy of "trustpolitik" that focused on trying to engage in dialogue.
In February, Seoul suspended the operation of a jointly run factory project with North Korea that had been the rivals’ last remaining venue for regular interaction.
North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun, the official daily newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party, on Friday carried three pages of a report and photographs of Mr Kim supervising the rocket launch drills.
It also ran a full page commentary insulting Ms Park as "a wicked woman who does everything evil against the compatriots in the North".
Reuters
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (centre) guides the multiple-rocket launching drill of women's sub-units under KPA Unit 851, in this undated file photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency. Picture: REUTERS
SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his country to be ready to use its nuclear weapons at any time and the military to be in "pre-emptive attack" mode in the face of growing threats from its enemies, state media said on Friday.
The comments, carried by the North’s official KCNA news agency, marked a further escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula after the United Nations (UN) Security Council imposed harsh new sanctions against the isolated state on Wednesday for its nuclear programme.
North Korea, known for belligerent rhetoric, has previously threatened pre-emptive attacks on its enemies, including South Korea and the US. Military experts doubt it has yet developed the capability to fire a long-range missile with a miniaturised warhead to deliver a nuclear weapon as far as the US.
Mr Kim made the comments as he supervised military exercises involving newly developed rocket launchers, KCNA reported. It did not mention the date of the drills but said the new weapons had South Korea within range.
South Korea’s defence ministry said on Thursday North Korea launched several projectiles off its coast into the sea up to 150km away, an apparent response to the UN sanctions.
Mr Kim said North Korea should "bolster ... (its) nuclear force both in quality and quantity" and stressed "the need to get the nuclear warheads deployed for national defence always on standby so as to be fired any moment", KCNA reported.
"Now is the time for us to convert our mode of military counteraction toward the enemies into a pre-emptive attack one in every aspect."
Mr Kim criticised South Korean President Park Geun-hye in his first direct published mention of her by name for acting "in league with the US scoundrels", adding that "her hysteria will precipitate only her ruin in the long run", KCNA said.
A spokesman for South Korea’s unification ministry, which handles relations with the North, said Mr Kim’s comments were not helpful and could have been intended for the domestic audience to boost morale in the face of the new UN sanctions.
In response to the report, a US defence department spokesman, Com Bill Urban, said, "We urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions that aggravate tensions and instead focus on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments."
The latest UN sanctions, drafted by the US and China, the North’s main ally, punish the isolated country following its fourth nuclear test, in January, as well as February’s satellite launch, which the US and others say was really a test of ballistic missile technology.
Possible engine test eyed
South Korea and the US militaries are set to formally begin talks on Friday on deployment of the advanced antimissile terminal high altitude area defence (THAAD) system with the US military in the South.
China and Russia oppose the deployment of defence system, which has powerful radar capable of penetrating deep into their countries, but South Korea and the US have said it is needed in response to the heightened missile threat from the North.
Johns Hopkins University’s 38 North project, which monitors North Korea, said recent commercial satellite imagery showed new activity in the isolated country including a convoy of trucks at its satellite launch station that could be preparations for a rocket-engine test.
"One possibility is that these vehicles are returning from a delivery of supplies, fuel, or even engine components for testing to the stand," the report said.
The site on the North’s west coast is the upgraded rocket station where it launched a long-range rocket on February 7 that put an object into space but was condemned by the Security Council as violation of past resolutions that ban the use of ballistic missile technology by the North.
On Thursday, Ms Park repeated a warning to the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions and said she would work to "end tyranny" by the North’s leader. They were the toughest-ever comments against Pyongyang by Ms Park, whose recent hardline against the North is a shift from her earlier policy of "trustpolitik" that focused on trying to engage in dialogue.
In February, Seoul suspended the operation of a jointly run factory project with North Korea that had been the rivals’ last remaining venue for regular interaction.
North Korea’s Rodong Sinmun, the official daily newspaper of the ruling Workers’ Party, on Friday carried three pages of a report and photographs of Mr Kim supervising the rocket launch drills.
It also ran a full page commentary insulting Ms Park as "a wicked woman who does everything evil against the compatriots in the North".
Reuters
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