North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country intends to have the world’s most powerful nuclear force, promoting dozens of military officers involved in the recent launch of a new ballistic missile, state media reported Sunday.
The announcement came after Kim inspected a Nov. 18 test of the Hwasong-17, North Korea’s largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and vowed to counter what he called a US nuclear threat.
“North Korea’s ultimate goal is to possess the most powerful strategic force in the world, an absolute force unprecedented in a century,” Kim said in the order promoting the officers, adding that building up the country’s nuclear capabilities would reliably protect North Korea’s dignity and sovereignty. the state and the people.
He described the Hwasong-17 as “the world’s most powerful strategic weapon” and said it demonstrated North Korea’s determination and ability to eventually build the world’s most powerful military.
North Korean scientists have made “a great leap forward in the development of technology to install nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles” and are expected to rapidly expand and strengthen the country’s nuclear deterrent, Kim was also quoted as saying.
Kim was pictured with scientists, engineers and military personnel involved in the test.
Kim was pictured with scientists, engineers and military personnel involved in the test.
According to state media, these workers vowed to defend the “absolute power” of the party and Kim Jong-un, and vowed that “our missiles will fly vigorously only in the direction indicated” by Kim.
The launch of the Hwasong-17, capable of reaching the US mainland, prompted the United States to call on the president of the United Nations Security Council to hold North Korea accountable for its missile tests, which are prohibited by Security Council resolutions.
State media also showed Kim Jong Un’s daughter accompanying him as he inspected the officers. Her surprise first appearance at the Hwasong-17 test raised the possibility that the leadership of the totalitarian state could pass to the fourth generation of Kims
