Kim Jong-un vows to prepare nuclear force for fight against US

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to redouble efforts to make his nuclear force fully ready to fight with the United States and its allies, state media reported Tuesday, after the country revealed a new platform likely designed to fire more powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles targeting the U.S. mainland.

Kim Jong Un has made similar promises several times before, but his latest threat comes as outside experts say the North Korean leader will conduct provocative weapons tests ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November. In recent days, North Korea has also resumed launching balloons carrying trash toward South Korea.

In a speech Monday marking the 76th anniversary of his government’s founding, Kim Jong Un said North Korea faces a “grave threat” from what he called the “reckless expansion” of a U.S.-led regional military bloc that is transforming into a nuclear bloc. Kim Jong Un said such developments are pushing North Korea to strengthen its military capabilities, according to the North’s official KCNA news agency.

Kim said North Korea would “redouble its measures and efforts to make all the state’s armed forces, including the nuclear force, fully combat-ready,” KCNA said.

North Korea has protested the signing in July of a new defense directive between the United States and South Korea that seeks to integrate U.S. nuclear weapons with South Korean conventional weapons to counter North Korea’s growing nuclear threats. North Korea has said the directive reveals its adversaries’ plans to invade the country. U.S. and South Korean officials have repeatedly said they have no plans to attack the country.

Since 2022, North Korea has dramatically stepped up its weapons testing activities in an effort to hone its capabilities to launch strikes against the United States and South Korea. The United States and South Korea have responded with a series of military exercises that North Korea calls invasion rehearsals.

Many analysts believe North Korea still has some technological hurdles to overcome to acquire long-range nuclear missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, although it likely already has missiles capable of hitting key targets in South Korea and Japan.

South Korean officials and experts say North Korea could conduct nuclear tests or ICBM launches before the U.S. election to increase its leverage in future diplomacy with the United States. Observers say North Korea likely believes greater nuclear capability would help it win U.S. concessions, such as sanctions relief.

As of Tuesday morning, North Korea did not appear to have staged a major military demonstration to mark the anniversary. But the North’s main newspaper Rodong Sinmun published a photo Sunday of Kim inspecting what appears to be a 12-axle missile launcher, believed to be the largest the country has ever displayed so far, during a visit to a munitions factory. That has sparked speculation that the North may be developing a new ICBM that is larger than its current Hwasong-17 ICBM, which is launched on an 11-axle vehicle.

Asked about the photo on Monday, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder declined to provide a specific assessment of North Korea’s missile capabilities and reiterated that Washington was working closely with Seoul, Tokyo and other partners to preserve regional security and deter potential attacks.

“It is not unusual for North Korea to use media reports and images to try to send a message to the world,” he said.

North Korea sent hundreds of giant balloons loaded with trash toward South Korea for five straight days through Sunday, extending a Cold War-style psychological warfare campaign that has further stoked animosities on the Korean Peninsula. The balloons largely contained paper and vinyl waste, and no major damage was reported.

North Korea launched its balloon campaign in late May in response to South Korean civilians dropping propaganda leaflets across the border using their own balloons. South Korea later resumed its anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts from loudspeakers along the tense land border between the two rivals.

Observers say North Korea is extremely sensitive to South Korean leafleting and loudspeaker broadcasts because they could hamper its efforts to ban foreign news from its 26 million people.