North Korea’s Kim Jong Un calls for nuclear attack readiness after US-South Korea war games

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for nuclear attack readiness against the United States and South Korea to deter war, accusing both countries of expanding joint military drills involving American nuclear assets, state media KCNA reported on Monday.

Kim’s remarks came as North Korea conducted two days of military exercises “simulating a nuclear counterattack”, including the firing of a ballistic missile carrying a mock nuclear warhead, KCNA said. The state news agency said the drills were aimed at bolstering its “war deterrence and nuclear counterattack capability” to send strong warnings against the allies.

In the exercises, a ballistic missile equipped with a mock nuclear warhead flew 800 km before hitting a target at the altitude of 800 m under the scenario of a tactical nuclear attack, KCNA said.

Kim, who oversaw the test, said the exercises improved the military’s actual war capability and highlighted the need to ensure its readiness for any “immediate and overwhelming nuclear counterattack” through such drills, Reuters reported.

Kim expressed “satisfaction” over the weekend drills, which were held to “let relevant units get familiar with the procedures and processes for implementing their tactical nuclear attack missions”, the KCNA report said.

“The present situation, in which the enemies are getting ever more pronounced in their moves for aggression against the DPRK, urgently requires the DPRK to bolster up its nuclear war deterrence exponentially,” KCNA quoted him as saying.

The drills were the fourth show of force from Pyongyang in a week and came as South Korea and the United States stage their own military manoeuvres — 11 days of joint drills known as Freedom Shield, their largest in five years, according to AFP.

In another post, KCNA said more than 1.4 million North Koreans have volunteered to join or re-enlist in the military to fight against Seoul and Washington, up from some 800,000 reported by a state newspaper just two days before.