North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un declared in a speech at a military parade Monday night that he will increase his nuclear arsenal at maximum speed and will use nuclear weapons if his country is provoked.
The parade commemorated the North Korean army's 90th anniversary. Kim displayed several weaponry, including missiles capable of reaching the United States and shorter-range missiles capable of being launched from land vehicles or submarines and capable of threatening South Korea and Japan.
North Korean Airs Footage of Military Parade
The Hwasong-17, the hermit nation's largest and newest intercontinental ballistic missile, was among the weapons widely displayed at the parade. The weapon is named after Kim's late grandfather, the founding father of the North Korean dictatorship.
Last month, North Korea claimed to have successfully test-fired the Hwasong-17 missile while South Korea claims that a smaller existing missile was used instead. Despite this, the missile launched on March 24 flew farther and higher than any other missile launched by North Korea.
North Korea has launched 13 nuclear tests so far this year. There are also indicators that the government is reopening elements of a nuclear testing plant that has been decommissioned since 2017. Nuclear talks between the US and North Korea have been on hold since 2019 because of disputes about the US's willingness to ease sanctions against the country, Fox News reported.
North Korea has put a halt to long-range missile and nuclear testing when Kim Jong Un met with former US President Donald Trump for a fruitless diplomatic effort that ended in 2019.
Pyongyang shot an ICBM at the full range for the first time since 2017, and satellite footage reveals activity at a nuclear testing facility that was allegedly dismantled in 2018 before the first Trump-Kim summit.
Kim Jong Un's Message Could Be a Warning For South's New President
Analysts believe Kim Jong Un's nuclear weapons statement is a response to South Korea's new hardline, conservative President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who enters office on May 10.
According to Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute, Kim's white uniform with a marshal's star - North Korea's highest military rank - was also a signal for Seoul. As per Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, Kim's parade address suggests that the bar for North Korea's use of nuclear weapons can be lowered even further.
The miracle launch of the country's most sophisticated ICBM was celebrated by state media, which published dramatic photographs and videos of Kim personally overseeing the test. Analysts have found inconsistencies in Pyongyang's story, leading South Korean and US security services to believe that North Korea shot a Hwasong-15 ICBM, which it had previously tested in 2017, according to SBS News.
North Korea's economy has been driven to its worst-ever state by punishing international sanctions placed on the country over its nuclear weapons program, along with pandemic shocks during the previous two years.
Sung Kim, the US envoy for North Korea policy, stated during a visit to Seoul last week that Washington is prepared to engage Pyongyang anywhere without restrictions and that the US and South Korea will respond responsibly and forcefully to Pyongyang's provocative actions.
Analysts believe that, while Washington is distracted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, North Korea may perceive an opportunity to develop its nuclear weapons program, which is now hampered by US-led international sanctions.
"Russia's invasion may confirm Kim Jong Un's and his predecessors' idea that only nuclear weapons can safeguard his country from invasion and make nuclear adversaries think twice," said North Korea analyst Duyeon Kim, as per Washington Post.
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