“We will continue at the fastest pace to take steps to enhance and develop our country’s nuclear capabilities,” Kim said in the speech, noting that nuclear power, the symbol of our national strength and the core of our military power, should be enhanced in terms of quality and size.
This came after Kim warned yesterday to use his atomic arsenal if North Korea’s “essential interests” are threatened, saying that “the primary mission of our nuclear weapons is deterrence, but our nuclear weapons cannot be limited to a single mission.”
“If any force tries to rob our country’s basic interests, our nuclear force will have no other choice but to complete its second mission,” he stressed.
North Korea halted its tests of nuclear bombs and long-range missiles during talks between Kim and former US President Donald Trump, which quickly failed and collapsed in 2019.
Last month, Pyongyang tested an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time since 2017, and satellite images showed indications of activity at a nuclear test site, which North Korea announced its destruction in 2018, ahead of the first summit between Trump and Kim.
State television footage showed rows of soldiers carrying flags and weapons marching in formations in the lit square, while the famous news anchor Ri Chun was presenting these units.
Meditating his generals, Kim smiled and saluted the soldiers while the North Korean planes were flying in formations at low altitude, before the missiles, from short-range ballistic missiles to hypersonic ones, passed on carriers that passed in the square, according to the video scenes.
The announcer, Rai, described the equipment as “ultra-advanced, with a striking force that can proactively and accurately eliminate any enemy outside our land.”
According to television scenes, the show included the most advanced weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles, especially hypersonic missiles, and the “Hwasong-17” missile, which North Korea says it successfully tested on March 24.
When the “Hwasong-17” missiles crossed the square, the announcer said that these missiles “are proudly advancing today after they showed the world the true value of their absolute power.”