Kim Jong-un says North Korea’s goal is for world’s strongest nuclear force
- The announcement comes after Kim pledged to counter US nuclear threats with nuclear weapons on Friday
- Kim said the country’s new Hwasong-17 ICBM showed North Korea’s resolve and ability to eventually build the world’s strongest army
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said his country’s ultimate goal is to possess the world’s most powerful nuclear force, as he promoted dozens of military officers involved in the recent launch of North Korea’s largest ballistic missile, state media reported on Sunday.
The announcement comes after Kim inspected a test of the country’s new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and pledged to counter US nuclear threats with nuclear weapons on November 18.
Building the nuclear force is for reliably protecting the dignity and sovereignty of the state and the people, and “its ultimate goal is to possess the world’s most powerful strategic force, the absolute force unprecedented in the century,” Kim said in the order promoting the officers.
He called the Hwasong-17 the “world’s strongest strategic weapon” and said it showed North Korea’s resolve and ability to eventually build the world’s strongest army.
North Korean scientists have made a “wonderful leap forward in the development of the technology of mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles,” Kim said, without elaborating.
Posing for photos with the scientists, engineers, military officials and others involved in the test, Kim said he expects them to continue to expand and strengthen the country’s nuclear deterrent at an extraordinarily rapid pace.
Those workers issued an oath of allegiance and faith to the ruling party, vowing to defend the “absolute authority” of the party and Kim, and vowing that “our missiles will fly vigorously only in the direction indicated” by him.
