North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed North Korea would mass-produce nuclear warheads and missiles in a defiant New Year’s message, suggesting that he would continue to accelerate a rogue weapons program that has stoked international tensions.
Kim, who yesterday said that he has always had a nuclear launch button on his desk, has presided over multiple missile tests in recent months and the North’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test — which it said was a hydrogen bomb — in September last year.
“We must mass-produce nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles, and speed up their deployment,” Kim said in his annual address to the nation.
Photo: Reuters
He reiterated his claim that North Korea has achieved its goal of becoming a nuclear state, but insisted its expansion of the weapons program was a defensive measure.
“We should always keep readiness to take immediate nuclear counterattacks against the enemy’s scheme for a nuclear war,” he said.
Pyongyang last year dramatically ramped up its efforts to become a nuclear power, despite a raft of international sanctions and increasingly bellicose rhetoric from the US.
The North claims it needs nuclear weapons to protect itself from a hostile Washington.
US President Donald Trump has responded to each test with his own amplified declarations, threatening to “totally destroy” Pyongyang and taunting Kim, saying the North Korean leader is on “a suicide mission.”
However, far from persuading Kim to give up his nuclear drive, analysts have said Trump’s tough talk might have prompted the North Korean leader to push through with his dangerous quest.
North Korea “can cope with any kind of nuclear threats from the US and has a strong nuclear deterrence that is able to prevent the US from playing with fire,” Kim said. “The nuclear button is always on my table. The US must realize this is not blackmail, but reality.”
Kim’s comments come after a former top US military officer said that the Trump presidency had helped create “an incredibly dangerous climate.”
“We’re actually closer, in my view, to a nuclear war with North Korea and in that region than we have ever been,” said Mike Mullen, a former chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, in an interview on ABC’s This Week on Sunday.
Pyongyang sees US military activities in the region — such as the joint drills it holds with South Korea — as a precursor to invasion.
It has rattled the international community by testing increasingly longer-range intercontinental ballistic missiles throughout last year.
Critics have said Pyongyang wants to forcibly reunify the Korean Peninsula — divided by the Demilitarized Zone since the end of the 1950-1953 Korean War.
However, Kim yesterday also sweetened his speech with a conciliatory tone toward Seoul, indicating for the first time that the North is considering taking part in the South’s Winter Olympics next month.
The Olympics “will serve as a good chance to display our Korean people’s grace toward the world and we sincerely hope the Games will be a success,” Kim said, urging the South to cease its “nuclear war exercise” with the US.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source