Amid U.S.-South Korea exercises, Kim Jong Un demands quick nuclear expansion.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to accelerate the growth of his nation’s nuclear arsenal, labeling joint U.S.-South Korea military drills as a provocation and “an obvious expression of their will to provoke war,” state media KCNA reported Tuesday.Beginning this week, Seoul and Washington launched their yearly Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, a ten-day exercise with enhanced reactions to North Korea’s nuclear threats.
President Lee Jae-myung is trying to reduce tensions by delaying half of the field events until September, in an effort of which the South Korean military said that this year’s training would be comparable in scope to 2024. Pyongyang found the exercises offensive and confrontational, though.Kim said during a Monday trip to a navy destroyer that the security environment demanded North Korea to “rapidly expand” its nuclear arsenal and added that the joint drills had added a “nuclear element.” While testing fresh cruise and antiair missiles for its fleet, he also verified plans to build a third 5,000-tonne Choe Hyon-class destroyer by October 2026.Analysts claim the comments stress Pyongyang’s rejection of denuclearization.
“North Korea is showing its will to irreversibly improve nuclear weaponry,” said Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification.North Korea may have created enough fissile material for up to 90 nuclear warheads but likely has approximately 50 assembled weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists.In an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung in Washington, where both leaders are due to confirm their security alliance, the topic is expected to be especially prominent.
