dpa
Seoul
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for an “exponential increase” in the number of the country’s nuclear warheads, state media reported on Sunday.
In a situation where South Korea has become “our undoubted enemy, it highlights the importance and necessity of a mass-producing of tactical nuclear weapons and calls for an exponential increase of the country’s nuclear arsenal,” Yonhap reported Kim as saying, citing North Korean state media.
Kim was speaking during a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea that ended Saturday. It was held to set Pyongyang’s major policy directions for the year.
He also called for the development of new intercontinental ballistic missiles and spoke of plans to launch a spy satellite into space as soon as possible.
Earlier on Sunday, North Korea fired another short-range ballistic missile into the sea, according to the South Korean military.
The missile was fired towards the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, Yonhap reported, citing the general staff in Seoul.
UN resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles of any range, which can also carry nuclear warheads, depending on their design.
South Korea and Japan said Pyongyang had already fired three short-range missiles towards the Sea of Japan on Saturday morning.
The missiles flew about 350 kilometres and then crashed into the water, according to the South Korean general staff.
South Korea’s military accused the North of renewed provocation.
Japan’s government lodged a protest through its embassy in Beijing, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported. China is seen as having significant influence on North Korea’s leadership.
The latest report comes amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, as Pyongyang has recently conducted a string of missile tests.
Observers fear Pyongyang’s first nuclear test in years may be imminent.
In light of the heightened tensions, the US and South Korea resumed full-scale joint military exercises this year.
Later Sunday, South Korea’s Defense Ministry reiterated a warning that any attempt to use nuclear weapons by North Korea “will lead to the end of the Kim Jong Un government.” The U.S. military has previously made similar warnings.
“The new year started but our security situation is still very grave,” South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told top military officers during a video conference. “Our military must resolutely punish any provocation by the enemy with a firm determination that we dare to risk fighting a battle.”
Senior diplomats from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan spoke by phone and agreed that provocations by North Korea would only deepen its international isolation and prompt their trilateral security cooperation. They still reaffirmed that the door to dialogue with North Korea remains open, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
