Written by Associated Press’s Kim Tong-Hyung
South Korea’s SEOUL (AP) As he viewed his most sophisticated warship being equipped with nuclear-capable equipment, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un blasted South Korean-U.S. military exercises and promised a swift expansion of his nuclear arsenal to deter adversaries, according to state media on Tuesday.
As the South Korean and American forces began its yearly, extensive summertime drill to increase preparedness against escalating North Korean threats, Kim paid a visit to the western port of Nampo on Monday. 21,000 troops, including 18,000 South Koreans, will be mobilized for the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield, which the allies characterize as defensive, for field training and computer-simulated command post operations.
Kim has frequently utilized the joint exercises of the allies to defend his own military demonstrations and testing activities intended to advance his nuclear weapons program, and North Korea has long condemned them as invasion rehearsals.
With North and South Korea separated by the Demilitarized Zone, the Korean Peninsula is still technically at war.
Kim claimed that the joint military exercises of the allies demonstrate animosity and their purported desire to start a war while examining the warship Choe Hyon, a 5,000-ton-class destroyer that was originally displayed in April, according to the North’s Korean Central News Agency. He claimed that the exercises have grown more provocative than before by incorporating a nuclear element, requiring the North to respond with proactive and overwhelming countermeasures.
Using the initials of North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, KCNA paraphrased Kim as saying, “The security environment around the DPRK is getting more serious day by day and the current situation requires us to make a radical and swift change in the existing military theory and practice and rapid expansion of nuclearization.”
Seoul has always viewed the Ulchi exercises as defensive, according to Kang Yu-jung, spokeswoman for South Korea’s new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, who wants to strengthen ties with the North. However, he made no additional comments regarding Kim’s statements. The defense ministry of South Korea stated that it did not currently have any updated evaluations of the North Korean warship’s capabilities to offer.
Ulchi Freedom Shield will include training to prevent North Korean nuclear use and counter its missile attacks, according to South Korean and American military officials. It will also concentrate on thwarting North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threat. Along with addressing threats from drones, GPS jamming, and cyberattacks, the exercise will also draw lessons from recent conflicts, including as Israel and Iran’s dispute and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
As a major step toward his objective of increasing the operating range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed force, Kim has praised the construction of his naval destroyer, Choe Hyon. According to state media, the destroyer, which is getting ready to go into active duty in 2019, is built to carry a variety of weaponry, such as nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles, antiair and anti-naval weapons, and more.
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Kim reacted angrily to the North’s May unveiling of a second destroyer of the same type, calling the failure criminal, after the ship was damaged during a botched launching ceremony in the northeastern port of Chongjin. Some outside analysts have questioned whether the new destroyer, called Kang Kon, is completely operational, despite the North’s claims that it was relaunched in June following repairs.
During Monday s visit to Nampo, Kim also reviewed North Korean efforts to complete a third destroyer by October, KCNA said. Kim stated that the navy’s modernization and transition to nuclear-capable capabilities are going according to plan while examining Choe Hyon. He was pleased with the development of the warship’s integrated operating system and weapons testing. According to KCNA, he gave authorities instructions to conduct performance evaluations in October.
Since Kim intensified his military nuclear program and strengthened his ties with Moscow in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, tensions on the Korean Peninsula have escalated. His administration has consistently rejected requests from Seoul and Washington to relaunch talks to wind down his missile and nuclear programs, which broke down in 2019 after a failed summit with US President Donald Trump during his first term.
Lee, who assumed office in June, said in his most recent message to Pyongyang on Friday that he would try to reestablish a 2018 inter-Korean military pact intended to ease border tensions and that North Korea should react to the South’s attempts to restore confidence and restart negotiations.
In order to prevent conflicts, the 2018 military pact, which was struck during a brief diplomatic period between the Koreas, established no-fly zones above the border as well as buffer zones on land and at sea. But South Korea suspended the deal in 2024, citing tensions over North Korea s launches oftrash-laden balloons toward the South,and moved to resume front-line military activities and propaganda campaigns. Following North Korea’s announcement that it would no longer adhere to the deal, the action was taken.
