North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited missile bases to check their readiness for "strategic deterrence" and described US nuclear capabilities as a rising threat to the country, as reported by state media on Wednesday.
According to KCNA, he stated that the US strategic nuclear arsenal poses an "ever-increasing threat" to North Korea's security environment, which demands that Pyongyang maintain a strict counteraction posture of its nuclear forces.
North Korea has been stepping up its development of ballistic missiles and a nuclear arsenal, drawing international sanctions, and forming close military relations with Russia, reports Reuters.
Kim's visit to the missile bases comes during rising tensions with South Korea and its allies. There are worries from Seoul about claims that North Korean troops are being sent to Russia to fight in Ukraine, which North Korea has denied.
In a meeting in Seoul, South Korea's National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik and Jacek Siewiera, the head of Poland's National Security Bureau, voiced their concerns about North Korea's military cooperation with Russia.
The two also agreed to cooperate closely with the international community on the issue, according to a statement released by South Korea's presidential office.
In the KCNA report, Kim also called for the modernisation of the armed forces by giving priority to strategic missiles in the future, calling it "an important principle of the strategy for building national defence."
He was accompanied on his visit by Kim Yo Jong, his powerful sister, and Kim Jong Sik, the first vice department director of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, KCNA reported.
KCNA released photos of Kim in a leather coat inspecting the missile bases, but it did not provide details on when the visits happened.
Bd-pratidin English/Afia
