N. Korea's Kim calls for bolstering nuclear forces 'without limitation,' completing war preparations
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks at the 4th Conference of Battalion Commanders and Political Instructors of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in Pyongyang, Nov. 18. Yonhap
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for bolstering the country's nuclear forces "without limitation" and completing war preparations, accusing South Korea, the United States and Japan of threatening regional peace through military cooperation.
Kim made the remark during the 4th Conference of Battalion Commanders and Political Instructors of the Korean People's Army (KPA) on Friday, the final day of the two-day event held in Pyongyang, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Monday. It marked the first such conference in 10 years.
The North's leader called for military officials to focus on completing war preparations, stressing the need to bolster its nuclear forces to accomplish a mission to deter war and stage a preemptive attack in case of emergency.
"We will strengthen our self-defense power, centered on nuclear forces, without limitation, not being content (with our current level) and ceaselessly," Kim said at his speech.
He described the trilateral military cooperation among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan as a "critical" factor threatening peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
Kim accused the U.S. of transforming its alliance with South Korea into "a complete nuclear alliance" and hastily launching "an Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization" by strengthening trilateral military cooperation with Seoul and Tokyo.
"As a result, U.S.-led military alliances have expanded into a larger scope to include Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, and the brunt of its invasion is now focusing on none other than our nation, the U.S.' most hostile enemy and the foe in its longest war," Kim said.
"Under the current subjective, objective circumstances, completing war preparations is the most urgent task that cannot be delayed by a single day," he noted.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks at the 4th Conference of Battalion Commanders and Political Instructors of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in Pyongyang, Nov. 18. Yonhap
The North Korean leader also claimed that the U.S. and the West have been staging a war against Russia, using Ukraine as "shock troops," to gain battlefield experience and expand the scope of their military intervention worldwide, according to the KCNA.
"U.S. war merchants, sustaining wars by continuing their military assistance to Ukraine and Israel ... are fueling fears that the third World War could occur and escalating the situation to a more dangerous level," he said.
Kim, however, did not mention North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia to support its war with Ukraine.
North Korea's top military echelon joined the meeting alongside Kim, including No Kwang-chol, defense minister; Ri Yong-gil, chief of the KPA general staff; and Jong Kyong-thaek, director of the military's General Political Bureau, the KNCA said.
Kim's speech marks the first time he has personally criticized the U.S. since former U.S. President Donald Trump won the election to secure a second term earlier this month.
Citing Kim's defense of Russia's war against Ukraine, a high-level official at South Korea's unification ministry said that the country may have hosted the event "to discipline the sentiment within the military amid the news of the troop dispatch becoming known to the military and society."
Kim's speech also came as the leaders of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan held a trilateral summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru on Friday (local time) and condemned North Korea's deepening military cooperation with Russia.
South Korea and the U.S. have confirmed that North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat operations against Ukrainian forces in Russia's western Kursk border region. (Yonhap)