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| A photo distributed by the Korean Central News Agency shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un giving a speech on July 27, 2022, at an event in Pyongyang marking the 69th anniversary of the Korean War armistice. (File photo by=KNS/Kyodo) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] BEIJING: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Wednesday his country is "fully prepared" to mobilize its nuclear deterrent and deal with "any military clash with the United States," while warning against any attempt by South Korea to launch a pre-emptive strike, Kyodo reported.
In a speech marking the 69th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, Kim said the South's bid to pre-emptively destroy the North's military power will be "immediately punished by a powerful force, and (President) Yoon Suk Yeol's regime and his army will be annihilated," the official Korean Central News Agency said Thursday. During his speech, Kim didn't talk about the prospects of North Korea carrying out a seventh nuclear test, or it's first since 2017. Speculation has been growing that Pyongyang has completed preparations for the test.
He warned that if the South continues to "escalate military tensions while threatening our safety, there will be a corresponding price." Kim also criticized the U.S. "imperialists" and said if Washington "continues to seriously infringe on our safety and fundamental interests, it will inevitably face greater anxiety and crisis." The United States and North Korea remain technically in a state of war as the 1950-1953 Korean War, in which U.S.-led United Nations forces fought alongside the South against the North supported by China and the Soviet Union, ended in an armistice.
