North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un on Monday ordered a rapid buildup of nuclear weapons, ostensibly because recent joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea were an “obvious expression of their will to provoke war.”
Kim made his remarks while attending the launch of the new 5,000-ton destroyer Choe Hyon at North Korea’s western port city of Nampo. North Korean state media claims the destroyer will be capable of carrying nuclear missiles when it becomes operational in 2026.
The Choe Hyon is the second destroyer in its class. The first one, Kang Kon, featured in a botched launching ceremony in May that caused serious damage to the underside of the ship. The destroyer was reportedly repaired and relaunched in June.
Kim raged that the launch mishap, which he personally witnessed, was a “serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism.”
According to the dictator, the Kang Kon disaster “brought the dignity and self-respect of our state to a collapse.” A smoother launch ceremony for its sister ship, the Choe Hyon, was meant to be a step toward restoring the pride of the North Korean military.
Kim said a third destroyer is currently under construction at the shipyard in Nampo. He boasted that when all three ships are operational, the North Korean Navy will “become a reliable force firmly performing a part in the composition of the state nuclear forces and the realm of nuclear use in the near future.”
“The security environment around the DPRK is getting more serious day by day and the prevailing situation requires us to make a radical and swift change in the existing military theory and practice and rapid expansion of nuclearization,” he declared. DPRK is the North Korean regime’s preferred name for itself, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Kim ostentatiously gave up on peaceful reunification last year, rewriting his national constitution to brand Seoul as a “permanent enemy” and demolishing a monument in Pyongyang that expressed hope for reunifying the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S.-South Korean military exercise that supposedly made it necessary for Pyongyang to ramp up nuclear weapons production was the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) event. 2025 marks the 25th performance of the exercise, which is traditionally held about three months after a comparable exercise in the spring.
North Korea always criticizes UFS in hyperbolic terms, denouncing it as a provocative test-run for an invasion. This year, South Korea’s new liberal president, Lee Jae-myung, arranged for part of UFS to be delayed until September to make it seem less threatening.
Lee said on Friday he hoped to demonstrate that his administration has “no intention to engage in any hostile acts” and will “respect the North Korean regime,” unlike his hawkish conservative predecessor, Yoon Suk-yeol.
For his troubles, Lee got to watch Kim rave that UFS is a greater threat than ever because it now includes “nuclear elements.” No part of the drill includes simulated nuclear weapons and, in fact, this year’s exercise does not simulate responses to a North Korean nuclear attack, but that made little difference to the North Korean dictator.
“Regardless of how much Seoul and Washington stress the defensive nature of the drills, Pyongyang chooses to interpret all allied exercises, large or small, as nuclear-related. That gives them a rationale to escalate their nuclear and strategic capabilities,” Kyungnam University professor Lim Eul-chul told Korea Joongang Daily (KJD) on Tuesday.
Senior researcher Hong Min of the Korea Institute for National Unification noted that for all of his nuclear-fire rhetoric, Kim’s response to past UFS exercises has been more substantial.
“By opting for a field inspection rather than a missile launch, Kim is signaling a low-key response – but by showcasing the navy’s nuclear capabilities, he is still sending a warning to Seoul and Washington,” Hong said.
The South Korean government dismissed Kim’s belligerent rhetoric as a “repetitive response” trotted out for every joint exercise between South Korea and the United States. Lee’s government repeated its assurances that the exercises “are not intended to attack the North or escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.”
Experts believe North Korea probably has around 50 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, with enough enriched nuclear material to build up to 40 more, if Kim is serious about ramping up weapons production.
South Korean President Lee is scheduled to travel to Washington on August 25 for a bilateral summit with President Donald Trump. Defense cooperation is a top item on the agenda for their meeting. President Trump and his advisers have said they might ask South Korea to shoulder more of the financial burden for its defense, and could reduce the American troop presence in South Korea.
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