Kim Jong-un has revealed plans to boost North Korea's nuclear weapons programme.
On Monday (25 April), the North Korean leader addressed the attendees of a military parade which took place to mark the armed forces' founding anniversary.
Kim vowed to 'strengthen and develop' the nation's nuclear capabilities, with the parade showing off a banned intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBMs) which North Korea claimed to have tested last month.
Despite the sanctions which have been imposed on North Korea by the US in response to its testing of the ICBM, Kim persisted with announcing his plans for the future.
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At the parade, according to a report by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), he stated: "In particular, the nuclear forces, the symbol of our national strength and the core of our military power, should be strengthened in terms of both quality and scale, so that they can perform nuclear combat capabilities in any situations of warfare, according to purposed and missions of different operations and by various means.
"The fundamental mission of our nuclear forces is to deter a war, but our nukes can never be confined to the single mission of war deterrent even at a time when a situation we are not desirous of at all is created on this land."
The leader stressed that if 'any forces try to violate the fundamental interests' of North Korea, that its nuclear forces 'will have to decisively accomplish its unexpected second mission' and that the nuclear forces 'should be fully prepared to fulfil their responsible mission and put their unique deterrent in motion at any time'.
The Hwasong-17 was among the ICBMs being shown off at the parade, captured in photographs shared by state media.
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North Korea claimed to have debuted the Hwasong-17 missile on 24 March, marking the occasion with a cinematic clip showing Kim guiding the 'monster missile' launch.
Kim called the missile test a 'miraculous' victory for the country and pledged to use the new system to 'check and contain' the US.
However, discrepancies were found within the Top Gear-style video, leading to suspicions surrounding whether the launch was actually real or not.
It was subsequently concluded by South Korea and US officials that the missile launch wasn't actually a Hwasong-17 ICBM but a smaller Hwasong-15 ICBM.
While a suspension on long-range ballistic missile and nuclear tests was put in place by Kim in 2018, the leader retracted his promise in 2020.
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The suspension was arranged after a talk between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump.
Current US President Joe Biden is yet to resume talks with North Korea on the matter.
North Korea is expected to carry on with its long-range missile testing and potential nuclear testing.
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Satellite images from March revealed activity was stirring at the nuclear testing facility in Punggye-ri.
Tensions have also been growing between the North and South, particularly since Yoon Suk-yeol was elected as South Korea's new president.
Earlier this month, South Korea's defence minister Suh Wook faced backlash from North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, for stating that the North's missile launch points could be struck by the South.
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Topics: Kim Jong-un, North Korea
Poppy Bilderbeck