North Korean leader Kim threatens to use nuclear weapons against the South if attacked

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will not hesitate to use all available offensive forces, including nuclear weapons, if the enemy tries to use force to infringe on its sovereignty, North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency reported Friday.

Kim criticized South Korean President Yoon Suk-yul for threatening to end the North Korean regime at a Military Day event on Tuesday, saying the comment shows the side that destroys regional security and peace.

The Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim as saying that Yoon “bragged about the overwhelming counter-military force at the doorstep of the country that possesses nuclear weapons, which was a great irony that raised suspicions that he was an abnormal man.”

He stressed that “if” the enemy, seized by the utmost foolishness and recklessness, attempts to use armed forces that violate the sovereignty of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea… the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will use without hesitation all offensive forces at its disposal, including nuclear weapons. The Korean Central News Agency added.

DPRK is short for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea. Kim made the comments at a training base for the military’s special operations units on Wednesday, KCNA said.

North Korea has pursued a nuclear weapons program for decades and is believed to have enough fissile material to make dozens of such weapons. It conducted six underground nuclear explosion tests.

On Tuesday, South Korea celebrated the annual Armed Forces Day with a military parade displaying a ballistic missile capable of carrying a huge warhead. The display also included a flyover of an American bomber.

In his speech, Yoon warned Pyongyang against using nuclear weapons, saying it would be met with a “firm and overwhelming response from our military and the US coalition.”

“That day will mark the end of the North Korean regime,” Yoon said.

“The enemies’ rhetoric, actions, tricks and threatening attempts have not curbed the powerful military power of the DPRK and will not denuclearize us forever,” Kim was quoted by the Korean Central News Agency as saying.