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| North Korean leader Kim Jong-un salutes the People's Armed Forces in this photo published Sunday in the Rodong Shinmun. He re-asserted that a bomb test conducted on Jan. 6 was a "self-defensive measure" in an address delivered to soldiers of the North Korean army at a new year event./ Yonhap |
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| Kim Jong-un, depicted on the cover of the New Yorker to be released Jan. 18. / Yonhap |
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has reasserted his claim that his regime successfully conducted a hydrogen bomb test last week and that this was a self-defense measure, the Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday.
"It is a legitimate right of a sovereign state, which no one can refute," Kim added."Our hydrogen bomb test, conducted at the outset of the year when the 7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea will be held, is a self-defensive measure to strictly protect the independence of the country and the right to survival of the people against the threat of a nuclear war with the U.S. and imperialists and to ensure peace on the Korean Peninsula and regional security," Kim was quoted as saying by the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim was speaking at a new year's event held for the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces.
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| Members of North Korea's People's Armed Forces clap as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's car passes through, according to the North's Rodong Shinmun, Sunday. While visiting the People's Armed Forces, Kim again stressed that the nuclear bomb test was a self-defense measure./ Yonhap.Yonhap |
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| Fireworks lit up Pyongyang during an event held Friday by the regime in North Korea for citizens to celebrate the success of the claimed hydrogen bomb test, the North's Korean Central News Agency reported. / Yonhap |
As usual, the KCNA did not provide the date when Kim delivered his speech.
Kim also urged the People's Armed Forces to "step up political and military might to protect the 7th Workers' Party Congress," he said.
Kim's comment comes as the international community debates whether to impose further sanctions against the North for carrying out a fourth nuclear test.
Since the Jan. 6th test, the North's state media has been publishing photos of North Koreans celebrating the success of its claimed hydrogen bomb test.
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