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North Korea tests its new multiple launch rocket system, believed to have taken place Thursday when it fired six short-range projectiles into the East Sea. / Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered his military to be ready to use its nuclear weapons at any time in the face of threats from its enemies, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, Friday.
He also said that the repressive state will shift its military posture to carrying out pre-emptive strikes, citing that the current situation has become very precarious.
Kim's fiery rhetoric came after the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council unanimously adopted a new resolution Wednesday to impose harsh new sanctions on North Korea over its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch.
Kim said the North should "bolster up nuclear force both in quality and quantity and keep a balance of forces," according to the KCNA.
He also stressed "the need to get the nuclear warheads deployed for national defense always on standby so as to be fired any moment," the KCNA added.
The state-run media said all North Korean people are now waiting for the order "to annihilate the enemy with their surging wrath at the U.S. imperialists and South Korea's Park Geun-hye group of traitors."
Referring to the to the U.N. adoption of new sanctions against the regime, the KCNA said the U.S. and other countries' "flagrant moves" for political and economic pressure and military aggression on the North have reached a "grave phase" and can no longer be overlooked.
It claimed that the adoption of the sanctions "committed a ferocious hostility of illegalizing the DPRK's independent rights as a sovereign state."
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North Korean Kim Jong-un is welcomed by military personnel before attending the test-firing of his countries' new multiple launch rocket system in this photo released by the North's mouthpiece the Rodong Sinmun, Friday. / Yonhap |
The KCNA said Kim made the comments while watching the test-firing of a new multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) to be deployed in artillery units of the Korean People's Army.
The KCNA did not mention the timing of the test-fire, but South Korean military officials say the new system that the North claimed was test-fired is believed to be a 300-millimeter-caliber MLRS, given that the reclusive state fired six short-range projectiles into the East Sea, Thursday.
The North unveiled the new system on Oct. 10 last year during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party.
The system is thought to have a range of up to 200 kilometers, far enough to strike South Korean and U.S. military installations well beyond the Seoul metropolitan area, if fired from an area near the Military Demarcation Line.
Later in the day, the Kim Jong-un regime issued a statement, warning of stern actions against the latest adoption of the sanctions.
The statement, also carried by the KCNA, said the North will mobilize various means and ways to take strong and merciless actions including physical means.
It was the first official response from the repressive state to the U.N. sanctions.
In response to the North's claim, the Ministry of National Defense said the North's verbal attack that comes at a time when the international community is giving efforts to deter its nuclear development is totally illogical.
Deputy spokesman Army Col. Na Seng-yong said, "The ministry strongly criticizes the North for its vulgar condemnation against President Park president, the commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces."
Follow Jun Ji-hye on Twitter @TheKopJihye