North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country's ultimate goal is to possess the world's most powerful nuclear force, as he promoted dozens of military officers involved in the recent launch of North Korea's largest ballistic missile, state media reported on Sunday.
The announcement comes after Kim inspected a test of the country's new Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and pledged to counter US nuclear threats with nuclear weapons on Friday.
Building the nuclear force is for reliably protecting the dignity and sovereignty of the state and the people, and "its ultimate goal is to possess the world's most powerful strategic force, the absolute force unprecedented in the century," Kim said in the order promoting the officers.
He called the Hwasong-17 the "world's strongest strategic weapon" and said it demonstrated North Korea's resolve and ability to eventually build the world's strongest army.
North Korean scientists have made a "wonderful leap forward in the development of the technology of mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles," Kim said, without elaborating.
Posing for photos with the scientists, engineers, military officials and others involved in the test, Kim said he expects them to continue to expand and strengthen the country's nuclear deterrent at an extraordinarily rapid pace.
Those workers issued an oath of allegiance and faith to the ruling party, vowing to defend the "absolute authority" of the party and Kim, and vowing that "our missiles will fly vigorously only in the direction indicated" by him.
-
Air raid sirens sounded across South Korea as North Korea tested its missile systems on Wednesday, including one that fell close to South Korean waters. Here, travellers at a railway station in Seoul watch a news broadcast. AFP -
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech at the Central Academy of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on October 18. AFP -
In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters about North Korea's ballistic missile test on Wednesday. Reuters -
South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol, centre, attends a meeting of the National Security Council in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday. AP -
Travellers at Seoul Railway Station watch a TV news report on North Korea's missile tests. AP -
A soldier at Seoul Railway Station watches a TV news report about North Korea's missile tests. EPA -
Television news in South Korea reports news of North Korea's missile tests. On Wednesday, Seoul told residents on the island of Ulleungdo off its east coast to evacuate to bunkers after North Korea fired three short range ballistic missiles. AFP -
At a railway station in Seoul on Wednesday, a man watches a television broadcast showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test. AFP
They said Kim had "carefully taught us one by one" during the development of the Hwasong-17.
Capable of reaching the US mainland, the missile launch prompted the United States to call for a United Nations Security Council presidential statement to hold North Korea accountable for its missile tests, which are banned by Security Council resolutions.
North Korea's powerful Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly awarded the Hwasong-17 missile the title of "DPRK Hero and Gold Star Medal and Order of National Flag 1st Class", KCNA reported in another statement, using the initials of the country's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"(The missile) clearly proved before the world that the DPRK is a full-fledged nuclear power capable of standing against the nuclear supremacy of the U.S. imperialists and fully demonstrated its might as the most powerful ICBM state," KCNA said.
The test fire demonstrated that North Korea will react in kind to "the enemy's nuke and full-frontal confrontation," the report said.
