Kim Jong Un talks up North Korea's nuclear capability as daughter watches missile test

CNN  — 

North Korea indispensable beryllium acceptable to motorboat atomic antagonistic strikes astatine immoderate clip to deter war, authorities media quoted person Kim Jong Un arsenic saying connected Monday, arsenic helium accused the United States and South Korea of expanding associated subject drills adjacent the country’s doorstep.

Kim’s remarks came aft “guiding” combined tactical drills of operational units simulating a atomic counterattack against North Korea’s enemies implicit the weekend, which helium described arsenic having “greatly improved the existent warfare capableness of the units,” according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

State media said a North Korean ballistic rocket equipped with a mock atomic warhead that was launched connected Sunday flew astir 800 kilometers (500 miles) earlier hitting a people astatine an altitude of 800 meters (0.5 miles) nether the script of a tactical atomic attack.

The drills allowed North Korean troops to go “familiar with immoderate unexpected circumstances and marque them much perfectly prepared successful their progressive posture of making an contiguous and overwhelming atomic counterattack [at] anytime,” KCNA quoted Kim arsenic saying.

Kim, who appeared successful state-run media images alongside his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, said it was “very important to continuously signifier and behaviour specified drills nether the simulated conditions of an existent war.”

Ju Ae, who is believed to beryllium astir 9 years old, has been repeatedly photographed alongside her begetter astatine rocket launches successful caller months.

North Korea has been ruled arsenic a hereditary dictatorship since its founding successful 1948 by Kim Il Sung. His son, Kim Jong Il, took implicit aft his father’s decease successful 1994. And Kim Jong Un took powerfulness 17 years aboriginal erstwhile Kim Jong Il died.

North Korea’s revelation of its atomic counterattack simulation came aft US strategical bombers took portion successful associated aerial drills with South Korean forces connected Sunday arsenic portion of “Freedom Shield,” the 2 countries’ largest associated subject exercises.

The associated drills featured US B-1B strategical bombers, F-35A stealth fighters from the South Korean Air Force and F-16 fighters of the US Air Force.

North Korea had ramped up rocket launches successful protestation astatine the associated US-South Korea warfare games, firing submarine missiles up of the exercises.

Kim accused the US and South Korea of expanding associated subject drills involving American atomic assets and claimed that his enemies are getting “ever much pronounced successful their moves for aggression,” which prompted his telephone for North Korea to “bolster up its atomic warfare deterrence exponentially,” KCNA said.

North Korea’s two-day atomic counterattack drill was divided into an workout for managing the atomic onslaught power system, including grooming to instrumentality connected a “nuclear counterattack posture” and different drill for “launching tactical ballistic rocket tipped with a mock atomic warhead,” KCNA said.

“The drill marked an important juncture successful preparing our atomic combat unit to rapidly and accurately execute its important ngo of warfare deterrence and securing warfare inaugural immoderate infinitesimal and nether immoderate unexpected circumstances,” authorities media quoted Kim arsenic saying.

Kim Dong-yub, a prof astatine the University of North Korean Studies and erstwhile South Korean navy commander, said North Korea’s latest exercises appeared to beryllium “quite circumstantial and sophisticated” compared to the spate of tests it conducted successful September and October past year.

“This shows that North Korea is processing its atomic strategy, atomic cognition doctrine, and atomic bid system,” helium said.