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North Korea's Kim says nuclear deterrent crucial
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspecting the Pyongyang General Hospital under construction. PHOTO | AFP | KCNA VIA KNS
What you need to know:
- Pyongyang insists that it needs its nuclear arsenal to deter against a possible US invasion.
- It has spent decades developing it and is internationally isolated as a result, subject to multiple United Nations Security Council sanctions over its banned weapons programmes.
- Kim declared in December an end to moratoriums on nuclear and ballistic missile tests, and Pyongyang has repeatedly said it has no intention to continue talks unless Washington drops what it describes as "hostile" policies towards the North.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that Pyongyang's nuclear weapons guarantee its safety, state media reported Tuesday, signalling once again that it will not give up its arsenal.
Kim was addressing a conference of veterans on the 67th anniversary of the 1953 armistice that ended Korean War hostilities, the official Korean Central News Agency said.
