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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has announced a drastic expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal. “In a situation where South Korea has undoubtedly become a clear enemy, the mass production of tactical nuclear weapons is important and necessary,” the South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted Kim as saying at a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of his ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, which was circulated by state media on Sunday.

“It is necessary to exponentially increase the number of warheads,” Kim said. He also called for the development of new ballistic ICBMs and for sending a spy satellite into space as soon as possible.

According to the report, the multi-day plenary session ended on Saturday and focused on the Pyongyang leadership’s political priorities in the new year. Mid-week, Kim had already announced the expansion of his country’s military capability and “new key targets for strengthening independent defense capabilities” to be enforced by 2023.

He did not give details at the time, so observers in neighboring South Korea assumed that he was referring to the goals that were formulated at a party conference in early 2021. At the time, Kim had outlined a number of projects to strengthen the armed forces and expand the nuclear arsenal, including “first strike capabilities” and “retaliatory capabilities”.

The conflict on the Korean peninsula has become significantly more explosive in recent months. North Korea has not only accelerated its launch of ballistic missiles, but has also intensified its rhetoric against the governments of South Korea and the US. The armed forces of the two countries are resuming large-scale joint military exercises this year over the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. North Korea is subject to severe international sanctions over its nuclear weapons program. (sda/dpa)