North Korean leader vows to bolster nuclear capabilities

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un gestures during a military parade held to celebrate the 90th founding anniversary of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, Monday. EPA-Yonhap

Presidential transition team calls for stronger deterrence

By Nam Hyun-woo

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vowed to strengthen the regime's nuclear arms capability, threatening to use those weapons if provoked, according to the North's state media, Tuesday.

In response, President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol's transition committee said the incoming government will respond with a "three-axis system," which includes air missile defense, preemptive strike system and massive retaliation plan, signaling that tensions between the two Koreas will likely escalate further under the incoming administration which is scheduled to be launched on May 10.

During a military parade to mark the 90th anniversary of North Korea's army, which was held on Monday night, Kim said the regime will strengthen its nuclear forces at maximum speed, as well as expressing his intention to use nuclear weapons.

"The basic mission of our nuclear forces is to deter war, but if an undesirable situation emerges on our land, we should not limit our capability to a single purpose of preventing war," Kim was quoted as saying by the North's Korean Central News Agency.

"If any forces attempt to infringe on our fundamental interests, our nuclear forces will have no choice but to fulfill its second mission," Kim continued. "The republic's (North Korea's) nuclear forces should be readied so that they can carry on their responsibility and exercise deterrence whenever required."

Kim's comments are interpreted as an official proclamation that the bellicose regime may use nuclear weapons to meet its interests and that the leader has returned to his nuclear brinkmanship tactics.

US objective remains complete denuclearization of Korean Peninsula: State Dept. 2022-04-27 10:05  |  North Korea
Recently, reports have alleged that North Korea's seventh nuclear test is imminent, while South Korea's military believes that the North may conduct one next month.

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency shows a new Hwasong-17 missile displayed in a military parade held to celebrate the 90th founding anniversary of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang, Monday. EPA-Yonhap

During the parade, the North showcased a new intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-17. According to the South Korean military, the North test fired the missile on Feb. 27, March 5 and March 16, while it exploded in the air during the latest launch on March 16.

North Korea claimed to have test fired the Hwasong-17 on March 24 and succeeded, but South Korea disputed that, saying Pyongyang launched a smaller, existing Hwasong-15.

Following the report, South Korea's presidential transition committee released a statement and stressed the development of Seoul's deterrence capability, citing the three-axis system.

"North Korea's nuclear and missile threats have now become grave and realistic risks for us, thus the urgent task is building the capability to deter those threats," the committee's vice spokesperson Won Il-hee said in a press conference after the report.

"The incoming Yoon administration will bolster the South Korea-U.S. alliance and promptly complete the three-axis system, which will counter North Korea's nuclear and missile threats."

The three-axis system is comprised of the Kill Chain preemptive strike system, the Korean Air and Missile Defense and the Korea Massive Punishment and Retaliation plan. Kill Chain refers to a South Korea-U.S. strike system of identifying North Korean launch sites, nuclear facilities and manufacturing capabilities to destroy them pre-emptively if a conflict seems imminent.

The term of a three-axis system was introduced during the previous Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations, and became one of the tools of Yoon's North Korea policies.