North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would respond to US threats with nuclear weapons, state media said Saturday, after Kim personally oversaw Pyongyang’s latest launch of intercontinental ballistic missile.
Since Kim declared North Korea a “irreversible” nuclear state in September, Washington has ramped up regional security cooperation, including joint military exercises, and is looking for ways to boost the protection it offers Seoul and Tokyo.
Kim slammed what he called “aggression war drills” and said that if America continues to make threats against the North, Pyongyang “will resolutely react to nukes with nuclear weapons and to total confrontation with all-out confrontation,” KCNA reported.
KCNA said that Kim attended the launch “together with his beloved daughter and wife” and state media images showed a beaming Kim walking in front of a giant black-and-white missile, accompanied by an adoring young girl in a puffer jacket and red shoes.
It is extremely rare for state media to mention Kim’s children, and this is believed to be one of the first official confirmations of his daughter, experts said.
North Korea has conducted a record-breaking blitz of launches in recent weeks, which Pyongyang, and some allies including Moscow have repeatedly blamed on the US boosting regional security cooperation, including joint military exercises.
