North Korean leader calls for expanded nuclear forces to counter US threats

His comments, reported on Monday, were his first direct criticism toward Washington since Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election.

At a conference with army officials on Friday, Mr Kim condemned the United States for updating its nuclear deterrence strategies with South Korea and solidifying three-way military cooperation involving Japan, which he portrayed as an “Asian Nato” that was escalating tensions and instability in the region.

He also criticised the United States over its support of Ukraine against a prolonged Russian invasion. He insisted Washington and its Western allies were using Ukraine as their “shock troops” to wage a war against Moscow and expand the scope of US military influence, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Mr Kim has prioritised his country’s ties to Russia in recent months, embracing the idea of a “new Cold War” and displaying a united front in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s broader conflicts with the West.

He has used Russia’s war on Ukraine as a distraction to accelerate the development of his nuclear-armed military, which now has various nuclear-capable systems targeting South Korea and intercontinental ballistic missiles that can potentially reach the US mainland.

Mr Kim has yet to directly acknowledge that he has been providing military equipment and troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine and the KCNA’s report did not mention whether he made any comments towards President-elect Trump, whose election win has yet to be reported in the North’s state media.

The pair met three times in 2018 and 2019 during Mr Trump’s first presidency, but their diplomacy quickly collapsed over disagreements in exchanging the release of US-led sanctions and North Korean steps to wind down its nuclear and missile programme.

North Korea has since suspended any meaningful talks with Washington and Seoul as Mr Kim ramped up his testing activity and military demonstrations in the face of what he portrayed as “gangster-like US threats.” There are concerns in Seoul that Mr Kim, in exchange for his military support of Russia, would receive Russian technology in return to further develop his arsenal.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea again flew trash-laden balloons toward the South early on Monday and issued a statement warning the North “not to test our military’s patience any further.”

The North has launched about 7,000 balloons toward the South since May, causing property damage but so far no injuries.

On at least two occasions, trash carried by North Korea’s balloons fell on Seoul’s presidential compound, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key sites.