North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong Un wants to have the world’s strongest nuclear force in the future. The purpose of building up the nuclear force is “to protect the dignity and sovereignty of the state and the people,” according to an order attributed to Kim, after which senior missile technicians and officials were promoted.
The “ultimate goal” is to have the world’s most powerful strategic armed forces, Kim was quoted as saying by the state-controlled media today.
Kim issued the order after the internationally condemned test of a nuclear-capable missile that could theoretically reach US territory. According to South Korea, on November 18 North Korea fired an ICBM towards the sea for the second time this month. A day later, North Korea described the test as a step forward in its own efforts to increase the country’s nuclear capability as a deterrent to the United States.
UN resolutions ban the largely isolated country from testing ICBMs and other ballistic missiles that, depending on the design, can be equipped with a nuclear warhead.
With his order, Kim reportedly promoted officials and scientists who had rendered services to the strategic armed forces. With the new type of ICBM “Hwasongpho-17”, North Korea now has the most powerful strategic weapon. With the test of this missile, North Korea has made a leap forward in equipping ballistic missiles with multiple warheads. North Korea’s parliament passed a law on the preventive use of nuclear weapons in September. The law also gives Kim supreme command over the country’s nuclear weapons.
