North Korea will never give up its nuclear weapons, leader Kim Jong Un declared, signalling that the country will soon designate South Korea as its “most hostile state", state media reported on Tuesday.
In a policy address to the country’s rubber-stamp legislature on Monday, Kim also accused the United States of committing “state terrorism", apparently referring to its military strikes on Iran.
“We will continue to firmly consolidate our status as a nuclear-armed state as an irreversible course while aggressively stepping up our struggle against hostile forces,” Kim told the Supreme People’s Assembly.
“In line with the mission entrusted by the Constitution of the Republic… we will further expand and advance our self-defensive nuclear deterrent,” he said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
While the United States and Israel have stated that their attacks on Iran aim to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons — a claim Tehran denies — Pyongyang’s nuclear capabilities are widely believed to be far more advanced.
Despite years of sanctions and diplomatic isolation, the Chinese ally is estimated to possess dozens of nuclear warheads and sufficient fissile material for many more.
The impoverished communist state has also unveiled increasingly sophisticated delivery systems, including new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of launching with little warning. North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests.
A day after his reappointment as head of the State Affairs Commission, the nation’s highest policymaking body, Kim also issued strong warnings about his southern neighbour.
“We will designate South Korea as the most hostile state and deal with it by thoroughly rejecting and disregarding it,” Kim said.
The announcement comes despite repeated overtures by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, a dovish leader who took office in June, seeking dialogue without preconditions – gestures Pyongyang has ignored.
Pyongyang will “make it pay mercilessly — without the slightest consideration or hesitation — for any act that infringes upon our Republic", Kim added.
‘Grave concern’
Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said Kim’s remarks on consolidating North Korea’s nuclear status reflect “the extent to which Kim and the leadership perceive the current US actions with deep concern and seriousness".
“It indicates that Kim and the leadership, viewing recent US attacks on Venezuela and Iran with grave concern, interpret these developments as reinforcing their decision to pursue the further advancement of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities,” Hong told AFP.
In recent months, Washington has sought to revive high-level talks with Pyongyang, eyeing a possible summit with Kim this year, potentially coinciding with US President Donald Trump’s delayed visit to Beijing in April.
“The United States and its allies are constantly bringing nuclear strategic assets into the areas surrounding our country, shaking the foundations of regional security,” Kim said.
“The United States is carrying out acts of state terrorism and aggression across the world, but the arrogant and reckless exercise of its power has not weakened progressive humanity’s will to oppose domination and subjugation and to achieve independence and equality.”
Photos released by state media on Tuesday showed Kim, wearing a suit, waving to legislators in response to a standing ovation and being cheered by a flag-waving crowd as he walked down a red carpet.
Kim, the third-generation ruler of the state founded by his grandfather Kim Il Sung in 1948, has led the country since his father’s death in 2011.
On the economic front, Kim outlined a goal of increasing industrial output by 1.5 times.
He claimed there had been “clear progress in economic growth” over the past five years.
“We have renovated key machine factories… while overcoming various difficulties and deviations,” he noted.
Such achievements, he added, “shattered… false claims of hostile forces that there can be no prosperity without nuclear abandonment".
Kim also said that 15.8 per cent of total spending for 2026 will be devoted to defence, compared with 15.7 per cent in 2025.
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