SEOUL – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has announced that his country’s next steps in developing its nuclear arsenal will be revealed at the upcoming ruling party congress, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Jan 28.
The congress meeting “will clarify the next-stage plans for further bolstering up the country’s nuclear war deterrent”, Mr Kim was quoted as saying as he oversaw
a ballistic missile test on Jan 27
.
North Korea is set to hold a landmark congress of its ruling party in the coming weeks, its first in five years.
KCNA said Mr Kim, accompanied by senior North Korean officials, attended the test-firing of a “large-calibre” multiple rocket launcher that fired four missiles.
While acknowledging that development of the rocket launcher system had “not been plain sailing”, Mr Kim said the Jan 27 test was “of great significance in improving the effectiveness of our strategic deterrent”.
The rockets “hit a target” in waters 358.5km away, according to the North Korean leader.
The ballistic missiles were fired towards the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, with two missiles landing outside the country’s exclusive economic zone, Japanese state news agency Jiji Press reported, citing Defence Ministry sources.
“The result and significance of this test will be a source of excruciating mental agony and serious threat to the forces that attempt to provoke a military confrontation with us,” Mr Kim said.
Tokyo condemned Pyongyang over the Jan 27 missile test, saying it violated UN Security Council resolutions and threatened the peace and safety of the region, as well as Japan, the Kyodo News Service reported.
The test was Pyongyang’s second in January, following
a salvo of missiles fired
hours before South Korea’s leader headed to China for a summit.
It came a day after a high-level visit to Seoul by Mr Elbridge Colby, a top Pentagon official who hailed South Korea as a “model ally”.
Ties between the US and South Korea, longstanding treaty allies, were forged in the bloodshed of the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.
Washington still stations 28,500 troops in South Korea as a deterrent against the nuclear-armed North Korea.
Pyongyang routinely denounces Washington and Seoul’s joint military drills as rehearsals for invasion.
Mr Kim in December criticised Seoul’s push to develop its own nuclear-powered submarines with the US, calling it a “threat” that “must be countered”.
During his first term, US President Donald Trump met Mr Kim three times in an effort to reach a denuclearisation deal.
But since a summit in Hanoi fell through over differences about what Pyongyang would get in return for giving up its nuclear weapons, no progress has been made between the two countries.
Mr Trump had expressed hopes of meeting Mr Kim ahead of a regional summit in South Korea in October 2025, but these were unanswered by the North Korean leader. AFP