Kim Jong Un has vowed to speed up efforts to construct a nuclear-armed navy and develop ‘secret underwater weapons’.
The North Korean leader was accompanied by his teenage daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae, while inspecting a brand new warship ahead of a visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
State media quoted him as calling for ‘rapidly developing’ naval forces able to playing a bigger role within the country’s nuclear deterrent and dealing a ‘deadly blow on the enemy any moment under the water or on the water’.
He said the navy was at the guts of a brand new five-year defence plan including the constructing of larger 10,000-tonne-class destroyers and developing unspecified ‘underwater secret weapons’.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) didn’t report any quotes by Kim about Washington or Seoul amid persistent tensions over his nuclear ambitions and a chronic freeze in diplomacy.
The report got here a day after North Korean and Chinese state media confirmed that Xi would visit North Korea on Monday, the newest sign of Beijing’s efforts to bolster ties with its nuclear-armed neighbour.
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In recent times, Kim has prioritized relations with Russia, notably by sending troop s and military equipment to support Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Xi’s trip was announced a day after North Korea unveiled what South Korea’s military assessed as a brand new uranium-enrichment facility for producing nuclear bomb fuel.
While visiting the 5,000-ton destroyer Kang Kon, Kim pledged to expand the country’s nuclear forces ‘at an exponential rate’.
Experts say the move reflects his desire to cement North Korea’s status as a nuclear weapons state ahead of Xi’s visit.
Kang Kon is the second of two destroyers North Korea unveiled last 12 months, following the Choe Hyon, whose development Kim hailed as a significant step toward expanding the operational range and pre-emptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military.
State media said the ships are designed to hold a spread of weapons systems, including anti-aircraft and anti-ship weapons in addition to nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles, though some experts have questioned their effectiveness in lively duty.
Kang Kon was damaged during a botched launching ceremony in May last 12 months on the northeastern port of Chongjin, triggering a furious response from Kim, who called the failure ‘criminal’.
North Korea said Kang Kon was relaunched in June after repair, but outside experts have questioned whether the ship is fully operational.
Kim has called for constructing two more 5,000-ton-class destroyers.
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