Kim Jong-un threatens South Korea, US; says ready to mobilise nuclear forces

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said that he's ready to use his nuclear weapons in potential military conflicts with South Korea and the United States. He criticised South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol and said that Seoul is pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war.

“Our armed forces are completely prepared to respond to any crisis, and our country’s nuclear war deterrent is also ready to mobilise its absolute power dutifully, exactly and swiftly in accordance with its mission,” Kim said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Speaking on the 69th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, Kim accused the US of “demonising” North Korea to justify its hostile policies. He said the US-South Korea military drills targeting North Korea show the US’s “double standards” and “gangster-like” aspects, reported AP.

Why the threat now? Kim has accused South Korea of threatening the North’s security and right to self defence. “Warmongers" and “disgusting thugs" in Yoon’s administration are bent on confrontational military activities, Kim said, reported Reuters.

Yoon has vowed to complete the so-called “Kill Chain" system that calls for preemptive strikes against the North’s missiles and possibly its leadership if an imminent attack is detected.

The North Korean leader said that "US imperialists are pushing the South Korean authorities into a suicidal confrontation" with his nation, the state's official Korean Central News Agency reported Thursday.

North Korea's military modernisation: North Korea in recent months has tested hypersonic missiles and missiles that it says could carry nuclear weapons

The isolated nation has doubled down on its programme of military modernisation. A new satellite imagery has indicated that the nation has resumed construction at a long-dormant nuclear reactor, reported AFP.

On March 24, North Korea conducted its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile since November 2017. They described it as a demonstration of the Hwasong-17, its biggest-yet ICBM.

The missile flew longer and higher than any other weapon the country has ever tested and had the potential range to reach the entire US mainland, experts told AP.

What the experts think: Experts say North Korea will likely intensify its threats against the United States and South Korea as the allies prepare to expand summertime exercises.

“Kim’s rhetoric inflates external threats to justify his militarily focused and economically struggling regime,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul told AP.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told Reuters that Kim’s remarks seem to be intended to highlight the legitimacy for weapons developments and his “eye for eye" approach toward Washington and Seoul.