North Korea celebrates delivery of 250 nuclear-capable missile launchers to frontline units

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended a ceremony marking the delivery of 250 nuclear-capable missile launchers to frontline units.

Kim said at the ceremony on Sunday that the new launchers would give his frontline units “overwhelming” firepower over South Korea and make the operation of tactical nuclear weapons more practical and efficient.

Kim also called for his country to brace for a prolonged confrontation with the United States, stressing a ceaseless advancement of the country's military nuclear program to counter US threats, state media said Monday.

In his speech, Kim justified Pyongyang's military development programs as a counter to the “increasingly savage” military cooperation between the United States and its regional allies, which he claimed are now showing the characteristics of a “nuclear-based military bloc.”

“It would be our choice to either pursue dialogue or confrontation, but our lesson and conclusion from the past 30 years … is that confrontation is what we should be prepared more thoroughly for,” said Kim.

“The United States we are facing is not just an administration that comes and goes after a few years, but a hostile nation that our children and grandchildren will be dealing for generations to come and that also illustrates the necessity to continuously improve our self-defense capabilities.”

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said the launchers had been freshly produced by the county’s munitions factories and designed to fire “tactical” ballistic missiles, a term that describes systems capable of delivering lower-yield nuclear weapons.

North Korea vows ‘total destruction’ of its enemies on war anniversary

North Korea vows “total destruction” of its enemies in case of war on Korean War anniversary.

North Korean military leaders have vowed to annihilate Pyongyang's enemies in case a war breaks out.

In recent months, Pyongyang has revealed a new missile called the Hwasong-11. Analysts say it can travel up to 100 kilometers.

If this missile is deployed in North Korea's border areas with the South, it would theoretically be able to cover huge swathes of South Korea’s greater capital area, where about half of the country’s 51 million population live.

Pyongyang’s deployment of nuclear weapons along the North’s border with South Korea, and the authorization given by Kim to his military to respond with preemptive nuclear strikes if it perceives the leadership as under threat, has raised concerns in Seoul and Washington.

Regarding Sunday's weapons ceremony in Pyongyang, Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a briefing that the South Korean and US militaries were closely analyzing North Korea’s weapons development and further monitoring was needed to confirm the operational readiness of the missile systems showcased on Sunday.

Analysts said Kim's speech aimed to exert pressure on the United States to accept the idea of North Korea as a nuclear power and to end US-led sanctions imposed on the country.

New NATO: US, Japan, S Korea set to conduct massive war games

The United States, Japan and South Korea agree to hold new massive military exercises in the Asia-Pacific this summer, amid concerns over US attempts to militarize the region.

Meantime, the North Korean leader has repeatedly warned Washington’s regional allies against expanding military ties with the US which could cause war to “break out at any time”.

Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo conducted their first-ever joint drills after US President Joe Biden and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts signed a trilateral security pact at Camp David in August.

China, Russia, and North Korea all voiced concern about the US attempts to militarize the Asia-Pacific through an expanding web of security agreements.

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