North Korea Nuclear Weapons: Kim Jong Un Calls for Arsenal Expansion
Kim Jong Un has vowed to expand North Korea’s nuclear arsenal and extend its operational reach. Calling on the United States to acknowledge his country’s status as a nuclear power in a rare direct message to Washington.
North Korea Nuclear Weapons Central to US–Pyongyang Relations
Speaking at the five-yearly congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang. Kim said the United States and North Korea could “get along”. But only if Washington accepts that Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons are permanent.
North Korea Nuclear Weapons and Conditional Peace With the United States
His remarks were widely seen as leaving the door open to renewed dialogue with US President Donald Trump. Especially ahead of Trump’s planned visit to China in April. At the same time, Kim shut down any hope of rapprochement with South Korea, branding it the North’s “most hostile entity”.
North Korea Nuclear Weapons Frame Choice Between Peace and Conflict
“If the United States respects our current nuclear status as stipulated in the Constitution and withdraws its hostile policy, there is no reason we cannot coexist peacefully,” Kim said, according to state media outlet KCNA. The future of relations between the two countries, he added, “depends entirely on the attitude of the United States”.
North Korea Nuclear Weapons Push Seoul Out of Diplomatic Equation
Kim said North Korea is prepared for either peace or confrontation. “Whether it is peaceful coexistence or permanent confrontation, we are ready for both — the choice is not ours,” he warned.
North Korea Nuclear Weapons Push Seoul Out of Diplomatic Equation
Turning to South Korea, Kim said Pyongyang would “permanently exclude Seoul from the category of compatriots”, arguing that the only way for the South to live safely was to sever all ties with the North. One analyst told AFP that the comments signalled Pyongyang’s intention to deal directly with Washington, bypassing Seoul entirely.
North Korea Nuclear Weapons Strengthen Military Deterrence, Says KCNA
Kim also underlined plans to further strengthen the country’s nuclear programme. “We will focus on increasing the number of nuclear weapons and expanding nuclear operational means,” he said.
Despite years of international sanctions, North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear capabilities and frequently test banned intercontinental ballistic missiles. KCNA claimed this week that under Kim’s leadership the country had “radically improved” its deterrence capabilities, with nuclear forces at the core.
Assessing the true scale of that progress remains difficult due to the regime’s secrecy. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated last year that North Korea possesses around 50 assembled nuclear warheads, with enough fissile material to produce up to 40 more.
Kim has repeatedly ruled out denuclearisation, calling instead for a “limitless” expansion of the nuclear programme — a stance he reiterated in parliament last September. “Denuclearisation has already lost its meaning. We are a nuclear state,” he said.
Speculation about renewed talks intensified last year. When Trump released a global security roadmap that notably omitted denuclearisation of North Korea as a goal — a departure from US policy since 2003. The move followed the last Trump-Kim talks in 2019, which ended without agreement.
Photos from the closing stages of the party congress also drew attention after showing Kim’s teenage daughter, Ju Ae. Standing beside him at a military parade in matching black leather jackets. Earlier this month, South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers that Kim may have chosen his 13-year-old daughter as his successor and said it was closely monitoring her public appearances. Read More
