North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed on Sunday to “exponentially” increase the number of nuclear weapons in his country and further advance the antagonist’s intercontinental ballistic missile program.
Kim delivered the message after a meeting of his ruling party this weekend, declaring South Korea an “undoubted enemy” and increasing his aggressive posture amid new missile launches that will set the tone for this year. North Korea followed that statement with a short-range ballistic missile test on New Year’s Day that Kim said could reach anywhere in South Korea.
The effort is widely seen as Kim’s attempt to force the international community to negotiate with North Korea and lend legitimacy to his government. The country is still under heavy economic and diplomatic sanctions and is being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol responded to the threat this weekend with a stern statement of his own, saying Seoul would punish any provocations to prevent war on the peninsula. Yoon has taken a harder line on the north than his predecessor, Moon Jae-in, calling his northern neighbor to the north his “main enemy.”
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“Our military must always punish the enemy’s provocations with a strong determination not to fight,” Yoon said, according to Yonhap News. “I ask you to remember that a strong posture of mental readiness and realistic training of our forces can only ensure strong security.”
North Korea is set to launch about 70 ballistic missiles in 2022, Yonhap reported, the most in a single year. Speculation has grown that the country could conduct a nuclear test in the coming months, in what would be the first time in years and a guaranteed rise in international tensions.
“As we welcome the New Year, we ask North Korea to step out onto the path of peace on the Korean Peninsula and the common welfare of the Korean people instead of staying on the wrong path,” South Korea’s military said in a statement Monday.