The North Korean leader reaffirmed Pyongyang’s commitment to bolstering its nuclear capabilities
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (center) chairs an enlarged meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Central Committee, held between June 20 and June 22, in this photo released by state media on June 23, 2026. (KCNA/Yonhap)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed that the situation on the Korean Peninsula is becoming “extremely aggravate[ed]” by South Korea’s push to obtain nuclear-powered submarines and the activities of a US-South Korea consultative body on nuclear operations. Kim reaffirmed North Korea’s commitment to steadily expanding and strengthening its nuclear capabilities, while continuing to emphasize its status as a nuclear power. According to reports published by the state-run Rodong Sinmun and the Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday, the North Korean leader stated that to “steadily expand and strengthen the nuclear forces” and to “thoroughly exercise the position of a nuclear weapons state” was the most “correct and unique way to actively and confidently cope with the unpredictable international military and political situation.” Kim’s remarks came during his concluding speech at an enlarged plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea. “The US and the ROK are pushing forward with the ROK’s possession of a nuclear submarine while getting evermore undisguised in their moves towards the reinforcement and modernization of armed forces in the region,” he continued, arguing that the two are “extremely aggravating the situation in the Korean Peninsula.” He slammed the two countries’ Nuclear Consultative Group as being a “nuclear war body whose purpose is to attack the DPRK with nuclear elements,” accusing it of “pushing the situation in the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war.”ROK stands for Republic of Korea, the formal name of South Korea; DPRK stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the formal name of North Korea. Kim emphasized North Korea’s intention to reinforce its ability to defend itself, mentioning the pursuit of “proactive efforts to further expand and strengthen the powerful and absolutely reliable deterrent for self-defense.” He also noted the importance of setting forth tasks to “dynamically carry out the work to increase powerful defense assets without pause.” The outlets stressed how Kim requested the expedited building of a 10,000-tonnage strategic guided missile cruiser and the development and production of “powerful conventional weapons of great significance.” Kim once again reconfirmed the ruling party’s “principle of struggle against the enemy,” which defines South Korea as “the most hostile state,” and requested that projects for the sake of bolstering national defense capability be expedited, such as “qualitatively” completing the project to fortify North Korea’s southern border and building new bases for naval fleets. The Rodong Sinmun and KCNA reported that the second plenary meeting of the ninth Central Committee of the WPK started on Saturday and ran through Monday. The outlets relayed how Kim clarified “the orientation of the party and state policies at the present stage and the short-, intermediate- and long-range future tasks.”By Park Min-hee, senior staff writerPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
