North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would equip its navy with nuclear weapons and build larger warships, state media reported Wednesday, as Pyongyang pushes ahead with its military expansion. North Korea is under multiple sets of sanctions over its nuclear program, and leaders have repeatedly insisted they will not abandon it, portraying nuclear weapons as essential to deterrence against the United States and South Korea.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Kim’s remarks came at the commissioning of the Choe Hyon – one of two 5,000-ton class warships the isolated country launched last year – in the port city of Nampho on Tuesday, the official Korean Central News Agency reported. “The program of equipping the Navy with nuclear weapons is following its planned course unerringly,” Kim reportedly told the ceremony. “This is a strategic course of crucial importance as it will make it possible to keep the nuclear force of our state ready for multifaceted and efficient operation,” he said. North Korea has previously said the Choe Hyon is equipped with the “most powerful weapons”, and Kim has made multiple inspections of vessels in its class this year, including overseeing a cruise missile test from the Choe Hyon in April. “Following the Choe Hyon, we will soon commission destroyer Kang Kon for operations. After that we will launch 10,000-ton strategic warships one after another,” Kim said in his speech.