Kim Jong-un Vows to Expand Nuclear Arsenal

(MENAFN) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has committed to an aggressive long-term expansion of the country's nuclear arsenal, pledging to grow both its scale and operational capacity indefinitely.

The declaration came during a weeklong congress of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, where Kim formally enshrined Pyongyang's nuclear status as "irreversible and permanent." State media reported Thursday that he vowed to keep building the stockpile "as long as nuclear weapons exist on the earth" and while threats from "US imperialists and their followers" persist.

"We have a long-term plan to strengthen the national nuclear force on an annual basis in the future and will concentrate on increasing the number of nuclear weapons and expanding the means and space for nuclear operation," Kim said.

At a military parade Wednesday in Pyongyang — staged as part of the party congress — Kim issued a stark warning, threatening to "deliver terrible retaliatory attacks to any forces" that encroach upon the nation.

Pyongyang frames its nuclear development as a defensive shield against US-backed South Korea, despite the program drawing sustained international condemnation and sweeping UN sanctions. The two Koreas spent decades dismissing each other as illegitimate governments dividing a single nation, but Pyongyang broke with that position in 2024, formally designating Seoul an independent hostile state. South Korea's recently published strategic documents indicate it may be gradually moving toward accepting the North's nuclear reality.

Meanwhile, a significant power transition may already be underway. South Korean intelligence has reportedly uncovered evidence that Kim's daughter — identified in international media as Kim Ju-ae — is being actively groomed as heir apparent. According to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper, citing senior government sources, the teenager is allegedly functioning as a de facto "missile general director," even as General Jang Chang-ha formally holds the title of missile administration commander.

Kim Ju-ae, believed to be 13 years old and never identified by name in North Korean state media, has made increasingly frequent public appearances beside her father — accompanying him on working visits and weapons tests, mirroring the deliberate exposure tactics used to introduce previous generations of leadership.

Analysts who study the Korean Peninsula suggest the unusually early positioning of the child is a calculated move, driven by concerns that her gender could undermine her authority — even as North Korea distances itself from its historically Confucian, patriarchal traditions.

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