Kim Jong Un has vowed to expand North Korea‘s nuclear weapons ‘without limits’ during a rant where he claimed the West and Ukraine risk triggering a global conflict.
The dictator’s warning comes after South Korea said last week that North Korean troops had already begun ‘engaging in combat operations’ alongside Russian forces near the border with Ukraine.
North Korea has denied any deployment of troops but Seoul and Washington have accused the nuclear-armed North of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine.
Kim did not mention this in a recent speech to battalion commanders.
During the speech, reported by the state owned Korean Central News Agency, he claimed the US and the West are using the conflict in Ukraine to ‘expand the scope of their military interventions globally.’
Kim said that Washington’s ‘continuing military assistance to Ukraine… raises the concern of World War III.’
He also vowed his country would bolster its nuclear weapons defence ‘without limit’.
Kim ‘is likely keeping in mind the possibility of additional deployments to support Russia’s war in Ukraine,’ said Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
South Koreans watch Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin during a recent meeting. North Korea has denied any deployment of troops but Seoul and Washington have accused the nuclear-armed North of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine
During a speech the North Korean dictator claimed the US and the West are using the conflict in Ukraine to ‘expand the scope of their military interventions globally.’ Kim said that Washington’s ‘continuing military assistance to Ukraine… raises the concern of World War III.’
North Korean media handout claiming to show a test-fire of the new Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile. Kim vowed his country would bolster its nuclear weapons defence ‘without limit’
Last week, North Korea ratified a landmark defence pact with Russia, formalising months of tightening military bonds between two nations that were close allies throughout the Cold War.
In exchange for sending troops, the West fears Russia is offering North Korea technological support that could advance Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.
North Korea recently fired a salvo of ballistic missiles and tested a new solid-fuel ICBM.
The nuclear-armed state’s deployment of troops to Russia has led to a shift in tone from Seoul, which has resisted calls to send lethal weapons to Kyiv so far but recently indicated it might change its no-provision policy.
Meanwhile, in response to North Korea’s increased involvement in the conflict, the outgoing President Joe Biden announced last night that he had lifted the ban on Ukraine’s use of American-supplied long-range missiles.
This will allow the war-torn Ukraine to fire missiles deep inside Russian territory.
The decision is a major US policy shift and comes as Biden is about to leave office and President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to limit American support for Ukraine and end the war as soon as possible.
Biden hopes that this response will ‘send a message’ to Kim Jong Un not to send any more, sources said.
Smoke rises over the Kyiv skyline after a Russian attack. In exchange for sending troops, the West fears Russia is offering North Korea technological support that could advance Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme
Putin and Kim together in April 2019. Last week, North Korea ratified a landmark defence pact with Russia, formalising months of tightening military bonds between two nations that were close allies throughout the Cold War
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with President Joe Biden. Last night the outgoing president announced that he had lifted the ban on Ukraine’s use of American-supplied long-range missiles
Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, according to sources. The first deep strikes are reportedly likely to be carried out using ATACMS rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles.
Biden allowing Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces to use US-supplied missiles for strikes deep into Russia has raised expectations for the UK to follow suit with its Storm Shadow missiles.
Donald Trump Jr has also waded into the debate by accusing Biden of trying to start WWIII before his father can take office after the US gave the green light for Ukraine to blast targets inside Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles.
Trump’s oldest son posted on X after Biden’s decision was announced, saying that ‘the military industrial complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives’.
However, the move will likely be welcomed by fellow NATO members with Keir Starmer having previously said that he would be in favour of giving the green light for the Storm Shadow missiles to be used.
His French counterpart Emmanuel Macron echoed this sentiment, which might mean that France could also soon allow Ukraine to fire their supplied long-range missiles into Russia.