North Korea has enshrined its status as a nuclear power in its constitution, with leader Kim Jong Un calling for more modern atomic weapons to counter the threat from the United States, state media reported Thursday.Kim described the recently enhanced security cooperation between Washington, Seoul and Tokyo as the “worst actual threat”.North Korea’s weapons tests this year included intercontinental ballistic missiles, and its military this month conducted what it described as simulations of a “tactical nuclear attack”.
Pyongyang has also tried and failed twice this year to put a military spy satellite in orbit.
South Korea and the United States have ramped up their security cooperation in response, with large-scale joint drills and trilateral naval exercises with Japan.
The last known North Korean weapons test, involving two short-range ballistic missiles, took place while Kim was on his way to meet President Vladimir Putin in Russia.
Kim’s visit to Russia — his first abroad since the coronavirus pandemic — fanned Western fears that Moscow and Pyongyang will defy sanctions and strike an arms deal.
Russia is believed to be interested in buying North Korean ammunition for its war in Ukraine, while Pyongyang wants Russian help with its missile and space programmes.
Kim’s Russia visit “and the potential strengthening of military cooperation (with Moscow) indicate an increased dedication towards branding itself into a formidable nuclear power”, said Yang at the University of North Korean Studies.