Kim Jong-un: ‘Increasing’ U.S. Threat Requires North Korea’s Nukes to Be Ready to Fire Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

Communist North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un inspected the readiness of nuclear-capable missiles, state media reported on Wednesday, to ensure that Pyongyang could fire if necessary in response to the allegedly “ever-increasing threat” posed by the United States.

The North Korean state newspaper Rodong Sinmun published images of Kim, clad in a leather coat, in front of what appeared to be massive warheads at a “strategic missile base.”

The visit appeared to be a move to intimidate South Korea and its allies in light of growing concerns that the repressive communist state is offering troops to ally Russia to fight in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) claimed last week that North Korea was planning to deploy 12,000 troops to fight Ukraine. Ukrainian officials released a video this weekend allegedly showing North Korean soldiers waiting to receive Russian military gear. The Pentagon confirmed that it had intelligence suggesting a North Korean military presence in the Ukraine war on Wednesday.

Both North Korea and Russia deny that Pyongyang has sent troops to Russia’s war effort. North Korea referred to the reports as “groundless, stereotype rumors aimed at smearing the image of the DPRK [North Korea] and undermining the legitimate, friendly, and cooperative relations between sovereign states.”

The troop movement following the signing of a mutual defense agreement by Kim and Russian strongman Vladimir Putin during the latter’s visit to Pyongyang in July. The government of South Korea, which remains technically in a state of war with the North, has suggested that it would considering aiding the Ukrainian war effort in response to Kim’s involvement, elevating levels of global distress about the potential escalation of the war.

The Pyongyang state-run flagship Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Wednesday that Kim inspected unspecified “strategic missile bases” to ensure the “readiness for action of the strategic deterrent directly related with the security of the country, including the functions and capabilities of the elements of launch-related facilities.” North Korea regularly refers to its nuclear weapons as its “strategic deterrent.”

“As I have stressed on several occasions recently, the U.S. strategic nuclear means pose an ever-increasing threat to the security environment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Kim reportedly said during his visit, “and the prospective threats urgently demand that the DPRK bolster up its war deterrent definitely and take a thoroughgoing and strict counteraction posture of its nuclear forces, he said.”

Contrary to Kim’s claim, the U.S. government, under the auspices of outgoing President Joe Biden, has largely disregarded the escalation tensions between North and South Korea, save for monitoring the situation surrounding the Ukraine invasion. North Korea dramatically escalated its actions against Seoul this summer, launching hundreds of balloons carrying trash and feces into South Korea and, more recently, accusing South Korea of flying a drone into Pyongyang. The North Korean regime has offered no evidence for this allegation and Seoul has denied doing so.

The North Korean state nonetheless appears most concerned about the possibility of an American nuclear strike, if the pages of its propaganda outlets are an indication. On Tuesday, shortly before Kim Jong-un’s statements at the missile base, his sister and top official Kim Yo-jong published an angry screed in which she threatened to use nuclear weapons in response to reports of North Korean involvement in Ukraine.

“A military provocation against a nuclear weapons state may be led to horrible situation, unimaginable for politicians and military experts in any big or small country in the world with their normal thinking to experience,” Kim’s statement read. “So, there will be no such instance except one recently made by lunatics of the ROK [South Korea] and Ukraine.”

Kim disparaged both South Korea and Ukraine as “bad dogs bred by the U.S.”

The government of South Korea, which has diplomatically supported Ukraine against the Russian war effort, suggested on Tuesday that it would consider “phased measures” to counter the expansion of North Korean military influence into Europe.

“If the illegal military cooperation between North Korea and Russia continues, we will not stand by, but will respond firmly in collaboration with the international community,” South Korean Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said on Tuesday.

“We would consider supplying weapons for defensive purposes as part of the step-by-step scenarios, and if it seems they are going too far, we might also consider offensive use,” he added.

Some in Ukraine have welcomed the potential cooperation and encouraged more action against North Korea. South Korean news outlets shared comments this week by a senior member of Ukraine’s Nazi-affiliated Azov Brigade in which the officer, Bohdan Krotevych, suggested South Korea invade the North while thousands of its troops were stationed in Ukraine as a means to end the technically active Korean War. Many in South Korea balked at the suggestion, given North Korea’s status as a nuclear power that regularly threatens to use those weapons.

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