North Korea’s Kim vows ‘irreversible’ nuclear status, warns Seoul of ‘merciless’ response

Kim also told the country’s legislature in a policy address on Monday that the United States was committing “state terrorism”, in an apparent reference to its military attacks on Iran.

“We will continue to firmly consolidate our status as a nuclear-armed state as an irreversible course, while aggressively stepping up our struggle against hostile forces,” Kim told the Supreme People’s Assembly.

“We will, in line with the mission entrusted by the Constitution of the Republic… further expand and advance our self-defensive nuclear deterrent,” Kim said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

While the United States and Israel have insisted that their attacks on Iran are to stop the Islamic republic from developing nuclear weapons — an aim Tehran denies — Pyongyang is thought to be light years ahead by comparison.

Despite years of sanctions and diplomatic isolation, the Chinese ally is estimated to have dozens of nuclear warheads and the fissile material for many more.

It has also unveiled increasingly sophisticated delivery systems, including new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that can launch with little warning.

Kim, a day after his reappointment as head of the authoritarian nation’s highest policymaking body, the State Affairs Commission, also did not mince words about his southern neighbour.

“We will designate South Korea as the most hostile state and deal with it by thoroughly rejecting and disregarding it,” Kim said.

The announcement came despite repeated overtures by President Lee Jae Myung, a doveish leader who took office in June, for dialogue without preconditions. Pyongyang has ignored these gestures.

Pyongyang will “make it pay mercilessly — without the slightest consideration or hesitation — for any act that infringes upon our Republic”, Kim added.

Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said that Kim’s comments on consolidating its nuclear status showed Pyongyang sees US actions in Iran and Venezuela with “deep concern and seriousness”.

“It indicates that Kim and the leadership… interpret these developments as reinforcing their decision to pursue the further advancement of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities,” Hong told AFP.

This picture taken on March 23, 2026 and released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 24, 2026 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) heading toward the venue for a commemorative performance following the conclusion of the First Session of the 15th Supreme People’s Assembly in Pyongyang. — KCNA via AFP Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, said that: “Iran’s experience once again confirmed what the North Koreans have always known, [that] in the modern world, the only security guarantee is, well, nuclear weapons.”

Donald Trump met Kim in his first term and there has been speculation of a re-run when the US president makes his delayed visit to China next month.

Kim, who was greeted with cheering crowds and received a standing ovation in the assembly, said on Monday that the US is “carrying out acts of state terrorism and aggression across the world”.

Washington and its allies “are constantly bringing nuclear strategic assets into the areas surrounding our country, shaking the foundations of regional security”, Kim said.

This refers to systems capable of carrying nuclear weapons, even if the United States does not actually deploy them with nuclear payloads, explained Lim Eul-chul, an expert on North Korea at Kyungnam University.

Pyongyang also thinks it is possible that nuclear-powered submarines that South Korea wants to make could be armed with nuclear weapons — “a potential that is not entirely unfounded”, Lim told AFP.

On the economy, Kim outlined a goal of increasing industrial output by 1.5 times.

Progress made “shattered… false claims of hostile forces that there can be no prosperity without nuclear abandonment”, he said.

Kim said 15.8 per cent of the total spending for 2026 will be on defence, compared to 15.7pc in 2025.

He also proposed creating a formal “police system”, signalling a shift from the traditional reliance on broader public security forces.

He said this would strengthen legal frameworks and elevate public order, calling it “essential” for national security and social stability, and “advantageous” to “realise cooperation with police organisations in other countries”.