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Flanked by missiles, North Korea's Kim says U.S. and South Korea threaten peace

13 October 2021 02:44 (UTC +04:00)

Standing beside North Korea's largest missiles, leader Kim Jong Un said his country's weapons development is necessary in the face of hostile policies from the United States and a military buildup in South Korea, state media said on Tuesday, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Pyongyang was only increasing its military in self-defence and not to start a war, Kim said in a speech at the Defence Development Exhibition on Monday, North Korea's official KCNA news agency reported.

Kim made his remarks standing next to a variety of weapons, including the country's intercontinental ballistic missiles, the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun showed. Among them was the Hwasong-16, North Korea's largest ICBM, unveiled at a military parade in October 2020 but not yet test-fired.

"We are not discussing war with anyone, but rather to prevent war itself and to literally increase war deterrence for the protection of national sovereignty," Kim said.