1 of 4 | "Only when one is equipped with the formidable striking capabilities, overwhelming military power that cannot be stopped by anyone, is it possible for one to prevent a war," Kim Jong Un said. Photo by KCNA/UPI |
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The launch was the first time Pyongyang fired a long-range missile since 2017, ending a self-imposed moratorium on ICBM tests.
Kim said that North Korea will "continue to attain the defense up-building goal and develop much more powerful strike means to equip our army with them," according to Korean Central News Agency.
"Only when one is equipped with the formidable striking capabilities, overwhelming military power that cannot be stopped by anyone, is it possible for one to prevent a war, guarantee the security of the country and contain and put under control all threats and blackmails by the imperialists," he was quoted as saying by KCNA.
This image, released by the state-run North Korean Official News Service, shows the test launch last week of what Pyongyang said was a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile. Photo by KCNA/UPI
Kim's remarks have amplified concerns that more weapons tests, including the possibility of a nuclear device, are in the works in North Korea.
South Korean officials said Monday that they have detected restoration work at the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site, which was destroyed in 2018 during a period of diplomatic rapprochement with the United States.
"Though we cannot predict the North's next move, the government is thoroughly preparing for all possibilities," she said.
However, there are questions as to whether North Korea actually fired the Hwasong-17, the enormous missile it first unveiled at a military parade in 2020, as it claimed in official news reports and a Hollywood-style propaganda video.
American and South Korean intelligence sources believe that the missile was actually a Hwasong-15, an earlier model that North Korea last tested in 2017, Yonhap reported Sunday.