North Korea to equip its navy with nuclear weapons, says Kim

ISTANBUL

North Korea will equip its navy with nuclear weapons, the nation’s leader said.

During a visit to the Navy Command on Sunday, Kim Jong-un said: “The Navy of the DPRK would become a component of the state nuclear deterrence carrying out the strategic duty.”

DPRK stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea.

Kim said units of different North Korean armed services “would be equipped with new weaponry according to the policy of expanding the tactical nuclear weapons operation,” Pyongyang-based state-run KCNA News reported on Tuesday.

He urged the naval personnel “to continue to set high targets and organize and carry on the actual maneuvers, which are close to actual war as much as possible … augmenting the combat capabilities for definitely deterring the US imperialist aggressor forces' and their followers' ever-escalating reckless moves to provoke a nuclear war.”

Separately, South Korea, the US, and Japan Tuesday conducted a joint missile defense drill in the international waters south of the Korean Peninsula.

The exercise was in response to North Korea's claimed space rocket launch the previous week, according to the US Indo-Pacific Command.

Seoul said the exercise was prompted by North Korea's increasing nuclear and missile risks. This encompasses their recent rocket launch, deemed a "clear" violation of the UN resolutions prohibiting ballistic missile technology for launches.

*Riyaz ul Khaliq contributed to this story