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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves during a military parade on the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, which was held at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang on the evening of April 25, in this photo released by North Korean state media. (KCNA/Yonhap News)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for a strengthening of the North’s nuclear forces during a large-scale military parade earlier this week, according to state media reports.

Kim said that the country’s “nuclear forces [. . .] should be strengthened in terms of both quality and scale, so that they can perform nuclear combat capabilities in any situations of warfare, according to purposes and missions of different operations and by various means,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Tuesday.

Kim made the remarks while delivering a message at a military parade marking the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, which was held at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang on Monday evening.

“To cope with the rapidly-changing political and military situations and all the possible crises of the future,” Kim said, North Korea “will continue to take measures for further developing the nuclear forces of our state at the fastest possible speed.”

“The fundamental mission of our nuclear forces is to deter a war, but our nukes can never be confined to the single mission of war deterrent even at a time when a situation we are not desirous of at all is created on this land. If any forces try to violate the fundamental interests of our state, our nuclear forces will have to decisively accomplish its unexpected second mission.”

“If any forces attempt [a] military confrontation with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, they will [perish],” Kim added, referring to the North by its official name.

Kim was warning that while North Korea’s nuclear weapons are fundamentally designed to prevent wars and other forms of aggression, the North could also respond with nuclear weapons in the event of a foreign invasion or other crisis, such as Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine.

Kim Jong-un’s remarks in this message were basically consistent with a statement released by his powerful younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, on April 5. In that statement, Kim Yo-jong said that while North Korea is opposed to war, “our nuclear combat force will have to inevitably carry out its duty” if “South Korea opts for military confrontation with us.”

That said, Kim Jong-un did not make any direct criticism or demands of South Korea or the US in his speech, which ran for 2,438 words in its English translation. That suggests the speech was fundamentally intended for an internal audience, rather than an external one.

“In the present world where different forces collide fiercely with one another, a nation's dignity and sovereignty and reliable genuine peace are guaranteed by [a] powerful defence capability that can overpower any enemy. We should continuously grow stronger,” Kim said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un walks with his wife Ri Sol-ju to an event marking the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, which was held at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang on the evening of April 25, in this photo released by North Korean state media. (KCNA/Yonhap News)

Kim had also said that North Koreans must grow even stronger while taking a commemorative photo with people who had contributed to the successful test-launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that North Korea calls the “Hwasongpho-17.” (That photo was printed on the front page of the March 28 edition of North Korea’s state-run Rodong Sinmun.)

Kim described North Korea’s “revolutionary army” as both “the main force for national defence” and “a powerful force for national development,” reaffirming his intention for the Korean People’s Army (KPA) to participate enthusiastically in economic construction.

Kim said that the KPA’s “core target” is “to strengthen itself politically and ideologically and make itself strong in military technology.”

A range of high-tech equipment appeared in the military parade, including “the giant ICBM Hwasongpho-17,” “the super-large MLRS, one of [the] absolute weaponry of the DPRK” and “the latest tactical missile units,” the KCNA reported.

Kim attended the military parade and a subsequent banquet at the garden of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) headquarters in the company of his wife, Ri Sol-ju, and took a commemorative photo at the WPK headquarters with commanders of various units in the KPA. The KCNA also said that Kim paid his respects at the Revolutionary Martyrs’ Cemetery on Mount Taesong along with senior officials in the military, including Pak Jong-chon, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the WPK.

The Korean People’s Revolutionary Army refers to the anti-Japanese guerilla units that Kim Il-sung is said to have founded on April 25, 1932. That date was celebrated in North Korea as the anniversary of the army’s foundation from 1978 to 2017. Then in 2018, the KWP Politburo decided to celebrate both Feb. 8 as the foundation of the Korean People’s Army (called Army Day) and April 25 as the foundation of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army (called Military Foundation Day). Since 2020, both have been celebrated as public holidays.

This is the first time that North Korea has held a military parade on the anniversary of the foundation of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]