North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Pyongyang would expand its nuclear arsenal, state news agency KCNA reported Tuesday.
Kim said during a speech on Monday marking the country’s founding that North Korea’s weapons stockpile should increase exponentially.
“We are now perfectly implementing the policy of building up nuclear power by increasing the number of nuclear weapons in geometric progression,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying.
Kim also accused “hostile” forces of wanting to attack North Korea with nuclear weapons, without specifying which countries he meant and without providing evidence.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), North Korea currently has about 50 nuclear warheads, although the exact number is unknown.
Widely isolated North Korea is subject to international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs, with its last known nuclear test in 2017.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have risen after Pyongyang significantly expanded its missile tests over the past two years while sharpening its rhetoric against the US and South Korea. It has also stepped up military cooperation with Russia.
