DPRK to use all offensive forces, including nuclear, if attacked, says leader

The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) stated that the country would use all offensive forces, including nuclear weapons, if enemies attempt to encroach upon DPRK sovereignty, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Friday.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, made these remarks while inspecting a training base for special operation units earlier this week.

Earlier, the Republic of Korea staged a military parade, during which President Yoon Suk Yeol threatened "the end of the DPRK regime" if Pyongyang used nuclear weapons.

Kim emphasized that the enemies' threatening rhetoric, actions, tricks and attempts will not take away the DPRK's nuclear weapons and that the country "has irreversibly secured the absolute strength as a nuclear power and the system and function for using it," according to the KCNA report.

"To pray for good luck in surviving a military conflict with a nuclear weapons state would be a foolish thing," he stated, adding that "if such a situation comes, the permanent existence of Seoul and the Republic of Korea would be impossible."

Noting the necessity for the DPRK military to continue strengthening its forces, Kim stressed that "strength in our hands is the only guarantee for keeping the enemy under control and defending ourselves," the KCNA report said.

During the inspection of the special operation units' training base in the western area on Wednesday, Kim described the DPRK special operation forces as the "pivotal and core force" in the country's war deterrence and fighting capabilities, emphasizing the need to expand and strengthen these forces into the country's strongest combat units, the KCNA reported.

(With input from Xinhua)

(Cover: DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un inspects a training base of the Korean People's Army Special Operations Forces at an undisclosed location in the DPRK, October 2, 2024. /CFP)