Kim Jong Un says North Korea’s nuclear status is irreversible, threatens South Korea

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would permanently strengthen its nuclear forces and treat South Korea as its most hostile state, as he set out policy priorities in a speech to parliament, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday (Mar 24). "The current world reality, where the dignity and rights of sovereign states are mercilessly violated by unilateral force and violence, clearly teaches what the true guarantee of a state’s existence and peace is,” Kim said in the address on Monday to the Supreme People's Assembly, the communist-run country's rubber-stamp legislature. Kim further accused the United States and its allies of destabilising the region by deploying strategic nuclear assets near the Korean peninsula, but said North Korea no longer viewed itself as a country under threat and possessed the power to threaten others if necessary.