Kim says nukes a guarantee of North Korea’s sovereignty

SISTER PROMOTED Kim Yo Jong made an alternate member of ruling Workers’ Party politburo — the top decisionmaking body

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his nuclear weapons are a “powerful deterrent” which guarantee North Korea’s sovereignty, state media reported on Sunday.

In a speech to a meeting of the powerful Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party on Saturday, state media said Kim had addressed the “complicated international situation”.

North Korea’s nuclear weapons are a “powerful deterrent firmly safeguarding the peace and security in the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia,” Kim said, referring to the “protracted nuclear threats of the US imperialists.”

The meeting also handled some personnel changes inside North Korea’s secretive and opaque ruling centre of power, state media said.

Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, was made an alternate member of the politburo - the top decision-making body over which Kim Jong Un presides.

Alongside Kim Jong Un himself, the promotion makes Kim Yo Jong the only other millennial member of the influential body.

Her promotion indicates the 28-year-old has become a replacement for Kim Jong Un’s aunt, Kim Kyong Hee, who had been a key decision maker when former leader Kim Jong Il was alive.

In recent weeks, North Korea has launched two missiles over Japan and conducted its sixth nuclear test, and may be fast

advancing toward its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland.

North Korea is preparing to test-launch such a missile, a Russian lawmaker who had just returned from Pyongyang was quoted as saying on Friday.