Kim’s missiles that can hit US on show

SEOUL: Kim Jong-un showed off his increasingly varied arsenal of missiles designed to frustrate US defence systems, in a rare display that appeared to be the North Korean leader’s latest effort to break a diplomatic stalemate over his nuclear programme.

Blaming the US for “creating regional tension with wrong decisions and action,” Mr Kim vowed at a defence forum on Monday to keep expanding his nuclear weapons programme, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Photos of the so-called “Self-Defence 2021” gathering released by state media showed Mr Kim speaking in a large hall flanked by missiles, including at least two previously seen intercontinental ballistic missiles and a weapon similar to the “hypersonic” glider debuted last month.

The unusual indoor display of military might have come a day after the anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, an occasion when Mr Kim’s regime has often paraded new weaponry through Pyongyang.

One of the two ICBMs featured in the hall with Mr Kim — the world’s largest such road-mobile rocket — was revealed to the world at a military parade to mark the same holiday last year.

The event once again demonstrated Mr Kim’s flair for surprising observers by breaking with routine and tradition.

The absence of any parade preparations this year had fueled speculation that North Korea might let the holiday pass without provocations.

But Mr Kim called Monday’s indoor event a “striking manifestation of the state power as important as a large-scale military parade”, according to KCNA. Allied intelligence authorities were analysing the weapons displayed, a South Korean defence ministry spokesman told a regular news briefing yesterday in Seoul.

He also continued his regime’s recent trend of trying to project strength toward the US while signalling openness to South Korea’s peace overtures before President Moon Jae-in leaves office next year.

The strategy appeared designed to leverage Mr Moon’s desire to cement his legacy with a peace deal to either secure sanctions relief or drive a wedge between South Korea and the US. The US and North Korea have been locked in a stalemate over his nuclear programme since former President Donald Trump rejected Mr Kim’s demands for relief from sanctions in 2019.

Although Mr Kim accused Seoul of being “hypocritical” for attempting to boost its own military capabilities, he said his weapons weren’t aimed at South Korea but were self-defence measures.