PYONGYANG: North Korea Leader Kim Jong-Un told a rare ruling party congress that North Korea would only use nuclear weapons if attacked by a nuclear power, and said he wanted improved relations with previously “hostile” nations.
Speaking on Saturday to thousands of delegates gathered for the first Workers’ Party congress in more than 35 years, Kim also promised that the North would pursue a policy of non-proliferation and push for global denuclearisation.
His remarks, published by state media on Sunday, came amid growing concerns that the North might be on the verge of conducting a fifth nuclear test.
Kim had opened the congress with a defiant defence of the North’s nuclear weapons programme, praising the “magnificent… and thrilling” test of what Pyongyang claimed was a powerful hydrogen bomb on January 6.
But his report to the conclave on Saturday stressed that North Korea’s status was that of a “responsible” nuclear weapons state.
“Our republic will not use a nuclear weapon unless its sovereignty is encroached upon by any aggressive hostile forces with nukes,” he said.
The Korean-language version of his address made it clear that the scenario involved an actual nuclear attack on the North.
