According to state media KCNA, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un emphasised the need to rapidly expand the country’s nuclear capabilities, labeling US-South Korea military exercises as an “obvious expression of their will to provoke war,”.

This week, South Korea and the United States commenced joint military drills, which include testing an enhanced response to increasing nuclear threats from North Korea.

Pyongyang routinely condemns these exercises as rehearsals for invasion, while Seoul and Washington maintain that they are purely defensive in nature.

The annual 11-day exercises, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, will be similar in scale to those planned for 2024, with adjustments made to reschedule 20 out of 40 field training events to September, as reported by South Korea’s military.

These delays come as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expresses a desire to ease tensions with North Korea, though analysts remain skeptical about how Pyongyang will respond.

During a visit to a navy destroyer on Monday, Kim stated that the military exercises represented a “clear expression of their intention to remain most hostile and confrontational” towards North Korea.

He noted that the current security environment necessitated a rapid expansion of the North’s nuclear arsenal, highlighting that recent US-South Korea drills included a “nuclear element.”

Discussions regarding North Korea’s nuclear development are expected to take place at an upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Washington.

Analyst Hong Min from the Korea Institute for National Unification remarked, “Through this move, North Korea is demonstrating its refusal to accept denuclearization and the will to irreversibly upgrade nuclear weapons.”

A report from the Federation of American Scientists last year indicated that North Korea may have produced enough fissile material for up to 90 nuclear warheads, although it likely has assembled around 50.

Additionally, North Korea plans to construct a third 5,000-tonne Choe Hyon-class destroyer by October of next year and is currently testing cruise and anti-air missiles for these warships.