DPRK leader visits Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on NYE

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
2 Jan 12:02

Democratic Republic of Korea leader Kim Jong Un visited the walls of immortality in Pyongyang on New Year's Eve and paid his respects to his predecessors.

Democratic Republic of Korea leader Kim Jong Un (Reuters)

Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Democratic Republic of Korea leader Kim Jong Un visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang on New Year's Eve.

The leader was accompanied by Kim Tok Hun, Jo Yong Won, Choe Ryong Hae, and Ri Pyong Chol, members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK [Workers' Party of Korea] Central Committee, and other members of the leadership body of the Party Central Committee, according to KCNA.

During the event on Sunday, Kim Jong Un and other visitors laid flowers in front of the monuments of former North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.

KCNA also reported that Kim Jong Un also visited the immortality halls where Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il are buried.

DPRK’s Kim orders ‘exponential’ increase of nuclear arsenal

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un has asked for "exponential" growth in the nation's nuclear arsenal, including the mass production of tactical nuclear weapons and the development of new missiles for nuclear counter-strikes in order to curb the US threat to his nation's sovereignty.

According to the official KCNA news agency, Kim stated in a report issued at the end of a crucial party conference in Pyongyang that the country must "overwhelmingly boost up the military muscle" in 2023 in response to what it dubbed “US and South Korean hostility”.

Kim accused Washington and Seoul of carrying out “a plot to isolate and stifle” Pyongyang, which is “unparalleled in human history”, the report added.

He stated that the circumstances required Pyongyang to "double down our efforts to develop our military power overwhelmingly" and "to safeguard our sovereignty, safety, and basic national interest to cope with the dangerous military moves by the US and other hostile forces that target us," according to KCNA.

“It highlights the importance and necessity of mass producing tactical nuclear weapons and calls for an exponential increase of the nation's nuclear arsenal,” Kim stressed.

The DPRK leader also ordered the development of a new type of ICBM “with a rapid nuclear counterattack capability as its basic mission," according to KCNA.