Kim puts North Korea on nuke war alert

State media reported he ordered   the military to posture a“preemptive attack” mode in the face of growing threats from its enemies, Kim’s stance comes after the UN Security Council on Wednesday imposed harsh new sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear programme. 

Kim made the comments as he supervised military exercises involving newly developed rocket launchers, KCNA reported. It did not mention the date of the drills but said the new weapons had South Korea within range. 

On Thursday, South Korea’s defence ministry said North Korea launched several projectiles into the sea up to 90 miles away, an apparent response to the UN sanctions. 

Kim said North Korea should “bolster up (its) nuclear force both in quality and quantity” and stressed “the need to get the nuclear warheads deployed for national defence always on standby so as to be fired any moment,” KCNA quoted him as saying. “Now is the time for us to convert our mode of military counteraction toward the enemies into an preemptive attack one in every aspect.” 

North Korea has previously threatened pre-emptive attacks on its enemies including South Korea, Japan and the United States. 

Military experts doubt it has yet developed the capability to fire a long-range missile with a miniaturised warhead to deliver a nuclear weapon as far as US. Reacting to the report, US asked Norht Korea to refrain from provocative actions.