DPRK top leader asks to strengthen nuclear force

PYONGYANG, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Un, the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has demanded for strengthening his country's nuclear force, the state media said on Wednesday.

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim gave the instruction in a speech delivered at the two-day 8th Conference of Munitions Industry which closed on Tuesday.

He "expressed belief that the scientists of the national defense industry and workers of munitions would bolster up the nuclear force in quality and quantity" as well as manufacture more latest weapons and equipment of the DPRK style, according to the KCNA.

The DPRK's strategic position has been put on a new high level on the basis of the powerful Juche-based defence industry, Kim noted.

Juche, meaning self-reliance, is an ideology in the DPRK for achieving absolute independence in political, economic, military and international affairs.

Simultaneously developing the two fronts is a policy adopted by Kim, which stresses the development of economic construction and nuclear force at the same time, providing a legal foundation for bolstering the nuclear force in the DPRK.

In his speech, Kim was also "indicating the orientation of further glorifying the country as the world's strongest nuclear power and military power," as well as to developing an "ultra-modern self-supporting defense industry in the 21st century."

According to the KCNA's another report, Kim also attended a commending conference at the same place on Tuesday, which was prepared for giving the DPRK's distinctions to the contributors to the newly fired Hwasong-15.

On Nov. 29, the DPRK announced that it had successfully test-fired a newly developed Hwasong-15 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile capable of striking the entire U.S. mainland. Enditem