North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned again and again that if threatened, the North would use its nuclear weapons first, as he hailed his senior military officers for conducting a large military display in Pyongyang this week.

According to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, Kim stated his “firm intent” to continue developing his nuclear-armed military in order to “preemptively and thoroughly contain and frustrate all dangerous attempts and threatening moves, including ever-escalating nuclear threats from hostile forces, if necessary.”

According to KCNA, Kim called his military officials to thank them for their efforts at Monday’s parade, which featured the North’s most powerful nuclear weapons, including intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States’ homeland and a variety of shorter-range solid-fuel missiles that pose a growing threat to South Korea and Japan.

The meeting was held on an undisclosed day, according to KCNA.

The parade commemorating North Korea’s army’s 90th anniversary took place as Kim rekindles nuclear brinkmanship in an attempt to persuade the US to acknowledge his country as a nuclear power and lift severe economic sanctions.

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