Kim Jong Un Issues New Nuclear Warning as U.S. Boosts Deterrence in Korea

North Korea has broadcast a new warning from Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un following a series of missile launches that have severely raised tensions across the divided peninsula and the surrounding region as the U.S. and its allies bolster their own military posture.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday, early Thursday local time, that Kim led the recent testing of a "long-range strategic cruise missile" in what he called yet another "warning to the enemy" and "a practical test of the absolute credibility and combat power of our nation's war deterrent."

He said the test "demonstrated a thorough readiness to subdue the enemy with unconditional, maneuverable, precise and forceful counter-attacks" and said the country "must continue to expand the space for the operation of the nuclear strategic armed forces so that we can resolutely suppress any grave military crisis or war crisis that comes at any time and fully seize the initiative."

The remarks came a day after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol addressed North Korea's military capabilities by saying that Pyongyang "has nothing to gain from nuclear weapons."

Yoon has faced pressure from conservatives toward scrapping a 2018 military agreement with Kim forged by his predecessor, Moon Jae-in, at a time when the two countries were pursuing historic peace and reconciliation talks alongside the U.S. Tensions have since prevailed and no major diplomatic initiatives have emerged in three years.

Some politicians have even called for South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), to ask the U.S. to redeploy nuclear weapons, reversing a withdrawal that took place three decades ago.

A State Department spokesperson, when asked about the possibility of the U.S. taking such an action, told Newsweek that President Joe Biden has "affirmed the U.S. extended deterrence commitment to the ROK using the full range of U.S. defense capabilities, including nuclear, conventional, and missile defense capabilities."

The spokesperson also noted the reactivation of the high-level Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group, which met last month.

"We also committed to further strengthen deterrence by reinforcing the combined defense posture and reiterated our joint commitment to a conditions-based transition of wartime operational control," the spokesperson added.

The U.S. and South Korea have also intensified joint training as well, and have exercised with Japan as well, angering North Korea, which also condemned Biden's decision to send an aircraft carrier strike group to the region.

The White House briefly addressed North Korea in the new 48-page National Security Strategy released earlier Wednesday.

"We will seek sustained diplomacy with North Korea to make tangible progress toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the document said, "while strengthening extended deterrence in the face of North Korean weapons of mass destruction and missile threats."

Update 10/12/22, 8:15 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information and background.