North Korean leader Kim Jong Un puts nuclear weapons on stand by

It came after the United Nations imposed tough new sanctions on North Korea over recent nuclear tests and a rocket launch. Tensions with Pyongyang ramping up once again after the country reacts to new sanctions with a show of force.

“We must always be ready to fire our nuclear warheads at any time”, Kim said, according to North Korea’s KCNA news agency.

The U.N. resolution that brought about the sanctions aims to cripple the economic factors that fuel North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. It is thought to have a handful of crude atomic bombs, but there is considerable outside debate about the state of its arsenal.

Kim said the resolution had opened a “very unsafe phase”, coming just days before the United States and South Korea kick off annual joint military drills that Pyongyang views as provocative rehearsals for invasion. Other analysts, however, question this.

On Friday, the Philippine Coast Guard inspected a North Korean cargo vessel, which docked at a port north west of the capital, Manila, and was one of the first checks since the United Nations introduced its new sanctions. The report did not say when the test-firing occurred. She has promised to retaliate for any military attacks launched by the North on South Korean territory.

Kim then addressed his troops and told them about the growing threat from the country’s worldwide enemies, particularly the U.S. He then noted that once the conflict escalates, North Korea must turn to its nuclear weapons.

China and Russian Federation oppose THAAD – which has powerful radar capable of penetrating deep into their countries. Opponents say the system could help USA radar spot missiles in other countries as well.

“The government, as the president said, is now doing its best to create an environment in which North Korea will realize it can’t possibly survive with nuclear and will have no choice but to change”, Jeong Joon-hee, spokesman of the Ministry of Unification, said during a regular press briefing.

South Korea faces the dilemma of whether to retaliate for the belligerence of its neighbour.

Park said the South would stick to its strategy of squeezing Pyongyang into submission over the issue of denuclearisation.

North Korea has previously carried out live firing near or across its borders when facing global condemnation.

North Korea had taken steps at Sohae in past months to better hide preparations for space launches and engine tests, making identifying preparations for launches using commercial satellite images more hard, 38 North said.