North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called on his military to be always ready for war in order to thwart rivals' plots to invade their country, state media reported on Tuesday.
He made the remarks after the United States, South Korea and Japan held trilateral naval exercises to counter North Korea's growing nuclear threats.
The US and South Korean militaries have been holding separate bilateral summer exercises since last week.
North Korea sees such drills involving the US as preparations for invasion, although Washington and its partners insist their drills are defensive.
Kim said during a speech to mark North Korea's Navy Day on Monday that waters near the Korean Peninsula have become unstable "from the danger of nuclear war" due to hostilities led by the United States, according to the state-run Central News Agency. of North Korea.
He cited U.S. exercises with its allies, the deployment of powerful U.S. weapons in waters near the Korean Peninsula and a recent summit between the U.S., South Korea and Japan, where an agreement was reached to increase cooperation on defense in response to North Korea's nuclear program.
Kim called US President Joe Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida the "gang bosses" of the three countries.
"This prevailing situation requires our Navy to concentrate all efforts to get ready for war, to have constant attention for war, so that it is ready to break the enemy's will for war." said Kim.
The trilateral drills on Tuesday in international waters near the South Korean island of Jeju featured naval destroyers from all three countries.
Meanwhile, since 2022, North Korea has conducted more than 100 weapons tests, most of which involved nuclear missiles designed to hit the US and its allies South Korea and Japan.
This has prompted the United States and South Korea to increase their exercises and restart trilateral exercises including Japan. Kim has made great efforts to increase its nuclear arsenal and create sophisticated weapons systems.
During his speech, Kim added that military units of each service will receive new weapons in accordance with the Government's decision to expand the use of tactical nuclear weapons./ REL