Kim Jong-un threatens to nuke South Korea ‘without hesitation’ if provoked after Seoul showed off bunker busting ‘monster’ bomb

Kim Jong Un has threatened to use nuclear weapons “without hesitation” if he is attacked by the South and ally the United States, North Korean state media reported.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in decades, with Seoul this week hosting a military parade where it displayed its bunker-busting ‘monster’ missile.

President Yoon Suk Yeol warned Kim that the use of nuclear weapons would mean the end of his regime as the dictator would face “the determined and overwhelming response” from the South Korean-American alliance.

Pyongyang has also bombarded the South with balloons carrying bags full of trash, and another flurry hovered over Seoul early Friday morning. The Seoul military confirmed it had detected the balloon launches overnight.

If an enemy’s forces were to “invade the North’s sovereignty,” Pyongyang would “without hesitation use all offensive forces at its disposal, including nuclear weapons,” Kim said, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

A vehicle carrying South Korea’s Hyunmoo ballistic missile is seen during a parade celebrating the 76th Armed Forces Day in Seoul on October 1, 2024

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows missiles launched during a simulated nuclear counter-attack exercise at an unknown location in April

Footage in state media showed Kim, dressed in his usual leather jacket, speaking at a training event for special operations forces.

There he criticized Yoon for his comments about the end of the regime and his shouting about his country’s alliance with the United States.

Seoul, which has no nuclear weapons of its own, falls under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, and Washington has stationed tens of thousands of troops in the country since the Korean War ended in 1953 without a peace treaty.

Kim said it was Seoul and Washington who “destroyed regional security and peace,” KCNA reported, calling South Korea’s leader “an abnormal man.”

On Tuesday, fighter jets flew over central Seoul and tanks rolled through the streets as South Korea put on display for the first time its largest ballistic missile, the Hyunmoo-5, capable of destroying underground bunkers.

A U.S. B-1B heavy bomber also performed a flyover of the ceremony on Tuesday, flanked by F-15K jets.

Washington periodically deploys nuclear assets on the Korean Peninsula, underscoring the South’s defense against Pyongyang’s growing threats.

A photo released by North Korean state media shows Kim Jong Un inspecting the training base of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) special operations unit.

Kim Jong Un speaks with military officials at a special forces training base in North Korea’s western region

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers his speech during a celebration marking the 76th anniversary of the Korean Armed Forces Day in Seongnam, South Korea, Tuesday, October 1, 2024

At the Armed Forces Day meeting in South Korea, Yoon said that if the North “attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face the determined and overwhelming response from our military and the US-Republic alliance Korea.’

“That day will mark the end of the North Korean regime,” he added.

North Korea is expected to scrap a key inter-Korean agreement signed in 1991 at a parliamentary meeting next week, Seoul’s Unification Ministry said on Wednesday, as part of Kim’s push to officially define the South as a hostile state .

Earlier this year, Kim called for removing unification-related clauses from the constitution, while abolishing agencies dedicated to improving ties with the South.

Images in state media showed Kim wearing his usual leather jacket at a training event for special operations forces

Last month, the North also made public images of a uranium enrichment facility for the first time, showing leader Kim touring the site as he called for more centrifuges to boost the country’s nuclear arsenal.

South Korea’s spy agency later said the unprecedented revelation was “targeted against the US” and that North Korea was believed to be capable of producing double-digit numbers of nuclear weapons.

Last week, a lawmaker told reporters that the National Intelligence Service had warned that the North could conduct another nuclear test — its seventh — after the U.S. elections in November.