Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17836420301521774309276559Screen Shot 2026-03-24 at 7.41.03 AM.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">This picture taken on August 24, 2024 and released by North Korea&#x27;s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 26 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (front C) inspecting a performance test of drones organized by the Drone Institute of the Academy of Defense Sciences at an undisclosed location in North Korea. <em>KCNA via KNS/AFP</em><br/></span></span></span></div><p>SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has decided to beef up its nuclear force &quot;both in quality and quantity&quot; as it moves to modernize its military and strengthen combat readiness, state news agency KCNA reported Friday.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/3/24/north-korea-s-kim-vows-irreversible-nuclear-status-warns-seoul-of-merciless-response-0742">North Korea&#x27;s Kim vows &#x27;irreversible&#x27; nuclear status, warns Seoul of &#x27;merciless&#x27; response</a></div><p>The announcement came at an enlarged meeting on Thursday of the ruling party&#x27;s central military commission, the Korean Central News Agency said.</p><p>Among the military measures decided at the meeting was a decision on &quot;bolstering up the nuclear force both in quality and quantity and pushing ahead with the plan for standardizing, specializing and modernizing military bases&quot;, the report said.</p><p>The technical infrastructure of combat systems is also to be upgraded, and Pyongyang will move to &quot;accelerate the construction of modern naval bases&quot;, KCNA said.</p><p>Kim told meeting participants that the country&#x27;s peace and security could only come with a &quot;strong army&quot; and the containment of all threats, it added.</p><p>Kim earlier this month oversaw weapons tests of the 5,000-tonne naval destroyer Kang Kon, which tipped over last year during its launch ceremony but was later repaired.</p><p>He has pledged to equip the North&#x27;s navy with nuclear weapons.</p><p>Pyongyang has repeatedly declared itself an &quot;irreversible&quot; nuclear state since a 2019 summit between Kim and US counterpart Donald Trump in Hanoi collapsed over the scope of denuclearization and sanctions relief.</p><p>The hermetic nation is under multiple sets of sanctions over its nuclear program, which its leaders have vowed to pursue as an essential deterrent to the United States and South Korea.</p><p>North Korea remains technically at war with the South because the neighbors&#x27; 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-kqEQNgQPsw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bhpK-a-do-w?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TdfhwPd4j7M?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>North Korea has decided to beef up its nuclear force "both in quality and quantity" as it moves to modernize its military and strengthen combat readiness, state news agency KCNA reported Friday.</p>

North Korea has decided to beef up its nuclear force "both in quality and quantity" as it moves to modernize its military and strengthen combat readiness, state news agency KCNA reported Friday.

North Korea calls for 'bolstering' nuclear force—KCNA

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North Korea calls for 'bolstering' nuclear force—KCNA

Agence France-Presse

Published July 10, 2026 08:08 AM PHT

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Agence France-Presse

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