Islam Times - North Korea's Kim Vows Nuclear Programme to Continue

Islam Times - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed that Pyongyang's nuclear program would continue "indefinitely", days after new US President Donald Trump said he would make renewed diplomatic overtures to the reclusive leader.

Kim recently visited a nuclear-material production facility, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said, where Kim warned of an "inevitable" confrontation with hostile nations and said 2025 would be a "crucial year" for bolstering North Korea's nuclear forces, AFP reported.

"It is our firm political and military stand and invariable noble task and duty to develop the state's nuclear counteraction posture indefinitely," Kim said, according to KCNA.

The report, and Kim's nuclear factory visit, follow Pyongyang's test-firing on Saturday of sea-to-surface strategic guided cruise missiles, its first weapons test since Trump returned to the White House on January 20.

In response, an official with the US National Security Council said Trump would pursue "the complete denuclearisation of North Korea, just as he did in his first term", according to a report from the South Korean Yonhap news agency.

Trump, who had a rare series of meetings with Kim during his first term, said in an interview last week that he would reach out to the North Korean leader again, calling Kim a "smart guy".

Despite enduring crippling economic sanctions, North Korea declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear state in 2022.

Pyongyang says the weapons are necessary for its self-defense and to counter hostilities from Washington.