North Korean President Kim Jong Un has vowed to accelerate the pace of strengthening his country's military and nuclear capabilities, explaining that this trend represents the "firm political position" of the ruling Workers' Party and the state, in a move that carries direct messages of defiance to both Washington and Seoul.

Kim's remarks came at the end of an expanded three-day meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, during which he stressed that geopolitical developments surrounding the Korean Peninsula are forcing Pyongyang to expand and strengthen what he described as a "strong and fully reliable self-defense deterrent."

Pyongyang's Fears of Regional Moves

The North Korean president attributed the move to the military moves of the United States and South Korea, accusing the two sides of publicly stepping up their efforts to expand and modernize military capabilities in the region. Kim specifically referred to South Korea's pursuit of nuclear-powered submarines, calling it a direct threat to his country's security.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency reported that the ruling party was unanimous that North Korea's exercise of full status as a "nuclear state" was the best and only way to address current security challenges. The confirmation comes as an extension of the strategic stance adopted by Pyongyang since the collapse of the 2019 Hanoi summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump, where it has repeatedly stressed that its nuclear posture is "irreversible" and that it will not give up its deterrent weapon.

The two Koreas are technically at war, as the armed conflict between them (1950-1953) ended with an armistice and ceasefire agreement and has not yet culminated in a comprehensive peace treaty, at a time when Pyongyang is under a long series of international sanctions over its missile and nuclear programs.

The size and capabilities of North Korea's nuclear arsenal

Despite the high secrecy surrounding North Korea's military program, specialized international institutes and think tanks provide periodic estimates of the size of Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal and production capabilities:

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI): The institute's ongoing estimates indicate that North Korea has a stockpile of 50 to 60 nuclear warheads ready for use, with enough fissile material (plutonium and highly enriched uranium) to produce dozens more warheads.

Korea Institute for Defense Analysis (KIDA) in Seoul: North Korea is striving to reach about 100 to 300 nuclear warheads in the medium term, to ensure deterrence capability and a second strike in the event of a conflict, according to the institute's reports.

Missile capabilities (means of delivery): Pyongyang has developed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) such as the Hwasong family of missiles, which military experts believe have a range capable of reaching large parts of strategic U.S. territory.

More recently, it has focused on the development of solid-fuel missiles (faster to launch and harder to detect) and short-range tactical weapons aimed at targets in South Korea and Japan.