Kim Jong-un Calls For North Korea's Military Ready To Carry Out Nuclear Attacks To Prevent War

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observed the launch of the missile using binoculars. (Source: KCNA)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called on his country to be ready to carry out nuclear attacks at any time to prevent war, accusing the United States and South Korea of expanding joint military exercises involving Washington's nuclear assets, according to state media KCNA on Monday.

Leader Kim's remarks came as the isolated country carried out what KCNA called a drill aimed at increasing the tactical nuclear strike capabilities and war prevention capabilities on Saturdays and Sundays, to send a stern warning to allies.

In the exercise, a ballistic missile equipped with an artificial nuclear warhead flew 800 km (497 miles), before hitting a target at an altitude of 800 m (0.5 miles) in a tactical nuclear strike scenario, KCNA said.

Meanwhile, South Korea and Japan reported North Korea's short-range ballistic missile launches off the east coast on Sunday, which is the latest of a series of missile tests in recent weeks.

In another report, KCNA said more than 1.4 million North Koreans had volunteered to join or re-registered to the military to fight against Seoul and Washington, an increase from about 800,000 people reported by government newspapers two days earlier.

North Korea has reacted angrily to a joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States, calling it a training for an invasion of it. Previously, Seoul and Washington had indeed held annual exercises since the beginning of this month.