North Korea: North Korea’s leader Mr. Kim Jong Un has urged his nation’s experts to increase the production of “weapon-grade nuclear materials” and develop more potent weapons.

Mr. Kim’s most recent phone conversations occurred before a United States Navy carrier strike group was slated to land in South Korea, reiterating an earlier pledge to increase nuclear weapons production “exponentially.”

In a briefing with representatives from his nuclear weapons institute, Kim reportedly stressed that North Korea should be ready to use its nuclear weapons “anytime and anywhere,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency of North Korea.

Mr. Kim recently called for an “exponential” rise in weapon manufacturing, including tactical nuclear weapons, and North Korea last year declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power. After the United States and the South Korean navy performed drills in international waters, the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier landed in the South Korean port of Busan.

The regular joint military drills between Seoul and Washington have drawn criticism from Pyongyang, which claims they have brought the situation on the Korean Peninsula to an “extreme red line.” Although the allies have characterised those exercises as defensive, North Korea has for decades claimed that they are defensive drills for a potential invasion by the US and South Korea. When the allies restarted their extensive training that had been scaled back for years, North Korea increased its own weapon demonstrations last year.

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