Pyongyang, 24 March (H.S.):

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un declared on Monday that his nation will never abandon its nuclear-armed status, calling it an irreversible path amid escalating rhetoric against South Korea.

Speaking at the rubber-stamp legislature in Pyongyang after his reappointment as head of the State Affairs Commission, Kim vowed to expand the country's self-defensive nuclear deterrent. We will continue to firmly consolidate our status as a nuclear-armed state as an irreversible course, while aggressively stepping up our struggle against hostile forces, he stated, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). He justified the pursuit of more nuclear weapons as entirely necessary to counter strategic threats, promising precise readiness for his forces.

Kim reserved his harshest words for South Korea, designating it the most hostile state and pledging merciless retaliation for any provocations. We will make it pay mercilessly – without the slightest consideration or hesitation – for any act that infringes upon our Republic, he warned in the policy speech that covered defense, economy, and foreign relations .

This comes just a day after his re-election to the top post, a move critics dismiss as preordained to lend democratic cover to the regime founded by his grandfather in 1948.

The announcement underscores North Korea's unyielding stance under Kim, who has ruled since 2011 and overseen multiple missile tests and nuclear advancements. It arrives against a tense regional backdrop, including recent reports of Kim inspecting battle tanks with his daughter Ju Ae and near-perfect election results with 99.93 percent support .

While Pyongyang pushes its nuclear agenda, global eyes remain fixed on U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East maneuvers, though no direct link emerged here .

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar