SEOUL, March 24 - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told parliament that Pyongyang will permanently bolster its nuclear forces and that relations with the South should be treated as relations between hostile states, state media KCNA reported.
Speaking on Monday to the Supreme Peoples Assembly, the communist-run rubber-stamp legislature, Kim said that Pyongyangs status as a nuclear-armed country is irreversible. He described the expansion of a "self-defensive nuclear deterrent" as essential to national security, regional stability and to advancing economic development.
Kim rejected the prospect of trading nuclear disarmament for economic benefits or security guarantees, arguing that North Korea had demonstrated the correctness of maintaining nuclear forces while pursuing development. He said nuclear weapons had deterred war and permitted the state to direct resources toward economic growth, construction and improved living standards.
During the address, Kim accused the United States and its allies of destabilising the region by deploying strategic nuclear assets near the Korean peninsula. He added, however, that North Korea no longer viewed itself as a country under threat and that it now possessed the power to pose a threat to others, if it deemed that necessary.
In his comments toward Seoul, Kim said South Korea had been "recognised as the most hostile state" and issued a stark warning: any attempt to infringe on North Koreas sovereignty would be met "mercilessly without hesitation or restraint".
The speech is the latest indication of Pyongyangs hardening stance toward Seoul after Kim moved away from decades of policy aiming for peaceful reunification and reframed inter-Korean relations as those between two hostile states. Analysts have been monitoring whether this change has been enshrined in law; the state media report did not elaborate on that point.
Economic priorities and legislation
Alongside security priorities, Kim outlined a set of economic goals and called on officials to fully implement a new five-year development plan. The plan, as presented, focuses on modernising industry, increasing electricity and coal production, boosting food output and expanding housing construction across the country.
North Korea was described in the report as one of the worlds poorest countries, with a heavily sanctioned economy and chronic shortages that leave much of the population reliant on state rations and informal markets, according to international assessments cited in the state media account.
The parliamentary session adopted amendments to the constitution and passed legislation endorsing the five-year economic plan, KCNA said.
Budget and international message
Lawmakers also approved a 2026 state budget that increases defence spending to 15.8% of total expenditure. A separate budget report released at the session said funding in the budget was explicitly allocated to expand nuclear deterrence and war-fighting capabilities.
In addition to the domestic policy announcements, the assembly received a congratulatory message from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who praised Kims leadership and pledged to deepen a comprehensive strategic partnership between Moscow and Pyongyang.
The state media account provided the overview of Kims speech and the legislative outcomes but offered no detailed elaboration on whether the leaderships change in posture toward the South had been codified in specific new legal provisions beyond the constitutional amendments reported.
Observers and stakeholders will be watching how the reallocation of budgetary resources and the stated prioritisation of nuclear and defence capabilities interact with the economic objectives laid out in the five-year plan, particularly in sectors such as energy production, food output and housing construction.