North Korea oversees missile test

Kim Jong Un and his daughter inspects a missile at Pyongyang International Airport. Pic/AP

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to counter US nuclear threats with nuclear weapons as he inspected a test of the country's new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), state media said on Saturday. The isolated country tested the Hwasong-17 ICBM a day after warning of "fiercer military responses" to Washington beefing up its regional security presence including nuclear assets.

Attending the site with his daughter for the first time, Kim said threats from the US and its allies pursing a hostile policy prompted his country to "substantially accelerate the bolstering of its overwhelming nuclear deterrence." "Kim Jong Un solemnly declared that if the enemies continue to pose threats... our party and government will resolutely react to nukes with nuclear weapons and to total confrontation with all-out confrontation," the official news agency said.

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The launch of the Hwasong-17 was part of the North's "top-priority defence-building strategy" aimed at establishing "the most powerful and absolute nuclear deterrence," calling it "the strongest strategic weapon in the world."

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