This year, Pyongyang declared South Korea its “principal enemy”, jettisoned agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over “even 0.001mm” of territorial infringement.
Kim said in his speech that presenting the new weapons at a time when the country was reeling from flood damage was a “manifestation of the firm will of our party to push ahead with the bolstering of defence capabilities”, according to KCNA.
Heavy rainfall hit the nuclear-armed country’s northern regions in late July, with a South Korean media report claiming up to 1,500 people could have died.
Kim has lashed out at the reports, dismissing them as a “smear campaign to bring disgrace upon us and tarnish” the North’s image.
The North has said there were no casualties at all in the Sinuiju area, while the region Pyongyang was said to have suffered the “greatest flood damage”.
It claimed that North Korea’s Air Force rescued over 5,000 people, with around 4,200 of them saved by helicopter “within a few hours”.
