Kim vows 'irreversible' nuclear status

North Korea will never give up nuclear weapons, leader Kim Jong Un said, indicating that it will soon designate South Korea the "most hostile state", according to a state media report on Tuesday. Kim also told the country's legislature in a policy address on Monday that the United States was committing "state terrorism", in an apparent reference to its military attacks on Iran. "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," Kim told the Supreme People's Assembly. "We will, in line with the mission entrusted by the Constitution of the Republic... further expand and advance our self-defensive nuclear deterrent," Kim said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). While the United States and Israel have insisted that their attacks on Iran are to stop the Islamic republic from developing nuclear weapons — an aim Tehran denies — Pyongyang is thought to be light years ahead by comparison. Despite years of sanctions and diplomatic isolation, the Chinese ally is estimated to have dozens of nuclear warheads and the fissile material for many more. It has also unveiled increasingly sophisticated delivery systems, including new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that can launch with little warning. Kim, a day after his reappointment as head of the authoritarian nation's highest policymaking body, the State Affairs Commission, also did not mince words about his southern neighbour. "We will designate South Korea as the most hostile state and deal with it by thoroughly rejecting and disregarding it," Kim said. The announcement came despite repeated overtures by President Lee Jae Myung, a doveish leader who took office in June, for dialogue without preconditions. Pyongyang has ignored these gestures. Pyongyang will "make it pay mercilessly — without the slightest consideration or hesitation — for any act that infringes upon our Republic", Kim added. Nuclear guarantee Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said that Kim's comments on consolidating its nuclear status showed Pyongyang sees US actions in Iran and Venezuela with "deep concern and seriousness". "It indicates that Kim and the leadership... interpret these developments as reinforcing their decision to pursue the further advancement of North Korea's nuclear capabilities," Hong told AFP.