SEOUL: Kim Jong-Un has vowed to make North Korea the “world’s strongest nuclear power,” state media reported Wednesday, as the reclusive nation shows little sign of reining in a weapons programme fuelling global alarm. The North has rattled the international community with a flurry of missile launches and its largest ever nuclear test in recent months in its bid to develop a warhead capable of striking the United States. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he was confident that Washington is doing all it can to force North Korea to discuss nuclear disarmament. Washington has ramped up the pressure on the North and last week the United States and South Korea launched their biggest-ever joint air exercise. Pyongyang slammed those manoeuvres as a provocation, accusing the drills of “revealing its intention to mount a surprise nuclear pre-emptive strike.” -- AFP

Source: New Strait Times December 13, 2017 00:00 UTC