Kim threatens to use nukes if attacked

SEOUL:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would use nuclear weapons "without hesitation" if attacked by the South and ally the United States, state media reported Friday, sparking condemnation from Seoul.

Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in decades, with Seoul this week staging a military parade where it showcased its bunker-busting "monster" missile and President Yoon Suk Yeol warned Kim that using nukes would mean the end of his regime.

Pyongyang has also been bombarding the South with balloons carrying bags of trash, and a fresh flurry was seen floating over Seoul early Friday by AFP reporters. Seoul's military confirmed it had detected the balloon launches overnight.

If an enemy's forces were "encroaching upon the sovereignty" of the North, Pyongyang would "use without hesitation all the offensive forces it has possessed, including nuclear weapons," Kim said, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Images in state media showed Kim, clad in his customary leather jacket, speaking at a training event for special operations forces.

There, he slammed Yoon for his "end of regime" comments and "clamoring" about his country's alliance with the United States.

Seoul, which does not have nuclear weapons of its own, is covered by the US nuclear umbrella, and Washington has stationed tens of thousands of troops in the country since the Korean war ended in 1953 without a peace treaty.

Kim said it was Seoul and Washington who were "destroying regional security and peace", KCNA reported, while branding South Korea's leader "an abnormal man".

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff released a statement late Friday, condemning the North's leader for having "threatened the safety of millions of our citizens" with his latest comments