North Korea says it is building the greatest nuclear force in the world

Under the leadership of its leader Kim Jong-un, North Korea has successfully constructed the greatest nuclear force in the world, and the reclusive dictatorship has been accelerating the advancement of its nuclear and missile programs, Pyongyang’s official media said on Monday.

The assertion was made in the midst of conjecture that the North is nearing completion of its arrangements for a third attempt to launch a military surveillance satellite, after two unsuccessful efforts in May and August, respectively.

The editorial writer of the main newspaper in the North, the Rodong Sinmun, Tong Thae-gwan, was quoted by Yonhap News agency as saying that “the country’s nuclear force has sharply increased and firmly reached the world’s strongest level with the power of the revolutionary industry of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.”

In an attempt to highlight Kim’s accomplishments for this year, he listed the North’s main provocations and actions, including the North’s leader’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September in the Far East of Russia and the testing of Hwasong-type intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

In honor of the Hwasong-17 ICBM’s successful launch the previous year, North Korea declared Sunday, November 18, to be “missile industry day.”