North Korea's Kim calls for rapid nuclear buildup amid US-South Korea exercises

FILE PHTO: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the 12th Plenary Session of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, in Pyongyang, North Korea, in this picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on June 24, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS/File Photo

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country needed to rapidly expand its nuclear armament and called U.S.-South Korea military exercises an "obvious expression of their will to provoke war," state media KCNA reported on Tuesday.

South Korea and its ally the United States kicked off joint military drills this week, including testing an upgraded response to heightened North Korean nuclear threats.