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Nuclear Weapons Policy
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned again that he could use nuclear weapons in potential conflicts with South Korea and the United States, as he accused them of provoking North Korea and raising animosities on the Korean Peninsula, state media reported on Tuesday. Kim has issued similar threats to use nuclear weapons preemptively numerous times, but his latest warning came as outside experts say North Korea could ramp up hostilities ahead of next month's US presidential election. In a Monday speech at a university named after him, Kim Jong Un University of National Defence, he said that North Korea "will without hesitation use all its attack capabilities against its enemies if they attempt to use armed forces against North Korea, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency. The use of nuclear weapons is not ruled out in this case, he said. Kim said North Korea's nuclear response posture must be fully enhanced because South Korea and the United States are pushing
Iran is talking more about getting a nuclear bomb and has made strides in developing a key aspect of a weapon since about April, when Israel and its allies overpowered a barrage of Iranian airstrikes targeting Israel, two top Biden administration officials said Friday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan, speaking at separate panels during a security forum in Colorado, said the United States was watching closely for any signs that Iran had made a decision to pursue actual weaponization of its nuclear program. However, Sullivan said, I have not seen a decision by Iran to move in a way that signals it has decided to actually develop a nuclear bomb right now. "If they start moving down that road, they'll find a real problem with the United States," Sullivan said at the Aspen Security Forum, which draws U.S. policymakers, journalists and others. Iran resumed progress on its nuclear program after the Trump administration ended US cooperation wit
The world's nine nuclear-armed states continue to modernise their nuclear weapons as the countries deepened their reliance on such deterrence in 2023, a Swedish think tank said on Monday. We have not seen nuclear weapons playing such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War, said Wilfred Wan, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's weapons of mass destruction programme. Earlier this month, Russia and its ally Belarus launched a second stage of drills intended to train their troops in tactical nuclear weapons, part of the Kremlin's efforts to discourage the West from ramping up support for Ukraine. In a separate report, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, ICAN, said the nine nuclear-armed states spent a combined total of USD 91.4 billion on their arsenals in 2023 equivalent to USD 2,898 per second. The Geneva-based coalition of disarmament activists won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. The group said that figures sh
Australia is set to provide 4.6 billion Australian dollars (USD 3 billion) to British industry to support the construction of nuclear-powered submarines and ensure its new fleet arrives on time, the two countries said Friday. The announcement came a day after the two countries signed a defense and security pact to better meet challenges such as China's increased activity in the South China Sea and South Pacific. UK Defense Minister Grant Shapps said the submarine program was expensive but necessary. Nuclear-powered submarines are not cheap, but we live in a much more dangerous world where we are seeing a much more assertive region with China, a much more dangerous world all around with what's happening in the Middle East and Europe, Shapps told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Countries need to invest in making sure that adversaries see we are serious about our security, defending freedom of navigation, for example. The 10-year deal announced at an annual ministers' gather
President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if there is a threat to its statehood, sovereignty or independence, voicing hope that the US would refrain from actions that could trigger a nuclear conflict. Putin's statement was another blunt warning to the West ahead of a presidential vote this week in which he's all but certain to win another six-year term. In an interview with Russian state television released early Wednesday, Putin described U.S. President Joe Biden as a veteran politician who fully understands possible dangers of escalation, and said that he doesn't think that the world is heading to a nuclear war. At the same time, he emphasized that Russia's nuclear forces are in full readiness and from the military-technical viewpoint, we're prepared. Putin said that in line with the country's security doctrine, Moscow is ready to use nuclear weapons in case of a threat to the existence of the Russian state, our sovereignty and independence. The .
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reiterated his focus on strengthening his naval forces as he inspected the construction of new warships at an eastern shipyard, calling such projects crucial to the country's war preparations, state media said Friday. His visit to the shipyard in Nampho followed a series of weapons demonstrations in January that furthered increased tensions with rivals, including tests of new cruise missiles designed to be launched from submarines. Kim in recent months has been emphasizing his goals of building a nuclear-armed navy to counter what he portrays as growing external threats posed by the United States, South Korea and Japan, which have stepped up their military cooperation to cope with Kim's nuclear weapons and missile program. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency did not specify when Kim visited Nampho. It paraphrased Kim as saying that the strengthening of his naval force "presents itself as the most important issue in reliably defending the