Kim warns N. Korea could ‘preemptively’ use nuclear weapons

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un acknowledges the officers and soldiers who took part in a celebration the 90th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, in North Korea on April 27. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service/via AP, File)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has warned again that the North could preemptively use its nuclear weapons if threatened. His latest comments came as he praised his top army officials for a massive military parade in Pyongyang this week. State media reported Saturday that Kim expressed “firm will” to continue developing his nuclear-armed military so that it could “preemptively and thoroughly contain and frustrate all dangerous attempts and threatening moves, including ever-escalating nuclear threats from hostile forces, if necessary.” The parade on Monday came after a spate of missile tests that underscored Kim’s willingness to force the United States to accept the North as a nuclear power and remove crippling economic sanctions.