North Korea’s Kim warns of nuclear war, accuses US of stoking tension

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has accused the United States of ramping up tension and provocations, saying the Korean peninsula has never faced such risks of nuclear war as now, state media KCNA said on Friday.

In a speech at a military exhibition on Thursday in Pyongyang, Kim said he had tried negotiations with Washington but the results only highlighted its “aggressive and hostile” policy against Pyongyang, KCNA said.

He called for developing and upgrading weaponry and vowed to continue advancing defense capabilities to bolster the country’s strategic position, it said.