(ANSA) - SEOUL, NOVEMBER 27 - North Korea, equipped with nuclear weapons, intends to have "the most powerful strategic force in the world", its leader Kim Jong-un said at a ceremony celebrating the launch of a new intercontinental missile, during which his young daughterappeared in public for the second time.
Kim has awarded a massive series of promotions to the military and scientists involved in the development of the new Hwasong-17, dubbed by military analysts the 'monstrous missile', capable of reaching the continental United States.
This intercontinental ballistic missile (icbm) was tested on November 18, falling into the waters off Japan.
The Hwasong-17 is "the world's strongest strategic weapon" and constitutes "a magnificent leap forward in the development of technology to mount nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles", the leader enthused, quoted today by the official North Korean news agency KCNA .
The scientists, soldiers and leaders of this program have contributed to the "goal of building the strongest weapon in the world".
The leader stressed that the purpose of developing a nuclear force is "to reliably protect the dignity and sovereignty of the state and the people".
It is "the greatest and most important revolutionary cause, and its ultimate goal is to possess the strongest strategic force in the world, the sheer force that is unparalleled in the century",
The official newspaper Rodong Simun today published a dozen photos showing the North Korean leader posing in the company of hundreds of civilians and soldiers during the ceremony, accompanied by "his beloved daughter".
The existence of the latter was first revealed last week, when local media published photos of her watching with her father, hand in hand, the launch of Hwasong-17.
(HANDLE).
