Is North Korea Preparing For Nuclear War Against US? Kim Jong Un To Develop More Powerful Weapons

Under the supervision of Kim Jong Un, North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile off its east coast Monday morning. The North Korean supremo also ordered the development of more powerful strategic weapons, official KCNA news agency reported Tuesday.

The missile landed in Japan’s economic zone where fishing and cargo ships are active, the Japanese government and the South Korean military said.

Read: Kim Jong Un Supervises Test-Fire Of New Anti-Aircraft Weapon

According to KCNA, Kim said Pyongyang would develop more powerful weapons in multiple phases to defend North Korea against the U.S.

"He expressed the conviction that it would make a greater leap forward in this spirit to send a bigger 'gift package' to the Yankees in retaliation for American military provocation," KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

North Korea called such drills a preparation for war, according to Reuters.

Monday's launch was in accordance with the tests conducted by North Korea at an unprecedented pace in an effort to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of hitting U.S. North Korea has conducted several missile launches along with two nuclear tests since January 2016 amid growing pressure from the U.S., U.N. resolutions and the threat of more sanctions, reports said.

Japan and South Korea have condemned Monday's missile tests with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promising "concrete action". South Korean defense chiefs also criticized the North and said it would face "strong punishment from our military," according to CNN.

Condemning Pyongyang for the missile test, President Donald Trump tweeted that North Korea showed "great disrespect" for its longtime ally China.

China has called on Pyongyang to suspend its nuclear and missile tests while urging the U.S. to stop military exercises on and near the Korean Peninsula which North Korea sees as a threat to its sovereignty.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is gearing up for further threats from North Korea and it will try to shoot down an intercontinental-range missile for the first time in a test this week. The goal is to more closely launch a missile similar to North Korean ICBM aimed at the U.S. homeland, USA Today reported citing officials.

Last week, Marine Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, said if North Korea’s growing nuclear threat is not monitored and stopped, Kim would eventually succeed in fielding a nuclear-armed missile that could possibly reach the U.S.

Although the Pentagon has a range of missile defense systems, the one designed keeping in mind a potential North Korean ICBM is likely to be the most technologically challenging.

The U.S. wants to fire a rocket into space warning of a hostile missile launch. The rocket would release a 5-foot-long device called a "kill vehicle" that uses internal guidance systems to steer into the path of the incoming missile's warhead. The "kill vehicle" is designed to destroy missile's warhead with great impact, reports said.

The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, which is responsible for developing and testing the system, has scheduled the intercept test for Tuesday.