North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned that the Korean peninsula is inching closer to an armed conflict and ordered his military commanders to prepare for the "toughest" response to any "provocation," state-run media reported on Monday.
Kim met with his military commanders on Sunday and praised them for achieving their tasks in 2023, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Kim again criticized the US and South Korea for the ongoing tension in the region.
"If the enemy opts for military confrontation and provocation against the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), our army should deal a deadly blow to thoroughly annihilate them by mobilizing all the toughest means and potentialities without moment's hesitation," he said.
A day earlier, Kim warned of a second Korean war and told the country's ruling Workers' Party meeting that the peninsula was undergoing an "uncontrollable crisis" due to "reckless" military provocations by the US and South Korea.
On Wednesday, he also asked his armed forces to prepare for war with the US as he blamed Washington for the current tension on the Korean peninsula.
Earlier, the North Korean leader also warned that his country "will not hesitate" to launch a nuclear attack if an "enemy" provokes it with nukes.
In 2023, Pyongyang successfully launched a military satellite on its third attempt, besides dozens of missiles, including at least five inter-continental ballistic ones.
