In view of rising tensions with the USA, Kim calls for strengthening North Korea's nuclear arsenal

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited a nuclear facility and called for a strengthening of the country's nuclear capabilities amid growing threats from Washington and its allies, state media reported on Friday.

The report comes a day after North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the waters east of the Korean peninsula, the military in Seoul said. It was the nuclear power's first major weapons test since early July.

Kim inspected the nuclear weapons institute and a production base for weapons-grade nuclear material, the state news agency KCNA reported.

During his tour of the facility, Kim “encouraged nuclear scientists loyal to the party to implement the party's policy of building nuclear forces unconditionally and without an inch of deviation with their strong faith and high practical ability,” KCNA said.

Noting that nuclear threats from the US and its allies “have become increasingly blatant and have crossed the red line”, Kim said North Korea must “steadily develop and strengthen its defence capability… as well as the ability to launch a pre-emptive strike with nuclear force as the linchpin”.

Kim's regime has carried out dozens of such launches this year, part of a series of tests that experts say may be linked to North Korea's alleged illegal supply of weapons to its ally Russia for use in Ukraine.

Pyongyang has denied engaging in arms deals with Russia that violated sanctions, but with diplomatic efforts long stalled, it declared South Korea its “main enemy” this year and recently moved nuclear-capable weapons to border areas.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had discovered several “short-range ballistic missiles” fired from Pyongyang into the East Sea and the Sea of ​​Japan early Thursday morning.

The missiles landed on the water's surface after flying about 360 kilometers, the US Air Force's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. They “immediately detected, tracked and monitored” the launch and are exchanging information with allies Tokyo and Washington.

It said the test was “a clear provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.”

Japan's Defense Ministry also confirmed the missile test.

In an apparent reference to the test, KCNA reported on Friday that Kim “supervised a test firing to verify the performance of a new type of 600mm multiple rocket launcher.”

The shells “hit the target on an island in the East Sea,” KCNA said.

“The test was conducted with the aim of further developing the launcher's propulsion system and checking the combat power of the launcher, in which the entire process of firepower is fully automated,” it said.