Kim Jong Un said North Korea deployed “special assets” in response to what he called Washington’s arms build-up in the South, state media reported on Sunday.

The United States stations about 28,500 troops in the South to fend off military threats from the nuclear-armed North and last month conducted a joint military exercise with its security allies South Korea and Japan. Pyongyang routinely denounces such drills as rehearsals for invasion, while the allies insist they are defensive in nature.

“The US-ROK nuclear alliance is making rapid progress, and they are conducting various kinds of exercises to execute dangerous scenarios,” Kim said in a speech marking the opening of a weapons exhibition in Pyongyang on Saturday, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). (AFP)