North Korea’s ‘exponential’ nuclear program: why Kim Jong-un is racing to expand his arsenal

The heightened rhetoric from Pyongyang has left analysts asking why North Korea appears to need so many nuclear weapons

At a ruling Workers’ party meeting that concluded this week, Kim Jong-un declared that steadily expanding North Korea’s nuclear forces was the “most correct and unique way” to cope with an increasingly unstable world, citing what he described as growing threats from the US and its allies.

The remarks were just the latest in a recent stream of commentary from North Korea’s leadership that has seen Kim pledge to equip warships with nuclear missiles, double weapons grade production and expand the country’s nuclear arsenal at “an exponential rate”.