KIM JONG UN INSPECTS HIS INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILES. (PHOTO).

 Kim Jong Un inspects his intercontinental ballistic missiles

Kim Jong Un has been seen inspecting North Korea's most powerful weapons after he accused the US of ramping up tension and provocations before adding that the Korean peninsula has never faced a greater risk of nuclear war.

The North Korean leader was photographed visiting a military defence exhibition in  Pyongyang where the communist nation's most lethal weapons are being displayed - including ballistic missiles designed to target the US mainland, state media KCNA reported. 

Images showed Hwasong-19 and 18 intercontinental ballistic missiles, the Chollima-1 rocket used in a successful satellite launch in November 2023, and the Saetbyol-9 multi-purpose attack drone, which resembles the U.S. Reaper.

In a speech during his visit Thursday Kim said: 'Never before have the warring parties on the Korean peninsula faced such a dangerous and acute confrontation that it could escalate into the most destructive thermonuclear war.'

'We have already gone as far as we can on negotiating with the United States,' he said, adding that the talks had only shown its aggressive and hostile policy toward North Korea could never change.

The comments came amid international criticism over increasingly close military co-operation between Pyongyang and Moscow, and assertions that North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia to support its invasion of Ukraine.

Previous negotiations with Washington have only highlighted its 'aggressive and hostile' policy toward North Korea, Kim added during the speech. 

North Korean state media have not yet publicly mentioned the re-election of Donald Trump, who held three unprecedented meetings with Kimduring his first term, in Singapore, Hanoi, and at the Korean border, in 2018 and 2019.

But their diplomacy yielded no concrete outcome due to the gap between US calls for North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons and Kim's demands for sanctions relief.

Trump has long touted his ties with Kim, saying last month the two countries would have had 'a nuclear war with millions of people killed', but he had stopped it, thanks to his ties with the North's leader.

Hong Min, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul, said Kim could be trying to underscore the North's nuclear capabilities ahead of Trump's second term, while leaving the door open for diplomacy.

'He might be suggesting Trump should show his 'willingness to co-exist' before re-opening any talks and calling for a change in the US hostile attitude,' Hong said.

Kim also called for developing and upgrading 'ultra-modern' versions of weaponry, and vowed to keep advancing defence capabilities to bolster the North's strategic position, KCNA said.

In addition, North Korea has shipped additional arms to Russia, the South's lawmakers said on Thursday, after being briefed by the national intelligence agency.

Last year, when he was defence minister, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu accompanied Kim to a defence fair that showcased missiles and weapons.

Last week, Kim urged the North's military to improve its war-fighting capabilities, blaming the United States and its allies for stoking tension to 'the worst phase in history' and calling the Korean peninsula 'the world's biggest hotspot'.

The threat of direct conflict between the West and Russia over the war in Ukraine has escalated in recent days following the decision to allow Kyiv to fire long-range missile deep in Russia - prompting a stern warning of nuclear retaliation from Moscow.

Meanwhile, tensions have ratcheted up in the wake of Russia's use of what appeared to be an experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile on Dnipro on November 21.

The missile - dubbed the Oreshnik - carries multiple warheads, is believed to be nuclear-capable, and travels at a speed and trajectory that makes it difficult to intercept.

Analysts have warned the missile was designed to send a message of 'back off' to the West after the US finally conceded Ukraine the right to use its ATACMS missiles to hit deep into Russia as Ukraine looks to slow the momentum of advancing troops.