Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has lauded his country's nuclear weapons programme as the best way to defend its sovereignty and counter threats from the US.
Speaking to the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in Pyongyang on Saturday, Kim Jong-un said "nuclear weapons of North Korea are a precious fruition borne by its people's bloody struggle for defending the destiny and sovereignty of the country from the protracted nuclear threats of the US imperialists", Efe reported citing state news agency KCNA.
Kim, also the chairman of the WPK, said Pyongyang's nuclear programme, which has led to multiple missile tests this year as well as the detonation of a hydrogen bomb, was "safeguarding the peace and security in the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia".
He added his country's nuclear ambitions have provided the foundations for strong economic development, despite sanctions imposed by the "US imperialists and their vassal forces" to force North Korea into abandoning its weapons programme.
During the plenary session, which is held at least once a year, the North Korean leader's younger sister Kim Yo-jong was elected to the party's politburo, a sign of her rising importance and clout within the North Korean regime.
Choe Ryong-hae, a close aide of the leader, joined the party's Central Military Commission, while Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho was appointed to the central committee's politburo, according to the state agency.