SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the “exponential” expansion of the country’s nuclear arsenal and the development of a new, more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile, state media reported Sunday, after he entered 2023 with another weapons test following a record number of missile firings last year.

Kim’s moves suggest he will continue his provocative run of weapons tests this year despite US-led pressure campaigns to curb his nuclear ambition. Regional tensions on the North’s nuclear program will likely continue, but some experts said Kim would ultimately try to use his enlarged arsenal to wrest concessions like sanctions relief in future dealings with his rivals.

“They are now keen on isolating and stifling (North Korea), unprecedented in human history,” Kim said at a recently ended ruling party meeting, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

“The prevailing situation calls for making redoubled efforts to overwhelmingly beef up the military muscle to thoroughly guarantee the sovereignty, security and fundamental interests of (the country).”

Kim accused South Korea of being “hell-bent on imprudent and dangerous arms build-up” and openly trumpeting about its preparations for war with North Korea. That, Kim said, highlights the need to mass-produce battlefield tactical nuclear weapons and calls for “an exponential increase of the country’s nuclear arsenal,” KCNA said.

Kim also set forth a task to develop another ICBM system “whose main mission is quick nuclear counterstrike.” It was unclear what weapons system Kim was referring to, but North Korea’s previously tested ICBMs demonstrated their potential abilities to reach the mainland US.

Kim accused the United States of frequently deploying nuclear strike means in South Korea, boosting trilateral military cooperation with South Korea and Japan and pushing to establish a NATO-like regional military bloc.

Tactical nuclear weapons and a military reconnaissance satellite are among an array of weapons systems that Kim has vowed to introduce in recent years. Other weapons he wants include a multi-warhead missile, a more agile solid-fueled ICBM, an underwater-launched nuclear missile and a hypersonic weapon.

Outside worries about North Korea’s nuclear program have grown since the North last year approved a new law that authorised the preemptive use of nuclear weapons in a broad range of situations and openly threatened to use its nuclear weapons first.

During his speech at the party meeting, Kim reiterated that threat.

“(Kim’s report) made clear that our nuclear force considers it as the first mission to deter war and safeguard peace and stability. However, if it fails to deter, it will carry out the second mission, which will not be for defense,” KCNA said.

Earlier Sunday, South Korea’s military detected the missile launch from the North’s capital region. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the missile traveled about 400 kilometers (250 miles) before falling into the water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.