BREAKING NEWS: Kim Jong-un demands North Korea's nuclear weapons be readied for launch 'at any time'

  • Kim Jong-un demanded his nuclear weapons be ready for use 'at any time'
  • Comes after the UN Security Council passed a new sanctions resolution
  • Penalises country for its fourth nuclear test and long-range missile launch

By Jenny Stanton For Mailonline

Published: 17:40 EST, 3 March 2016 | Updated: 21:50 EST, 3 March 2016

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has demanded the country's nuclear weapons be made ready for use 'at any time'.

The dictator also said the communist country will revise its military posture so it can be ready to carry out pre-emptive attacks, stressing that the current situation has become very precarious, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

'We must always be ready to fire our nuclear warheads at any time,' Kim was quoted as saying on Friday.

Leader: Kim Jong-un ordered the country's nuclear weapons to be made ready for use at a moment's notice

Leader: Kim Jong-un ordered the country's nuclear weapons to be made ready for use at a moment's notice

The announcement comes little more than a day after the United Nations Security Council passed a new sanctions resolution penalising the country for its fourth nuclear test and long-range missile launch earlier in the year.

Among the unprecedented measures is a new requirement that all countries must inspect cargo destined for and coming from North Korea, in all airports and sea ports.

The resolution bans or restricts exports of coal, iron and iron ore and other minerals from North Korea, and prohibits the supply of aviation fuel including rocket fuel.

North Korea earns about $1billion (£710million) per year in coal exports - a third of all export revenues - and about $200 million annually from iron ore sales, US Ambassador Samantha Power told the council.

The nation's nuclear threats come ahead of joint U.S.-South Korean war games this month that the North claims are invasion preparations.

The statement is part of the authoritarian nation's regular propaganda effort to show strength in the face of what it sees as an effort by its enemies South Korea and the United States to overthrow its leaders 

US President Barack Obama welcomed the sanctions as 'a firm, united, and appropriate response' to the January 6 nuclear test and February 7 rocket launch.

'The international community, speaking with one voice, has sent Pyongyang a simple message: North Korea must abandon these dangerous programs and choose a better path for its people,' Obama said in a statement.

Banking restrictions will be tightened and governments will be required to ban flights of any plane suspected of carrying contraband destined for North Korea.

The United Nations Security Council voted on a resolution during a meeting at UN headquarters yesterday, imposing the toughest sanctions on North Korea in two decades

The United Nations Security Council voted on a resolution during a meeting at UN headquarters yesterday, imposing the toughest sanctions on North Korea in two decades

The resolution tightens an arms embargo by banning sales of small arms and bars vessels suspected of carrying illegal goods for North Korea from ports.

'These are among the toughest measures we have agreed against any country in the world, certainly the toughest ever against the DPRK,' said British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft, referring to North Korea by its official acronym.

Under the measure, UN member states will expel North Korean diplomats engaged in smuggling or other illegal activities.

A total of 16 individuals and 12 entities were added to a UN sanctions blacklist, including North Korea's NADA space agency and its spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau.

Luxury watches, snowmobiles, recreational watercraft such as Sea-Doos and sports equipment are banned from sale to North Korea, in sanctions targeting Pyongyang's elites.

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