Kim Jong-un says North Korea intends to have world's most powerful nuclear force

Kim Jong-un has said that North Korea intends to have the world's most powerful nuclear force, as the leader was pictured with his daughter while inspecting troops and an intercontinental ballistic missile.

North Korea s ultimate goal is to possess the world's most powerful strategic force, the absolute force unprecedented in the century Kim said in an order to promote dozens of military officers involved in the launch of a new ballistic missile last weekend, state media reported on Sunday.

He described the Hwasong 17 intercontinental ballistic missile ICBM as the world's strongest strategic weapon and said it showed North Korea's resolve and ability to build the world's strongest army, which would reliably protect the dignity and sovereignty of the state and the people.

State media also showed Kim being accompanied on a military review by his daughter whose existence had never been publicly confirmed before last weekend's Hwasong - 17 test. Ju Ae is estimated to be around 12 or 13 years old, which means that she will be preparing to go into military service or attend university in the next four to five years, according to Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the Stimson Centre in Washington.

State media news agency KCNA described Kim as Kim's most beloved or precious child, a more honorific title than her previous description of Kim's beloved child on its dispatch the previous week.

Her second appearance will raise the possibility that the leadership of the totalitarian state could pass to a fourth generation of Kims.

As many as three children two girls and a boy are believed to have Kim, according to experts. Some observers believe that one of the children was seen in footage of celebrations for a national holiday in September.

In Sunday s report, Kim was quoted as saying that North Korean scientists had made a wonderful leap forward in the development of the technology for mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles and were expected to expand and strengthen the country's nuclear deterrent at an extraordinarily rapid pace.

Kim was pictured in photos posing with scientists, engineers and military officials involved in the test.

According to the state media, the workers pledged to defend the absolute authority of the party and Kim, and vowed that our missiles will fly vigorously only in the direction indicated by Kim.

The launch of the Hwasong-17 on November 19 prompted the US to call for a United Nations Security Council presidential statement to hold North Korea accountable for its missile tests, which are banned by security council resolutions.

North Korea's powerful standing committee of the Supreme People's Assembly gave the Hwasong-17 missile the title of DPRK hero and gold star medal and order of national flag 1st class state news agency KCNA in another statement, using the initials of the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The missile proved before the world that the DPRK is a full-fledged nuclear power capable of standing against the nuclear supremacy of the US imperialists and fully demonstrated its might as the most powerful ICBM state, KCNA said.