The official KNCA news agency said under Kim’s order, nuclear warheads must be “on standby so as to be fired at any moment”.
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New sanctions imposed on North Korea include the inspection of all shipments to and from the country.
According to KCNA, Kim made his comments while monitoring the test firing of a new, high-calibre multiple rocket launcher on Thursday, just hours after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted the US-drafted resolution penalising the North for its fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch last month.
“No kind of sanctions will ever work on us, because we’ve lived under United States sanctions for more than half a century”, Pyongyang resident Song Hyo-il said, as cited by AP.
The measures are the toughest sanctions to date on North Korea and ban or restrict exports of coal, iron and other minerals from the isolated country, among other restrictions. The resolution passed on Wednesday requires all cargo entering and leaving the country to be inspected, bans all trade in weapons, and adds to the list of North Korean officials under individual sanction.
US Defense Department spokesman, Commander Bill Urban, said: “We urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions that aggravate tensions and instead focus on fulfilling its global obligations and commitments”.
China had been reluctant to endorse tough sanctions out of concern that too much pressure would trigger the collapse of the pariah regime, creating chaos on its border.
North Korea is known for sabre-rattling rhetoric after the global community increases sanctions, and it has threatened pre-emptive strikes before.
On Friday, South Korea and the USA began a working group to put together plans for the deployment of an advanced US missile-defense shield in South Korea.
The deployment of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, is opposed by North Korea, China and Russian Federation.
But South Korea and the United States have said it was needed in response to the heightened missile threat from the North.
Johns Hopkins University’s 38 North project, which monitors North Korea, said recent commercial satellite imagery showed new activity in the isolated country, including a convoy of trucks at its satellite launch station that could be preparations for a rocket-engine test.
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“The strengthening of our nuclear deterrent is a legitimate exercise of our right to self-defence, which will continue as long as the hostile USA policy is in place”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
