Kim Jong-Un Calls on North Korea to Mass Produce Nuclear Warheads, Missiles

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has urged the nation to mass-produce nukes, missiles and speed up putting them to service.

"We must mass-produce nuclear warheads and ballistic missile and speed up their deployment," Kim said in his annual New Year address to the nation, AFP reported Monday.

"(The North) can cope with any kind of nuclear threats from the US and has a strong nuclear deterrence that is able to prevent the US from playing with fire," Kim said.

"The nuclear button is always on my table. This is not blackmail but reality."

Pyongyang dramatically ramped up its efforts to become a nuclear power in 2017, despite a raft of international sanctions and increasing bellicose rhetoric from the United States.