This photograph taken on Dec 3, 2023 and released by the official Korean Central News Agency of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea shows top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un delivering the opening remarks at a meeting in Pyongyang. (KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)

SEOUL – The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea said the country would not hesitate to launch a nuclear attack if an enemy makes nuclear provocations, the country's state media reported Thursday.

Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, made the remark as he met in Pyongyang on Wednesday with the missile unit that participated in the launching drill of an "Hwasongpho-18" intercontinental ballistic missile earlier this week, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

The test-launch demonstrated the loyalty and strong stand of the country's armed forces, and stressed that the maneuver served as "a clear explanation of the offensive counteraction mode and the evolution of the nuclear strategy and doctrine of the DPRK not to hesitate even (to launch) a nuclear attack when the enemy provokes it with nukes," the KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

READ MORE: DPRK condemns US-ROK nuke consultative group meeting

He also underscored the necessity of developing the capability for preemptively attacking the enemy anywhere and maintaining a war posture, calling such a capability "the genuine defense capability" to make lasting peace.

In this undated photo provided on Dec 18, 2023, by the DPRK government, DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, his daughter and an official watch an intercontinental ballistic missile launching from an undisclosed location in the country. (KCNA VIA KNS / AP)

Separately, in a Thursday press statement issued via the KCNA, Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, accused the United States and its followers of "persistently pushing the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia into a vortex of confrontation and conflict."

ALSO READ: DPRK test-fires intercontinental missile 'in show of strength'

In the statement designed to respond to an open session of the United Nations Security Council on the DPRK's ICBM launch, she slammed the ceaseless military drills by the United States and its followers and the frequent demonstrations of US strategic nuclear assets on the peninsula. She said they were clearly aimed at the DPRK and the "root cause" of the escalating situation in the region.