North Korea leader Kim Jong Un boasts of his nukes amid stalled talks with US

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country's hard-earned nuclear weapons were a guarantee of solid security and a "reliable and effective" deterrent that could prevent a second war of Korea, state media reported Tuesday.

Kim's remarks to war veterans commemorating the 67th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War show again that he has no intention of giving up his arms as chances of resuming diplomacy with the United States are slim. .

North Korea has previously intensified fiery rhetoric or carried out weapons tests to wrest external concessions. But some experts say Pyongyang will likely avoid serious talks with Washington before the US presidential election in November, as there is a possibility of a change in leadership in the United States.

Kim said in his speech on Monday that his country has sought to become "a nuclear state" with "absolute power" to prevent another war and that it has now built a deterrent, according to the Korean Central News Agency.