North Korea's leader says weapons-grade nuclear material capacity more than doubled in 5 years

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country's weapons-grade nuclear material production capacity has more than doubled over the past five years.

His remarks came during a visit to a newly inaugurated nuclear materials production facility on Wednesday, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Thursday.

The prolonged confrontation with the country's "most ferocious enemies," coupled with worsening existing threats, potential threats, and unpredictable long-term crises, underscores the "urgency and responsibility" of strengthening the nuclear deterrent in a sustained and accelerated manner, Kim said, according to KCNA.

He said the development of sophisticated nuclear technology creates a "mature environment" for the "new next stage of bolstering up the nuclear forces and they offer the possibility of carrying out larger plans."

"We have confirmed the order of priority for implementing the ambitious future plan designed to beef up our state's nuclear forces at an exponential rate, as well as a requisite guarantee for the purpose," Kim said, noting it as an "amazing, successful" change beyond "rhetorical description."