North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for "indefinitely" strengthening his regime's nuclear weapons capacity, state media reported Wednesday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has inspected a facility that produces nuclear material and called for bolstering the country’s nuclear capability, state media reported Wednesday, as it ramps up pressure on the United States following the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

Kim Jong Un has been using the development of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme as his “insurance policy” to stay in power, Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, said. There was a serious need to lower the risk of “an inadvertent war” between North and South Korea since the breakdown of Pyongyang’s talks with Washington,

North Korea said Sunday it tested a cruise missile system, its third known weapons display this year, and vowed “the toughest” response to what it called the escalation of U.S.-South Korean military drills that target the North.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the country's nuclear material production base and nuclear weapons institute, at an undisclosed location in North Korea, in this photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on January 29,

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a facility that produces nuclear material and called for bolstering the country’s nuclear fighting capability, state media reported Wednesday, as the North looks to increase pressure on the United States following the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

Kim Jong-un has inspected a nuclear-material production base and a nuclear weapons institute, emphasizing that strengthening the nuclear shield is "indispensable" amid a long-term confrontation with "the most vicious hostile countries.

Kim Jong Un vowed North Korea's nuclear program would continue "indefinitely" just days after Trump said he would make renewed diplomatic moves to the leader.