The nation might be battered by the pandemic and sanctions, but Kim Jong Un has made a defiant speech at a big military parade yesterday, vowing to ramp up the country’s nuclear arsenal and use those weapons if provoked. The parade was to mark the 90th anniversary of the army, which is the backbone of the Kim family’s authoritarian rule. The rogue nation enjoys showing off its new weapons at these public events, and the jewel in the crown is its intercontinental ballistic missile. It was tested last month, and analysts say it showed North Korea’s strike range now extends as far as the US mainland. In response, the US ratcheted up its sanctions, but Kim is undeterred. “We will continue to develop the nation’s nuclear capabilities at the fastest pace,” he told the crowd at the parade. Analysts say the recent election of South Korea’s new president Yoon Suk-Yeol, who has a harsher line on its neighbour, has frayed relations and stalled peace talks.