In a speech on Thursday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he was ready for a military confrontation with the United States. The leader will not hesitate to prepare his “nuclear deterrent,” North Korean state media reported.

In his speech, Kim Jong-un also criticized the South Korean government of Yoon Suk-yeol. “Any attempt to destabilize North Korea will be met with severe retaliation and destruction,” Kim warned.

The threatening language follows several missile tests by North Korea in recent months. The country claims to be capable of firing nuclear warheads with recently tested hypersonic missiles.

North Korea conducted a nuclear test in 2017. South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-Yong said last month that the country had reportedly completed preparations for another nuclear test. Actually conducting the test would have to wait for a “political decision,” Chung said.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has pledged to work closely with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on “denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”.