North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Thursday his nation is ready to respond with nuclear weapons if provoked by the United States or its allies. Kim’s remarks came during a ceremony in Pyongyang marking the anniversary of the 1953 armistice that ended hostilities in the Korean War.

Kim Jong-un: “Our armed forces are thoroughly prepared to respond to any crisis, and our state’s nuclear war deterrence is also fully ready to mobilize its absolute strength faithfully, accurately and promptly to its mission.”

Kim also blasted South Korea’s new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, saying he was pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war. His comments came as U.S. and South Korean officials said the North was preparing to carry out its first nuclear weapons test since 2017.