Pyongyang, January 29 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, inspected the nuclear-material production base and the Nuclear Weapons Institute. He was accompanied by Hong Sung Mu, first deputy department director of the Central Committee of the WPK, and leading officials in the relevant field. The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un highly praised scientists, technicians, workers and officials in the field of nuclear weapons production for achieving remarkable successes in the new long-term projects while putting spurs to the fighting task which the Eleventh Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK additionally assigned to the field related to the nuclear forces after the nuclear-material production field, the Nuclear Weapons Institute and other relevant field registered amazing production results in 2024. Looking round the core processes for producing weapons-grade nuclear materials, he learned in detail about the present production of nuclear materials, the long-term plan and the 2025 plan of the Nuclear Weapons Institute. Noting that the struggle in 2025 is very important as the five-year tasks the Eighth Congress of the WPK assigned to the fields of nuclear weapons research and production should be perfectly carried out, he said that this year is a crucial year as it is an important watershed in which we should carry out the tasks in the important period in the course of implementing the line of bolstering up the nuclear forces, a line which has been propelled by the WPK and the DPRK government, and switch over to the fulfillment of the next duty. He underlined the need to further raise the present surging spirit and thus to achieve epochal successes in overfulfilling the plan for producing weapons-grade nuclear materials and in strengthening the nuclear shield of the country. Noting that the nuclear technical forces of the DPRK growing stronger day by day and the results made by them are a symbol of the incomparable self-respect and valiant spirit of our Party, state and people, he affirmed that guaranteeing peace and security by dint of strength is our mode of struggle and option that are most righteous and an immutable truth. The external situation facing the DPRK remains grave and the challenges of the hostile forces to take the predominance of strength are becoming ever more pronounced, he said, adding that the absolute force capable of thoroughly containing the enemies and taking the initiative to control the situation is not provided by any declaration or slogan, but the stockpiling of the physical strength of practical use and its increase by geometrical progression. The DPRK’s security situation, the world's most unstable situation in which a long-term confrontation with the most vicious hostile countries is inevitable, makes it indispensable for the country to steadily strengthen the nuclear shield capable of strategically coping with not only the various existing threats but also new prospective security dangers and at the same time reliably guaranteeing the sovereignty, interests and development right of the state, as we should bear the responsibility for not only the present but also the future of the country, he said. And he said that everything should be subordinated to enhancing the prestige of the state and defending its interests and that it is our firm political and military stand and invariable noble task and duty to develop the state's nuclear counteraction posture indefinitely. He expressed expectation that all the nuclear experts of the DPRK would bear in mind the invariable view of the state, courageously turn out in the sacred struggle to highly develop the self-defensive nuclear war deterrent gained at the dear cost and push forward with the building up of the overwhelming nuclear strategic capability of the DPRK with brilliant increased production. His inspection serves as an occasion that gave great encouragement to all the nuclear scientific and technological forces of the DPRK standing in the vanguard of the struggle for bolstering up the national defence capabilities.