State media reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has warned once again that he may use nuclear weapons to resolve conflicts with South Korea or the United States. He accused both of inciting North Korea by provoking them and raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Kim has repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons as a preemptive measure, but his most recent warning comes at a time when experts are predicting that North Korea may escalate hostilities in advance of the U.S. Presidential election next month.

According to the official Korean Central News Agency, in a speech he gave on Monday at the Kim Jong Un University of National Defense named after him, he stated that North Korea would “without hesitation” use all of its attack capabilities to combat its enemies if they attempted to use armed force against North Korea.

He said that the use of nuclear weapons was not excluded in this situation.

Kim said North Korea must enhance its nuclear response posture because South Korea, the United States and other countries are attempting to strengthen their military alliance through joint strategic and nuclear planning. He said this would increase the risk of destroying the balance of power in the Korean Peninsula.

Kim is referring to a new South Korea and U.S. deterrence policy that was signed by the two countries in July. The goal of the guideline was to combine South Korean conventional weapons with U.S. nukes to deal better with North Korea’s nuclear threats. South Korea does not have nuclear weapons.

North Korea has repeatedly pledged to use nuclear weapons if the Pyongyang leadership is perceived as being threatened since adopting a nuclear doctrine aggressive in 2022. Many experts doubt that North Korea would be able to do this because it is outgunned militarily by U.S. forces and South Koreans. U.S. officials and South Korean officials warned that a North Korean attempt to use nuclear weapons could lead to the downfall of the Kim regime.

In recent weeks tensions on the Korean Peninsula have increased, as North Korea revealed a facility that produces weapons-grade, or nuclear, uranium and continued its missile testing. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol responded to questions by The Associated Press that North Korea had revealed the nuclear site to attract attention from the United States ahead of the presidential election next month. The North would likely conduct major provocations such as a nuclear explosion and a missile test.

Analysts say that North Korea is likely to leverage its larger nuclear arsenal in exchange for concessions from the United States, such as sanctions relief following the inauguration of a new U.S. government.

North Korea had earlier announced that its rubber stamp parliament would meet on October 7. As of Tuesday, the state media had not confirmed whether or not the meeting started as planned.

Observers believe the meeting of the parliament was to declare constitutionally a hostile “two-state” system on the Korean Peninsula, to reject formal reconciliation with South Korea and codify a new national border. Kim ordered the revision of the constitution in January to eliminate the long-standing state goal of peaceful Korean unification, and to cement South Korea as the “invariable main enemy.”

Since the collapse of the U.S. and North Korea’s broader diplomacy in 2019 on the North Korean nuclear program, all exchanges and cooperation between the two Koreas have been dormant.

North Korea has been launching thousands of trash-carrying ballons towards South Korea since late May. This is a psychological campaign reminiscent of the Cold War. The South Korean military reported that North Korea launched such balloons again across the border on Tuesday.