South Korea's Defense Ministry said that any attempt by North Korea to use nuclear weapons would lead to the fall of the regime, after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for increasing the country's nuclear arsenal "exponentially", the Ryonhap news agency reported.

South Korea seriously warn that if North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will lead to the fall of Kim Jong-un's regime, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry accused Pyongyang of being ready to even start a war and urged North Korea to immediately stop nuclear development and return to the path of denuclearization, calling it the only way to improve living conditions for the North Korean people.

South Korea also pledged a tough response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats with a drastic strengthening of its three-axis defense system, which consists of the massive punishment and retaliation (KMPR) system, which involves responding with a massive missile launch in case the DPRK attacks, the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike system and the missile defense system (KAMD).