Party speech suggests record year of weapons testing will last until 2024 despite international sanctions.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the military, including its nuclear program, to “accelerate” war preparations to counter what he called unprecedented confrontational moves by the United States.
At an ongoing meeting of the country's ruling Workers' Party, Kim “outlined the militant tasks of the People's Army and the munitions industry, nuclear weapons and civil defense sectors to further accelerate war preparations,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). ) reported on Thursday.
Kim also stressed that the “military situation” on the Korean peninsula has become “extreme” due to “unprecedented” confrontations against the North with the US, KCNA said.
The state news agency did not provide any further information about the preparations.
South Korea, Japan and the United States have deepened political and defense cooperation this year amid a record-breaking series of weapons tests by Pyongyang, recently activating a system to share real-time data on North Korean missile launches.
A U.S. nuclear submarine arrived in the South Korean port city of Busan earlier this month, and Washington has used its long-range bombers in exercises with Seoul and Tokyo.
Pyongyang, in turn, successfully launched its first military spy satellite on its third attempt, tested the Hwasong-18 solid-fuel rocket, its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), and enshrined the status of a nuclear power in the country's constitution.
Kim defined 2023 earlier this week as a “year of great turnaround and great change” in which Pyongyang experienced “eye-opening victories.”
Last week, the United Nations nuclear agency said a second reactor at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear facility appeared to be operational, calling it “deeply regrettable.”
Kim Jong Un oversaw the test of the Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile last month [KCNA via KNS and AFP]Kim's comments suggest North Korea is unlikely to slow the pace of its weapons testing or military modernization, although some analysts believe he may want to expand diplomatic influence over Washington after the U.S. presidential election next November.
Nuclear talks collapsed in 2019 after a series of high-profile summits with then-President Donald Trump over easing sanctions in return for a partial abandonment of Pyongyang's nuclear program. The country has been subject to UN Security Council sanctions since its first nuclear test in 2006.
North Korea has deepened ties with Moscow and Kim told party delegates that Pyongyang would further expand strategic cooperation with “anti-imperialist independent” countries.
Kim made a rare trip outside his country in September when he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian Far East, toured the Vostochny Cosmodrome and later visited military bases and weapons factories. The meeting came amid concerns that Pyongyang would supply military equipment to Moscow for the war with Ukraine in exchange for Russian technological know-how.
Kim also laid out economic targets for 2024, calling it a “crucial year” for implementing the country's five-year development plan and emphasizing the importance of agriculture, the report said.
North Korea has suffered severe food shortages in recent decades, including a famine in the 1990s. International experts say prolonged border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened food security.