Kim Jong-un has ordered the North Korean military to “accelerate” war preparations amid rising tensions on the peninsula.
At a year-end meeting of the Korean Workers' Party, the reclusive leader ordered the state's defense industry, nuclear weapons and civil defense sectors to counter what he said were unprecedented confrontational moves by the United States, state media reported.
He did not give any further details.
Kim also said Pyongyang would expand strategic cooperation with “anti-imperialist independent” countries, the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
He warned that the “military situation” on the Korean peninsula had become “extreme” due to “confrontational actions by the United States and its vassal forces, which are unprecedented in history.”
North Korea has expanded its relations with Russia in recent months. Washington accused Pyongyang of supplying Moscow with military equipment for the war with Ukraine in return for technical assistance to develop its own military capabilities.
At Kim's direction, North Korea has further expanded its military power this year, launching a new spy satellite and conducting a record number of missile tests. Last week it conducted its first ICBM test in five months.
The impact of the launch reverberated in Seoul, where 1,000 military personnel, police and firefighters mobilized on Wednesday to take part in rare defense exercises that simulated an attack by the North on the South Korean capital.
The exercises simulated attacks on a large water supply facility, telephone network stations and an underground communications and power cable corridor.
“A Great Lesson” for the South
Oh Se-hoon, Seoul's mayor, said Hamas's surprise attack on Israel on October 7 was “a big lesson” for the South.
“Israel's sophisticated, world-class defense system collapsed helplessly under a surprise attack by Hamas armed with conventional artillery and primitive means,” he said.
He said the terror group's cross-border rampages showed that superior military capabilities did not matter much if the enemy were to launch a successful shock attack.
Seoul's distance of just 38 km (24 miles) from the military border with the north makes it particularly vulnerable to attack at any time, Oh added.
Oh has taken a tough stance on North Korea, arguing that the South must have its own nuclear weapons to neutralize the threat from Pyongyang.
However, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has ruled out possessing nuclear weapons, instead making it a priority to strengthen the alliance with the United States and restore security ties with Japan.
On Thursday, he visited a frontline military unit in the eastern district of Yeoncheon to review its defensive posture and called for immediate retaliation if there was any provocation by North Korea.
“I urge you to immediately and resolutely suppress the enemy’s will to provoke,” Yoon urged the troops.
Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, said last week that the U.S. has no hostile intentions toward North Korea and remains committed to diplomatic action.
However, he added that Washington's commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan remains “ironclad.”
The neighbors clashed at sea and one of the southern islands was bombed by the north, causing numerous deaths on both sides. However, there has been no direct attack on Seoul since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
Termination of an important military pact
North Korean state media warned last month that a new “physical clash and war” was only a matter of time after the scrapping of a key military pact aimed at reducing tensions with the South.
The 2018 deal, aimed at reducing the risk of accidental military escalation along the highly militarized border, collapsed after Pyongyang violated international sanctions by launching the spy satellite.
During his address on Wednesday, Kim also laid out the economic goals for the new year, calling it a “crucial year” for the implementation of the country's five-year development plan, KCNA said.
The north has suffered severe food shortages in recent decades, including a major famine in the 1990s that is believed to have killed hundreds of thousands of people.
North Korea's crop production was estimated to have increased in 2023 compared to the previous year due to favorable weather conditions. However, Seoul believes the amount is still well below what is needed to address the country's chronic food shortages.
The multi-day meeting of the Korean Workers' Party is scheduled to last until the end of the year. The final report is due to be presented publicly on January 1st.