Will launch three more spy satellites and build more nuclear weapons in 2024: Kim
During the five-day meeting that ended Saturday, Kim said the actions of the United States and its followers against North Korea this year are unprecedented.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will launch three additional military spy satellites in 2024, build more nuclear weapons and introduce modern unmanned combat equipment. .
Kim's comments, made at a key Workers' Party meeting to set state goals for next year, suggest he will continue a series of weapons tests to expand his arsenal amid long-simmering diplomacy with the United States. Observers say Kim would eventually hope to use his boosted nuclear capability to win bigger concessions from outside if diplomacy resumes.
During the five-day meeting that ended Saturday, Kim said the actions of the United States and its followers against North Korea this year have been unprecedented, pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of nuclear war, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
The serious situation requires us to speed up work to acquire overwhelming war response capabilities and thorough and perfect military preparedness to suppress any provocation by the enemies in one fell swoop, Kim said, according to KCNA.
Kim announced plans to launch three more military spy satellites next year, in addition to the country's first reconnaissance satellite launched in November. He also ordered authorities to continue producing more nuclear weapons and developing various types of modern unmanned combat equipment, such as armed drones and powerful electronic warfare devices, KCNA said.
Kim has focused on modernizing his nuclear and missile arsenals since his nuclear diplomacy with then-President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019 amid a row over international sanctions on the North. Since last year, Kim's military has tested more than 100 ballistic missiles, many of them nuclear weapons, targeting the US mainland and South Korea in violation of UN bans.
The United States and South Korea responded by expanding their military exercises and deploying American strategic assets such as bombers, aircraft carriers and a nuclear armored submarine. North Korea calls these steps a US-led invasion rehearsal.
South Korea's spy agency said last week that North Korea is likely to launch military provocations and cyber attacks ahead of South Korea's parliamentary elections in April and the US presidential elections in November. The National Intelligence Service said North Korea carried out nuclear and missile tests and flew a drone over the rivals' border ahead of the South's previous parliamentary elections.
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First print: December 31, 2023 | 8:07 am IST