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North Korea
AsiaEast Asia

North Korea’s Kim orders military to accelerate war preparations, state media reports

  • Kim ordered the munitions and nuclear weapons sectors to accelerate war preparations to counter ‘unprecedented confrontational moves by the US’
  • Speaking during a meeting on policy direction, Kim said Pyongyang would expand strategic cooperation with ‘anti-imperialist independent’ countries

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends the December 2023 plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, in Pyongyang, North Korea on Wednesday. Photo: KCNA via Reuters
Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered its military, the munitions industry and the nuclear weapons sector to accelerate war preparations to counter what he called unprecedented confrontational moves by the US, state media said on Thursday.

Speaking on the policy directions for the new year at a key meeting of the country’s ruling party on Wednesday, Kim also said Pyongyang would expand strategic cooperation with “anti-imperialist independent” countries, news agency KCNA reported.

“He (Kim) set forth the militant tasks for the People’s Army and the munitions industry, nuclear weapons and civil defence sectors to further accelerate the war preparations,” KCNA said.

North Korea has been expanding ties with Russia, among others, as Washington accuses Pyongyang of supplying military equipment to Moscow for use in its war with Ukraine, while Russia provides technical support to help the North advance its military capabilities.

Kim also laid out economic goals for the new year during the meeting, calling it a “decisive year” to accomplish the country’s five-year development plan, the report said.

“He … clarified the important tasks for the new year to be dynamically pushed forward in the key industrial sectors,” and called for “stabilising the agricultural production on a high level.”

The North has suffered serious food shortages in recent decades, including famine in the 1990s, often as a result of natural disasters. International experts have warned that border closures during the Covid-19 pandemic worsened food security.
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