North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has lambasted the United States during a lengthy speech at the end of five days of year-end party meetings that set his country’s military, political, and economic policy decisions for 2024.
According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the meeting announced plans for further military development in the coming year, including launching three more spy satellites, building unmanned drones, and developing electronic warfare capabilities, as well as strengthening nuclear and missile forces.
In the ongoing year, Pyongyang achieved significant milestones, including the successful launch of a reconnaissance satellite, formalizing its nuclear power status in its constitution, and test-firing its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Kim Jong Un accused the United States of presenting “various forms of military threat” and instructed the armed forces to maintain an “overwhelming war response capability,” according to KCNA.
The meeting concluded that the possibility of war breaking out on the Korean peninsula at any time is a “fait accompli” due to perceived reckless moves by enemies to invade the DPRK.
As a deterrent, Washington deployed a nuclear-powered submarine in Busan, South Korea, and conducted drills with long-range bombers alongside Seoul and Tokyo.
North Korea criticized the deployment of Washington’s strategic weapons in joint drills as “intentional nuclear war provocative moves.”
Kim emphasized the need for the military to rapidly respond to any potential nuclear crisis and prepare for a significant event to suppress the entire territory of South Korea, mobilizing all available means, including nuclear forces.
Kim announced a shift in approach, stating that he would no longer pursue reconciliation and reunification with South Korea, citing an “uncontrollable crisis” triggered by Seoul and Washington.
Inter-Korean relations have deteriorated to a low point this year, with Pyongyang’s spy satellite launch prompting Seoul to partially suspend a 2018 military agreement aimed at defusing tensions.
Kim said it would be a mistake to regard South Korea “who publicly defined us as the ‘principal enemy’… as the partner of reconciliation and reunification”, according to KCNA.
Kim also ordered the drawing-up of measures for reorganising departments handling cross-border affairs to “fundamentally change the principle”.
Leif Easley, a professor of international relations at Ewha University in Seoul, said the emphasis on North Korea’s “significant military capabilities” was likely aimed at hiding its poor economic achievements this year.
“Much of what state-controlled media publishes is recycled propaganda,” he said, adding. “Pyongyang’s bellicose rhetoric suggests its military moves are not only about deterrence but also domestic politics and international coercion.”
Pyongyang declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power in 2022 and has repeatedly said it will never give up its nuclear weapons programme, which the regime views as essential for its survival.
The United Nations Security Council has adopted many resolutions calling on North Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes since Pyongyang first conducted a nuclear test in 2006.
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