Pyongyang has reaffirmed the development of its nuclear forces and defense capabilities to “surpass the world” during a meeting where a directive was issued to accelerate the construction of a missile-launching cruiser, state media reported today.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered that the country continue to uninterruptedly increase its powerful national defense capabilities in a comprehensive and autonomous manner, with the goal of reaching a level capable of surpassing the world, state news agency KCNA reported regarding the outcomes of the Second Plenary Meeting of the 9th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party, held between Saturday and Monday.
According to KCNA, the meeting recognized that progressively expanding and strengthening nuclear forces, while fully exercising its position as a nuclear-armed state, is the best way to confront the unpredictable international military and political situation, which is complicating in multiple ways. Kim also requested the acceleration of the construction of a 10,000-ton strategic missile-launching cruiser, a project approved on April 4, according to the North Korean agency.
The North Korean leader further stressed the need to qualitatively complete reinforcement work for security along the southern border and to construct new bases for naval fleets.
Read more about this topic: North Korea discharges projectile into the Yellow Sea
Regarding foreign policy, Kim once again defined South Korea as the most hostile state, while accusing Seoul and Washington of escalating tensions through military maneuvers and sessions of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG).
Seoul and Washington reintroduced the denuclearization of North Korea in the report of the latest NCG meeting on June 12, after last year’s session communique omitted references to the North Korean regime and the country’s disarmament for the first time.
Kim’s speech also included criticism of Japan, which he accused of becoming a warring state, and references to alleged Ukrainian neo-Nazism amid the conflict between Kyiv and Moscow, which has seen the support of North Korean soldiers.
While the KCNA report did not explicitly mention China, Kim called for strengthening the allied front with anti-imperialist and independent forces, following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s proposal this month during a visit to Pyongyang to expand military exchanges with North Korea.
