SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered his military to expand its combat exercises and strengthen war preparedness as he looks to escalate an already provocative run in weapons demonstrations in the face of deepening tensions with its neighbours and Washington.
Kim presided over a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Military Commission on Monday and encouraged the armed forces to perform “ever-victorious feats” and display “matchless military strength” to open a new phase in development, the country’s official Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday.
Kim’s comments at the military conference are the latest warning from North Korea that it is preparing to step up military demonstrations after conducting missile tests in a record year. Part of the warning is in response to increased U.S. military exercises with South Korea, which allies said were aimed at countering evolving threats to North Korea.
Last week, North Korea denounced U.S. plans to expand joint exercises with South Korea and deploy more sophisticated military assets such as bombers and aircraft carriers to the region, accusing U.S. forces of “the most overwhelming nuclear arsenal.” threatened to counter the movement of North Korea will launch more than 70 ballistic missiles in 2022. This includes potential nuclear weapons and is intended to strike targets in South Korea or reach the mainland United States. It also conducted a series of launches that it described as simulated nuclear strikes against South Korean and US targets in response to the scaled-down US military exercises with South Korea during the Trump administration.
At a major political conference in December, Kim Jong-un called for an “exponential increase” in the country’s nuclear warheads, mass production of tactical battlefield nuclear weapons aimed at South Korea, and the development of a more powerful ICBM capable of reaching the US mainland.
Experts say Kim Jong Un’s weapons tests and threats are aimed at getting Washington to accept the idea that North Korea is a nuclear state, which Pyongyang intends to bolster from a position of power, both economically and politically. They see concessions as a way of negotiating.
But there are signs that the costs of Kim’s nuclear ambitions are stacking up. North Korea’s state media said Monday that the ruling Workers’ Party will convene a plenary session of its powerful Central Committee later this month to discuss the “urgent task” of improving agricultural production amid deepening economic isolation.
Diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang has stalled since 2019, and the two sides remain at odds over US-led economic sanctions against North Korea and its nuclear program.
