2023-12-28 01:31:54
These days, Kim Jong-un is chairing the plenary meeting of the central committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the annual high mass of the single ruling party in North Korea. KEYSTONE/AP sda-ats
This content was published on December 28, 2023 – 03:51 December 28, 2023 – 03:51
(Keystone-ATS)
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for his country to “accelerate war preparations”, including its nuclear weapons program, state media reported Thursday. He cited a “serious political and military situation”.
During the plenary meeting of the central committee of the Korean Workers’ Party, the annual high mass of the single ruling party in North Korea, Kim Jong-un ordered “the people’s army, the munitions industry, nuclear weapons and civil defense sectors to accelerate war preparations,” according to the official KCNA news agency.
The leader made this call because of “the serious political and military situation on the Korean Peninsula which has reached an extreme point”, added KCNA, referring to “unprecedented confrontational maneuvers by the United States and its vassal forces in history”.
Reconciliation with Moscow
North Korea has conducted a record number of ballistic missile tests this year, in violation of numerous UN Security Council resolutions. In 2023, it engraved its status as a nuclear power in its constitution, successfully launched a military spy satellite and also successfully tested the Hwasong-18, the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in its arsenal, capable of reach the United States.
For their part, the United States, South Korea and Japan have intensified their military cooperation, activating a real-time data sharing system on North Korean missile launches and increasing joint military maneuvers in the region.
The American armed forces have notably sent to South Korea in recent months the nuclear-powered submarine USS Missouri, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and a B-52 strategic bomber, each time provoking the anger of North Korea .
Pyongyang sees the military maneuvers on its doorstep as a rehearsal for a future invasion of its territory, and has long viewed its missile tests as necessary “countermeasures.”
Always supported by China, North Korea has recently moved closer to Russia. According to KCNA, Kim Jong-un also called during the party meeting to “expand and develop strategic cooperation relations with independent and anti-imperialist countries.”
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