North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the military, nuclear sector and munitions industry to speed up preparations for war to counter what he called unprecedented confrontational moves by the United States, state media reported Thursday.
Kim told a key meeting of the country’s ruling party on Wednesday that Pyongyang would expand strategic cooperation with “anti-imperialist independent” countries in the new year, the KCNA news agency reported. KCNA said:
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.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived in the eastern county of Yeoncheon on Thursday to inspect the defence capability of frontline military unit. He called for immediate retaliation in case of any provocation by North Korea. Yoon told troops:
I urge you to immediately and firmly crush the enemy’s will for a provocation on the spot.
During the party plenum, North Korean leader Kim also outlined economic goals for the new year, calling it a “crucial year” for the fulfilment of the country’s five-year development plan, KCNA reported.
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 9th plenary meeting of the 8th Workers’ Party of Korea’s central committee began Tuesday, which will take stock of a year in which the North enshrined nuclear policy in its constitution, launched a spy satellite and a new intercontinental ballistic missile.
In recent years, the multi-day gathering of party and government officials has been used to make key policy announcements. State media previously published Kim’s speech on New Year’s Day.
