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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

NKorea: Kim Lays Out Key Goals to Boost Military Power

This picture taken on December 27, 2022 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 28, 2022 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un giving a report on the second day of the 6th expanded plenary session of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, at the Party Central Committee headquarters in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presented unspecified goals to further bolster his military power next year at a meeting of top political officials, state media reported Wednesday.

During the Tuesday session at the ongoing plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party, Kim analyzed new security challenges in international politics and on the Korean Peninsula and clarified principles and directions to take in external relations and fights against enemies to protect national interests and sovereignty, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim “set forth new key goals for bolstering up the self-reliant defense capability to be pushed ahead with in 2023 under the multilaterally changing situation,” KCNA said, without elaborating.

During the plenary meeting, Kim also pointed out "a series of serious shortcomings" observed in such areas as science, education and health this year, and suggested ways to overcome them and raised key tasks for next year, KCNA said.

Kim’s statement came as animosities with rival South Korea rose sharply this week as the South accused the North of flying drones across the rivals’ border for the first time in five years. This year, North Korea already performed a record number of missile tests in what experts call an attempt to modernize its arsenal and increase its leverage in future dealings with the United States.

Some observers say Kim’s new goals could be related to Kim’s push to expand his nuclear arsenal and introduce a spate of high-tech weapons systems such as multi-warhead missiles, a more agile long-range weapon, a spy satellite and advanced drones. They say Kim would eventually aim to use his boosted nuclear capability to force its rivals to accept the North as a legitimate nuclear state, a status he would think is essential in getting international sanctions on his country to be lifted.

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