Seoul, December 29
Claiming that military ties among South Korea, the US, and Japan have evolved into a "nuclear military bloc for aggression," North Korea announced its "toughest" counter strategy against the United States, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing North Korea's state media KCNA.
According to a report by KCNA on Sunday, this policy direction was outlined during the year-end plenary session of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, which took place from Monday to Friday under the leadership of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
During the meeting, the North Korean leader accused the military cooperation among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo of expanding into "a nuclear military bloc for aggression," and added that South Korea has turned into "an out-and-out anti-communist outpost of the US."
Kim also ordered to boost the country's military "capabilities for fighting a war." The order was made to meet the demands of modern warfare and the "ever-changing" war scenario and execution mode of enemies.
"Kim Jong Un clarified the strategic and tactical policies for more reliably guaranteeing the bolstering of war deterrence for self-defence through accelerated progress of defence science and technology and radical development of the defence industry to cope with the ever-increasing military provocations of the US and its vassal force," Yonhap cited the KCNA report.
In December 2023, the North Korean leader had instructed the military, including its nuclear programme, to 'accelerate' war preparations in response to what he described as unprecedented hostile steps by the US.
KCNA at the time had reported, "The North Korean leader set forth the tasks for the People's Army and the munitions industry, nuclear weapons, and civil defence sectors to further accelerate war preparations at a meeting of the country's ruling Workers' Party."
Kim also stated that the 'military situation' on the Korean peninsula had become 'extreme' as a result of 'unprecedented' confrontations between North Korea and the US.