North Korean leader orders military to ramp up war readiness

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered his military to expand combat drills and ramp up wartime readiness as he seeks to escalate an already provocative series of gun demonstrations amid rising tensions with his neighbors and Washington.

Kim chaired a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Military Commission on Monday and encouraged the armed forces to perform “always victorious exploits” and demonstrate “unprecedented military strength” to usher in a new phase of development, according to the country’s official Korean central news outlet Das shared the agency on Tuesday.

The meeting came amid signs that North Korea is planning a military parade, which could be an opportunity to showcase the latest hardware from its growing nuclear weapons and missile program, which is causing concern for the United States and its allies in Asia.

The commission members, who represent Kim’s top military commanders, discussed a series of tasks aimed at bringing about “major changes” in the military, including “constantly expanding and intensifying operations and combat exercises” and “more rigorously perfecting war readiness.” said the agency.

The commission also discussed unspecified organizational changes to “fundamentally improve and strengthen” military affairs, and state media photos of the meeting showed a flag representing a possible new department called the “Missile General’s Office.”

North Korea marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army on Wednesday and may celebrate with a parade in Pyongyang.

Lee Sung-jun, spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a briefing that the South Korean military had noticed a “significant increase in personnel and vehicles” in areas related to parade rehearsals, but declined to give an accurate assessment indicate when the event would take place.

Lee said the South Korean military is closely monitoring developments surrounding North Korea’s possible establishment of a new military missile bureau, but gave no further details. Some analysts say the new department could potentially take on the development of nuclear warheads and ballistic systems.

Kim’s comments from the military meeting are the latest warning from Pyongyang that it is preparing to step up its military demonstrations after a record year of missile testing. The warnings come in part in response to the expansion of United States military exercises with South Korea, which allies said are aimed at countering the evolving threat to the north.

Last week, North Korea threatened to counter US military moves with the “most overwhelming nuclear force” as it condemned US plans to expand its joint exercise with South Korea and deploy more advanced military assets such as bombers and aircraft carriers in the region.

North Korea has launched more than 70 ballistic missiles in 2022, including potentially nuclear-capable weapons, aimed at hitting targets in South Korea or reaching the US mainland. It also conducted a series of launches, which it described as simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean and US targets, in response to expanded US military exercises with South Korea, which had been downsized during the Trump administration.

During a major political conference in December, Kim called for an “exponential increase” in the country’s nuclear warheads, the mass production of tactical battlefield nuclear weapons aimed at South Korea, and the development of more powerful ICBMs that could reach the American homeland.

Experts say Kim’s weapons tests and threats are aimed at forcing Washington to accept the idea of ​​North Korea as a nuclear power, which Pyongyang sees as a way to negotiate economic and political concessions from a position of strength.

But there are also signs that the cost of Kim’s growing nuclear ambitions is piling up. North Korean state media said Monday that the ruling Labor Party has called a plenary meeting of its powerful Central Committee later this month to discuss the “urgent task” of improving agricultural production amid deepening economic isolation.

Some experts have said the country’s food insecurity is probably at its worst since the 1990s, when a devastating famine killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang has stalled since 2019, with the two sides remaining at odds over US-led economic sanctions on the North and the North’s nuclear program.

Kim Tong-hyung, The Associated Press

Source