North Korea’s Kim Promises to Speed Up Military Expansion

Kim Jong Un pledged to strengthen North Korea’s defence capabilities, arguing that the military modernization by South Korea and the United States is driving the region toward a nuclear brink, according to state media on Tuesday.

Pyongyang faces several sanctions related to its nuclear program, and the two Koreas are still technically at war, as the 1950‑53 conflict concluded with an armistice instead of a peace treaty.

In his final address, Kim reaffirmed the Party and state’s unwavering policy to accelerate the strengthening of national defence capabilities, KCNA reported.

The speech came as Kim chaired a three‑day Workers’ Party of Korea meeting that concluded on Monday, during which senior officials examined policy initiatives, KCNA said.

Kim stated that “the US and the ROK are advancing the ROK’s acquisition of a nuclear submarine while becoming increasingly transparent in their efforts to reinforce and modernize regional armed forces,” referring to South Korea by its official acronym.

KCNA reported that Kim said these actions are “pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war.”

In response, Kim said the North’s “steadfast stand” is to “further expand and strengthen a powerful and absolutely reliable deterrent for self‑defence.”

Analyst Hong Min of Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Unification told AFP that Kim’s rhetoric can be