After a record year for the number of missiles launched, the dictator praised the power of North Korea on Monday 26 December at the opening of the plenary meeting of his Workers’ Party. This is usually used to establish the country’s annual guidelines.
We go for the annual big raout in Pyongyang. The plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party of North Korea, chaired by Kim Jong-un, began on Monday (December 26), the official KNCA news agency reported. Unlike the traditional New Year’s speeches, the North Korean leader this time preferred to outline his policy during an internal assembly. On the agenda: diplomacy, security, economy.
If we do not yet know the precise content of the discussions, Kim Jong-un highlighted the power of North Korea, which has “significantly increased in all areas of politics, military, economy and culture”, the KNCA news agency reported. Also on the agenda were the review of policies implemented in 2022 and the budget for next year, KCNA added, without providing details. In last year’s speech, Kim Jong-un focused on domestic affairs, including the economy and agriculture.
This annual meeting is particularly important, as a year of all records for Pyongyang comes to an end. The country has conducted a series of weapons tests, including ICBMs, which are theoretically capable of reaching US territory. North Korea also set a new record: 23 missile launches in 24 hours into the Sea of Japan on Nov. 2. The North Korean maneuvers have aroused concern and warnings from neighboring South Korea, but also from Japan and the United States. In response, Seoul and Washington conducted their largest joint air maneuvers yet. Which also contributes to increasing tensions.
Despite heavy international sanctions, Pyongyang has redoubled its efforts to develop its weapons. Kim Jong-un claimed in 2022 that he wanted North Korea to have the strongest nuclear force in the world and said “irreversible” his country’s status as a nuclear state.
The United States and South Korea have warned for months that the North could plan what would be the seventh nuclear test in its history and the first in five years.
The South Korean military also announced on Monday that it had deployed fighter jets and helicopter gunships following an incursion into its territory the day before by five North Korean drones, one of which had reached airspace near Seoul.
