North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities, state media reported.
He “examined and approved an important issue of providing a military guarantee to further strengthen the country’s war deterrence,” the official northern news agency KCNA said.
The announcement came at the end of a three-day meeting that was being closely watched by the West over concerns that the country could launch its first nuclear test in five years.
U.S. and South Korean officials have warned it could happen at “any time.”
“(Kim) stressed the need for the entire army … to consolidate in every way the powerful self-defense capabilities to overwhelm any hostile force,” KCNA said.
He added that Ri Pyong Chol, who has led the development of missiles for North Korea, had been chosen as vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission.
State media also posted a photo of senior officials at a meeting with a map that appeared to be on the east coast of the Korean peninsula.
Earlier this month, North Korea fired eight short-range ballistic missiles in its eighteenth test of the year, prompting a reciprocal launch from the United States and South Korea.
Northern testing in 2022 has included new hypersonic missiles, intercontinental ballistic missiles and a short-range missile that could be designed for nuclear weapons.
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1:12 The United States and South Korea conduct joint missile launches
Diplomacy between North Korea and America has stalled since 2019, when Donald Trump had two meetings with the North Korean leader.
President Joe Biden has said he is open to talks with Kim Jong Un if he is “sincere” and “serious.”
The US wants signs of disarmament of the secret dictatorship, but North Korea refuses to take such measures as long as sanctions remain at their current level.
North Korea is also facing an outbreak of COVID – dubbed by state media as its “biggest emergency incident” – after announcing its first official infections in May.