North Korea's Kim says he'll launch 3 more spy satellites and build more nuclear weapons in 2024

According to state media on Sunday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for “overwhelming” war readiness to deal with confrontational moves led by the United States and announced that his nation would launch three more military spy satellites, build more nuclear weapons, and introduce modern unmanned combat equipment in 2024.

Kim’s remarks, which came at a crucial Workers’ Party conference to determine state objectives for the upcoming year, imply that he will carry out further weapon tests to add to his arsenal in the midst of long-dormant diplomatic relations with the US. According to observers, should negotiations begin, Kim would eventually like to utilise his enhanced nuclear capabilities to extract more concessions from the outside world.

According to the official Korean Central News Agency, Kim stated at the five-day conference that concluded on Saturday that the United States and its allies had been taking unprecedented action against North Korea this year, putting the Korean Peninsula in danger of nuclear war.

“The grave situation requires us to accelerate works to acquire overwhelming war response capabilities and thorough and perfect military readiness to suppress any types of provocations by the enemies at a stroke,” Kim said, according to KCNA.

Kim set forth plans to fire three more military spy satellites next year in addition to the country’s first reconnaissance satellite launched in November. He also ordered authorities to press ahead with work to manufacture more nuclear weapons and develop various types of modern unmanned combat equipment such as armed drones and powerful electronic warfare devices, KCNA said.

Kim has been focused on modernizing his nuclear and missile arsenals since his high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with then-President Donald Trump broke down in 2019 due to wrangling over international sanctions on the North. Since last year, Kim’s military has test-fired more than 100 ballistic missiles, many of them nuclear-capable weapons targeting the mainland US and South Korea, in violation of U.N. bans.

The United States and South Korea responded by expanding their military exercises and deploying US strategic assets such as bombers, aircraft carriers and a nuclear-armored submarine. North Korea calls the moves U.S-.led invasion rehearsals.

South Korea’s spy agency said last week that North Korea will likely launch military provocations and cyberattacks ahead of South Korean parliamentary elections in April and the US presidential election in November. The National Intelligence Service said North Korea has conducted nuclear and missile tests and flown a drone across the rivals’ border ahead of the South’s previous parliamentary elections.