These are Kim Jong Un’s new goals for North Korea’s military

Kim Jong Un announced new goals for North Korea’s military, AFP reported quoting a report to party leaders. The new plans hint at more weapons tests for the next year.

Kim Jong Un “set forth new key goals for bolstering up the self-reliant defence capability to be pushed ahead with in 2023,” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

This comes as the North Korean leader is presiding over a major party meeting in the capital Pyongyang aimed at outlining their policy goals for 2023 in key areas of diplomacy, security and the economy, AFP reported.

Kim Jong Un “analysed and assessed the new challengeable situation created in the Korean peninsula,” Korean Central News Agency said, in a reference to the recent sharp escalation in tensions between North Korea and South Korea.

Kim Jong Un made clear the “orientation of struggle against the enemy to be adhered to by our Party,” KCNA said. This comes in a year when North Korea has conducted a record-breaking number of weapons tests, including firing intercontinental ballistic missiles. North Korea is banned from testing intercontinental ballistic missiles under United Nations’ sanctions.

North Korea also escalated tensions with South Korea this year as it fired has artillery into maritime buffer zones. Earlier this week North Korea sent unmanned drones into South Korea’s airspace- the first such incident since 2017- prompted South Korea to fire warning shots and deploy fighter jets.