<\/p>\n
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wrapped up the year with fresh threats of a nuclear attack on Seoul and orders for a military arsenal build-up to prepare for a war that can \u201cbreak out any time\u201d on the peninsula, state media reported on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Kim lambasted the United States during a lengthy speech at the end of five days of year-end party meetings that set his country\u2019s military, political and economic policy decisions for 2024.<\/p>\n
The meeting announced plans for further military development in the coming year, including launching three more spy satellites, building unmanned drones and developing electronic warfare capabilities, as well as strengthening nuclear and missile forces, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)<\/em>.<\/p>\n This year, Pyongyang successfully launched a reconnaissance satellite, enshrined its status as a nuclear power in its constitution and test-fired the most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile<\/a> (ICBM) in its arsenal.<\/p>\n Kim accused the United States of posing \u201cvarious forms of military threat\u201d and ordered his armed forces to maintain the \u201coverwhelming war response capability\u201d, according to KCNA\u2019s<\/em> account of the meeting that ended on Saturday.<\/p>\n The meeting concluded that it is a \u201cfait accompli that a war may break out on the Korean peninsula any time due to the enemies\u2019 reckless moves for invading the DPRK\u201d, KCNA<\/em> said, using the acronym of the North\u2019s official name.<\/p>\n In an effort to deter<\/a> Pyongyang, Washington deployed a nuclear-powered submarine in the South Korean port city of Busan this month and flew its long-range bombers in drills with Seoul and Tokyo.<\/p>\n The North has described the deployment of Washington\u2019s strategic weapons, such as B-52 bombers, in joint drills on the Korean peninsula as \u201cintentional nuclear war provocative moves\u201d.<\/p>\n The military \u201cshould rapidly respond to any possible nuclear crisis and put continuous spurs to the preparations for a great event to suppress the whole territory of south Korea by mobilising all physical means and forces including nuclear forces in contingency\u201d, Kim said.<\/p>\n Kim told the meeting he would no longer seek reconciliation and reunification with South Korea, noting the \u201cuncontrollable crisis\u201d that he said was triggered by Seoul and Washington.<\/p>\n Inter-Korean relations have deteriorated to a low point this year, with Pyongyang\u2019s spy satellite launch prompting Seoul to partially suspend<\/a> a 2018 military agreement aimed at defusing tensions.<\/p>\n Kim said it would be a mistake to regard South Korea \u201cwho publicly defined us as the \u2018principal enemy\u2019 [\u2026] as the partner of reconciliation and reunification\u201d, according to KCNA<\/em>.<\/p>\n Kim also ordered the drawing-up of measures for reorganising departments handling cross-border affairs to \u201cfundamentally change the principle\u201d.<\/p>\n Leif Easley, a professor of international relations at Ewha University in Seoul, said the emphasis on North Korea\u2019s \u201csignificant military capabilities\u201d was likely aimed at hiding its poor economic achievements this year.<\/p>\n \u201cMuch of what state-controlled media publishes is recycled propaganda,\u201d he said, adding \u201cPyongyang\u2019s bellicose rhetoric suggests its military moves are not only about deterrence but also domestic politics and international coercion.\u201d<\/p>\n\u2018Uncontrollable crisis\u2019<\/h2>\n