North Korea’s Kim orders the military to accelerate war preparations. State media reported on Thursday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had ordered his nation’s military, munitions industry, and nuclear weapons sector to expedite their war preparations to counter what he has described as unprecedented hostile maneuvers by the United States.

Kim also stated that Pyongyang will strengthen strategic collaboration with “anti-imperialist independent” countries, according to a report by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim made these statements while speaking about the policy orientation for the new year at a critical meeting of the country’s governing party on Wednesday.

As Washington accuses Pyongyang of transferring military weapons to Moscow for use in Moscow’s war with Ukraine, North Korea has been extending its connections with Russia, among other countries. At the same time, Russia is providing North Korea with technical support to assist it in advancing its military capabilities.

“He (Kim) set forth the militant tasks for the People’s Army and the munitions industry, nuclear weapons, and civil defence sectors to further accelerate the war preparations,” according to KCNA.

President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea paid a visit to a frontline military unit in the county of Yeoncheon, located in the eastern part of the country, on Thursday. During his visit, he inspected the defense posture of the unit and urged for an urgent reaction in the event that North Korea provoked the unit in any way.

“I urge you to immediately and firmly crush the enemy’s will for a provocation on the spot,” Yoon instructed the troops.

According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Jong-un also presented economic objectives for the next year during the party plenum. He referred to this year as a “decisive year” in order to achieve the five-year growth plan for the country.

“He … clarified the important tasks for the new year to be dynamically pushed forward in the key industrial sectors” and emphasized the importance of “stabilizing agricultural production on a high level.”

Throughout the last few decades, the Northern Region has been plagued by severe food shortages, including a famine in the 1990s, which were frequently brought on by natural catastrophes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, border controls were implemented, which resulted in a worsening of food security, according to international experts.

Because of favorable weather conditions in 2023, North Korea’s agricultural production was predicted to rise from the previous year to the current year. However, a Seoul official stated that the quantity was still a significant distance below what is required to alleviate the persistent food shortages that the country is experiencing.

Tuesday marked the beginning of the ninth plenary meeting of the eighth central committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea. This conference was held to conclude a year in which the North Korean government, which is separated from the rest of the world, entrenched nuclear policy in its constitution, launched a spy satellite, and fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile.

Several essential policy announcements have been made in previous years at the days-long assembly between the party and government officials. In the past, Kim’s address was made public by the official media on New Year’s Day.