North Korean leader seeks military boost

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further bolster his military capability, maintain draconian anti-virus measures and push hard to improve the economy during a speech at a key political conference this week, state media reported Saturday.

“The increasingly unstable military environment on the Korean Peninsula and international politics have instigated calls to vigorously push forward with our national defense build-up plans without any delay,” Kim was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency in his speech at the five-day plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party.

Kim ordered the production of powerful, modern weapons systems to improve his military forces and called for the military’s “absolute loyalty and allegiance” to the ruling party, according to KCNA.

The meeting, which was meant to review past projects and determine new policies, came as Kim marked 10 years in power last month. Since inheriting control upon his dictator father’s death, Kim has established absolute power at home and bolstered his nuclear and missile arsenals. But North Korea’s economy has suffered major setbacks in the past two years due to pandemic-caused border shutdowns, persistent U.N. sanctions and the fallout from natural disasters.

Diplomacy aimed at convincing North Korea to abandon its nuclear program in return for economic and political benefits collapsed in 2019 when then-President Donald Trump rejected Kim’s demands for extensive sanctions relief in return for partial denuclearization steps.