Kim Jong-un, North Korea's Chairperson of the State Affairs Commission, reiterated a policy to continuously produce nuclear weapons to maintain defense capabilities and to develop strategic weapons such as submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Korean Central News Agency reported on the 26th that the Chairperson said in the "work summary report" of the 9th party congress held on the 20th and 21st that "the state nuclear force is the basic guarantee that reliably ensures the country's security, interests and right to development, and a powerful safety device."
He went on to say, "We have forward-looking plans to strengthen the state nuclear force year by year, and we will devote all efforts to increasing the number of nuclear weapons and expanding nuclear operation means and areas of use."
This means not only striving for the production of nuclear warheads but also putting full effort into developing various weapons systems to carry them.
The news agency said the Chairperson "attached great importance to rapidly and continuously updating naval operational capabilities with a focus on the nuclear armament of surface and underwater naval forces," suggesting a focus on strengthening and nuclear-arming naval power, including nuclear-powered submarines.
The Chairperson introduced that the tasks for the new five-year plan period will include "a comprehensive set of more powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) launched from land and underwater, various artificial-intelligence unmanned attack complexes, special assets to attack enemy satellites in contingencies, very powerful electronic warfare weapons systems to paralyze the enemy's command hubs, and more advanced reconnaissance satellites."
At the same time, he designated 600 mm multiple rocket launchers, new 240 mm multiple rocket launchers, and operational tactical missile complexes as major strike means for attacks against the South, emphasizing that "by augmenting and deploying them year by year to greatly raise the density and persistence of focal strikes, we will further strengthen the core sector of war deterrence."
Kim Jong-un said, "When the new defense development plan is carried out five years from now, our national defense capabilities will be remarkably increased to a level the enemies cannot cope with."