The sixth enlarged meeting of the eighth Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea was held on Monday at the party's Central Committee headquarters, chaired by Kim Jong-un, to discuss the current tough geopolitical situation in the region and develop various military action plans.
"The respected Comrade Kim Jong-un stressed the need to expand the DPRK's war deterrence being strengthened with increasing speed on a more practical and offensive and to effectively apply it as a measure for more strict control and management of the ever-worsening security on the Korean peninsula," media reported.
The North Korean leader also reviewed "plans for offensive operation on the front" and various military documents, as well as noted the tasks of constantly updating and improving the army's combat capabilities, according to the report.
Since Friday morning, North Korea stopped responding to regular calls from the South through inter-Korean communication channels, including the military and the unification ministry lines. The two countries are supposed to hold routine calls twice a day — in the morning and in the afternoon — via military and liaison hotlines, but North Korea has not returned calls for the fifth day, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry.