North Korean forces are poised to “enhance the strong defense capability and overwhelming offensive force” of their military, local media has announced.
At an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea on Monday, North Korean head of state Kim Jong Un “stressed the need to expand the DPRK's [Democratic People's Republic of Korea’s] war deterrence… with increasing speed on a more practical and offensive [level], and to effectively apply it as a measure for more strict control and management of the ever-worsening security on the Korean Peninsula,” a statement from state media revealed on Tuesday.
The move comes as South Korean authorities complained that their neighbors to the North have “cut off” contact and declined to participate in regularly-scheduled phone calls for four days in a row.
The apparent snub seemed to be a response to recent massive joint military drills by the US and South Korea in which nuclear-capable B-52 bombers were deployed to the peninsula in an effort to intimidate the North Korean government.
Citing “the aggressive military policy and actions of the US imperialists and the South Korean puppet traitors” as emerging threats, North Korean officials said the ratcheting-up of tensions demonstrates a serious need to boost the country’s national security capabilities.
Revelations that the American and South Korean governments plotted a so-called “decapitation” strike against top North Korean officials and the “large-scale joint military drill simulating an all-out war against the DPRK… clearly showed their sinister true colors for aggression” towards Pyongyang, the statement concluded.
North Korean authorities have long looked to increase their military potential, but efforts seem to have ramped up in recent months. In mid-March, Japan and South Korea reacted with outrage after multiple alleged intercontinental ballistic missiles were fired in the region, with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol reportedly vowing that North Korea would “certainly pay” for what he labeled “reckless provocations."
Later that month, North Korean authorities appeared to launch two ballistic missiles which traveled around 350 kilometers before landing outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone.