North Korea's Kim lays out key goals to boost military power
  • last year
North Korea's Kim lays out key goals to boost military power

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presented unspecified goals to further bolster his military power next year at a meeting of top political officials, state media reported Wednesday.

Kim's statement came as animosities with rival South Korea rose sharply this week as the South accused the North of flying across the rivals' border for the first time in five years. This year, North Korea already performed a record number of missile tests in what experts call an attempt to modernize its arsenal and increase its leverage in future dealings with the United States.

Some observers say the new goals could be related to Kim's push to expand his nuclear arsenal and introduce a spate of high-tech weapons systems such as multi-warhead missiles, a more agile long-range weapon, a spy satellite and advanced drones. They say Kim would eventually aim to use his boosted nuclear capability to force its rivals to accept the North as a legitimate nuclear state, a status he would think is essential in getting international sanctions on his country to be lifted.

PHOTOS BY AFP

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