INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered its military, the munitions industry and the nuclear weapons sector to accelerate war
preparations to counter what he called unprecedented confrontational moves by the U.S., state media said on Thursday.Speaking on the policy
directions for the new year at a key meeting of the country&s ruling party on Wednesday, Kim also said Pyongyang would expand strategic
cooperation with &anti-imperialist independent& countries, news agency KCNA reported.&He (Kim) set forth the militant tasks for the People&s
Army and the munitions industry, nuclear weapons and civil defence sectors to further accelerate the war preparations,& KCNA said.North
Korea has been expanding ties with Russia, among others, as Washington accuses Pyongyang of supplying military equipment to Moscow for use
in its war with Ukraine, while Russia provides technical support to help the North advance its military capabilities, Reuters reported.Kim
also laid out economic goals for the new year during the meeting, calling it a &decisive year& to accomplish the country&s five-year
development plan, the report said.&He … clarified the important tasks for the new year to be dynamically pushed forward in the key
industrial sectors,& and called for &stabilising the agricultural production on a high level.&The North has suffered serious food shortages
in recent decades, including famine in the 1990s, often as a result of natural disasters
International experts have warned that border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic worsened food security, read the report.North Korea&s
crop output was estimated to have increased year-on-year in 2023 due to favourable weather conditions
But a Seoul official has said the amount was still far below what is needed to address the country&s chronic food shortages.The 9th plenary
meeting of the 8th central committee of the Workers& Party of Korea kicked off on Tuesday to wrap up a year during which the isolated North
enshrined nuclear policy in its constitution, launched a spy satellite and fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile.The days-long
assembly of the party and government officials has been used in recent years to make key policy announcements
Previously, state media released Kim&s speech on New Year&s Day.The post North Korea&s Kim orders military to accelerate war preparations
-state media first appeared on Ariana News.
