North Korea’s leader hailed “major turning points and major changes” this year as he opened a meeting of the single party that will set political goals for 2024, North Korean state media reported on Wednesday.
At the opening of the Labor Party’s grand year-end annual meeting on Tuesday, Kim Jong Un stated that this year was “a year of great turning points and great changes”, especially in terms of military capabilities, the official North Korean news agency KCNA reported.
According to KCNA, the leader assured that Pyongyang “has left behind a great milestone in the glorious course of development in efforts to increase the country’s power and enhance its prestige.”
According to the agency, North Korea has recorded a rare good harvest this year as the country completed the construction of new irrigation facilities ahead of schedule and met key agricultural targets.
Pyongyang has made rapid progress in defense capabilities this year thanks to the launch of its first military spy satellite in November and the introduction of other advanced weapons, he said.
On December 18, the regime conducted a test of the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile in the country’s arsenal: the Hwasong-18, which was reportedly capable of reaching the entire territory of the United States.
On Thursday, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said the North appears to be accelerating weapons testing to highlight progress in defense as the country has not made major progress in its economy and people’s quality of life.
Meanwhile, South Korea has imposed sanctions on eight North Koreans, including the head of the North Korean spy agency, over their alleged involvement in arms trafficking and cyber activities, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
North Korea’s spy chief, Ri Chang-ho, was put on the list because he was allegedly responsible for major cyber attacks on the South by ‘hacker’ groups such as Kimsuky, Lazarus and Andariel.
The list also includes the director of Beijing New Technology, Park Young-han, accused of arms negotiations on behalf of the North Korean company Mining Development Trading Corporation, responsible for exporting conventional weapons and supplying ballistic missile equipment.
The sanctions also include Yun Chol, former secretary of the North Korean embassy in China, who was allegedly involved in the purchase of lithium-6, a key material for nuclear weapons and whose transaction has been banned by the UN Security Council.
Source: DN
