North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un vowed to bolster his nuclear arsenal in more "practical and offensive" ways to counter the "frantic" military exercises of his opponents, state media reported Tuesday.
Monday's meeting of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party came amid heightened tensions as demonstrations of North Korean weapons and joint military exercises by the United States and South Korea intensified in recent weeks in a cycle of tit-for-tat.
North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said the committee members discussed unspecified issues related to strengthening defense capabilities and perfecting war preparations to counter the threat posed by the allied exercises, which North Korea portrays as invasion drills.
KCNA said Kim reviewed the country's front-line attack plans and various combat documents and stressed the need to strengthen his nuclear deterrent by "increasing speed on a more practical and offensive manner."
The US and South Korean militaries held their biggest field exercises in years last month, and separately conducted joint naval and air exercises that included a US aircraft carrier strike group and US nuclear-capable bombers.
KCNA claimed that the drills simulated an all-out war against North Korea and reported threats to occupy Pyongyang and behead its leadership.
The US and South Korea have described their exercises as defensive in nature and said expanding them is necessary to deal with emerging threats to North Korea.
The North Korean report came as South Korean officials said Pyongyang did not respond to South Korean calls made via inter-Korean dialing and military hotlines for the fifth consecutive day.
North Korea has launched in 2023 so far about 30 missiles in 11 different launch events, including intercontinental ballistic missiles that have shown potential range to reach the US mainland and several short-range weapons designed to deliver nuclear strikes on South Korean targets.
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