Top DPRK leader vows to beef up national defense at key meeting

PYONGYANG, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) vowed to beef up national defense capabilities at a key meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), state media reported on Tuesday.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the WPK, made the remarks at the Second Plenary Meeting of the Ninth Central Committee of the WPK held from Saturday to Monday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

He said the United States and South Korea are "getting ever more undisguised in their moves towards the reinforcement and modernization of armed forces in the region," including support for South Korea's pursuit of nuclear-powered submarine capability and they "held again military confab of the 'Nuclear Consultative Group,'" aggravating the situation on the Korean Peninsula, said the report.

The DPRK leader urged speeding up the construction of a 10,000-tonnage strategic guided missile cruiser as well as the development and production of powerful conventional weapons, the report said.

He also underlined the need to ensure the qualitative completion of the ongoing project for fortifying the southern border and to build new bases for naval fleets to bolster national defense capabilities.

Kim reiterated his country's foreign policy, saying, "It is important for the foreign affairs sector to vigorously promote all the external relations on its own initiative with a view of subordinating and orienting them to protecting the national interests and building a rich country with a strong army," the report said. Enditem