Kim Jong-un demands preparations for 'offensive' action ahead of allied drills

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un urged preparations for "offensive" military actions in case of a possible war, according to state media Thursday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un points to a map apparently of South Korea during the 7th enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party on Wednesday in a photo carried by its official Korean Central News Agency on Thursday. [YONHAP]

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un urged preparations for "offensive" military actions in case of a possible war, according to state media Thursday.

Kim presided over the enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the North's ruling Workers' Party on Wednesday, reported the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), aimed at preparing the military more "thoroughly" to deter "military moves of the chief culprits of [the] deteriorated situation that disturb peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity."

The North Korean leader's comments come ahead of joint military drills between South Korea and the United States scheduled for later this month.

The meeting also discussed "making full war preparations to neutralize at a blow" any "enemy attack with overwhelming strategic deterrence and launch simultaneous offensive military actions" in a contingency.

Kim signed a written order on the "important military measures" discussed in the meeting, the KNCA reported, and "made an important conclusion on further stepping up the war preparations" of the North Korean army in an "offensive way."

The Central Military Commission issued important military action guidelines "applicable to the enlarged and changed operational sphere and plans of the frontline units" of the North Korean army. It decided to proactively conduct war drills "for fulfilling the new strategic mission" and making preparations to carry out its operation plans any time.

In a previous enlarged meeting of the commission in June 2022 attended by Kim, North Korea said it will revise operational plans of frontline military units. This was seen to be hinting at the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons in frontline artillery units.

In photos released by state media Thursday, Kim was seen pointing with his finger at a map presumably at Seoul and the Gyeryongdae military compound in South Chungcheong, headquarters of South Korea's Army, Navy and Air Force.

Kim also said that munitions factories have a "very important duty" to strengthen the army and underscored the need to push ahead with mass production of various weapons and equipment amid a modernization of the military.

The KCNA added that Kim "set forth the goal for the expansion of the weaponry production capacity and the weaponry production plan."

During the 7th enlarged meeting, North Korea replaced its top general Pak Su-il, chief of the General Staff, with Ri Yong-gil, a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and a former defense minister.

The meeting also discussed making preparations for holding a "successful militia parade" marking the 75th founding anniversary of North Korea which falls on Sept. 9.

Kim's latest orders come as Seoul and Washington are scheduled to hold their annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise later this month.

Pyongyang has regularly protested such large-scale joint military exercises, which it describes as rehearsals for an invasion of the North.

Earlier this week, President Yoon Suk Yeol in a Defense Innovation Committee said the South Korean military must be able to "eliminate" the sources of threats to deter North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations.

Next week, Yoon will head to the United States for a trilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expected to strengthen three-way coordination on North Korea issues.

The three-way meeting scheduled for Aug. 18 at Camp David, a secluded rural retreat for U.S. presidents in Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland, will reunite the three leaders after their brief talks on the margins of the G7 summit in Hiroshima in May.

In a phone call Wednesday to discuss preparations for next week's summit, Foreign Minister Park Jin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed the talks would mark a "historic turning point," according to the Foreign Ministry on Thursday.

The three countries are expected to strengthen security cooperation against North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats and also in economic security, cutting-edge technologies and people-to-people exchanges, said Park, who was in Ethiopia as part of an Africa tour this week.

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday in turn warned that the United States will continue to enforce existing sanctions and impose new ones "when necessary."

This comes amid South Korea's Unification Ministry confirming that North Korea has continued operations at the shuttered Kaesong industrial complex, just north of the demilitarized zone near the inter-Korean border.

When asked about reports that military uniforms produced at Kaesong were being sent to Russia, Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, replied, "We will look for evidence of people who are evading our sanctions. If necessary, we will tighten our sanctions and we will crack down, using all the tools available to us, on anyone that evades our sanctions."

Last month, a Russian military delegation made a rare visit led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu to Pyongyang to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, which the North calls Victory Day.

This comes amid reports that North Korea was preparing to export artillery and other arms supplies to Moscow as Russian President Vladimir Putin reaches out for support in his war in Ukraine.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]