North Korea has announced that it will unveil a sweeping policy next year aimed at jointly advancing its nuclear arsenal and conventional military capabilities, marking a formal doubling-down on its defence posture. The announcement came from state media KCNA, reporting comments by Kim Jong Un during recent inspections of weapons research centres and a military shooting drill, in which he stressed that the forthcoming Ninth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea will introduce this dual capability strategy.
Kim conveyed that the policy will “simultaneously push forward the building of nuclear forces and conventional armed forces in the field of building up national defence.” The inspections included visits to the Armored Defensive Weapons Institute and the Electronic Weapons Research Institute, suggesting emphasis not only on strategic weapons but also on developing modern conventional systems.
This comes amid an already elevated tempo of North Korea’s weapons development: recent reports indicate a final ground test of a solid-fuel engine for long-range missiles, which improves mobility and readiness, and may be part of the broader strategy. State media has also sharply condemned upcoming joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises as “nuclear war drills”, using those as justification for bolstering Pyongyang’s own nuclear posture.
Analysts see this as a clear signal that North Korea is preparing to formalize its military direction under a framework that treats nuclear and conventional forces as complementary, rather than separate tracks. The policy unveiling in the Congress is expected to give detail on modernization plans, resource allocations, and force structure adjustments.
