North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said the country must continue strengthening its nuclear capabilities to deal with what he described as an increasingly unstable global security environment.
Speaking at a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party, Kim argued that maintaining and expanding North Korea's nuclear forces was the only reliable way to respond to growing international tensions.
He accused the United States of fuelling conflicts in Europe and the Middle East and claimed Washington and South Korea were increasing military pressure on Pyongyang.
According to state news agency KCNA, Kim said: "To steadily expand and strengthen the nuclear forces ... and to thoroughly exercise the position of a nuclear weapons state is the most correct and unique way" to deal with an increasingly complex security situation.
He also called for greater investment in conventional weapons and ordered faster construction of a 10,000-ton guided missile cruiser.
The remarks are likely to reinforce concerns that North Korea has no intention of returning to denuclearisation talks. Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Pyongyang was once again signalling that "denuclearisation talks are off the table".
Instead, Yang said North Korea appears willing to negotiate only as a recognised nuclear power, potentially focusing on arms control rather than dismantling its weapons programme.
Alongside military issues, Kim highlighted plans to modernise the country's coal industry and improve mining communities.
Yang noted that coal remains North Korea's main source of energy and that upgrading the sector could help ease long-standing power shortages.
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