North Korea to Boost Nuclear Power, Intelligence Operations

Pyongyang (Terror Monitor) —North Korea’s state media reported that the country plans to strengthen its nuclear capabilities “qualitatively and quantitatively” and expand the role of its military intelligence agency, which focuses on operations related to South Korea.

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the issue was discussed during a meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Military Commission on Thursday.

Pyongyang remains under extensive international sanctions over its nuclear program, while the two Koreas are technically still at war because the 1950–53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

According to the report, members of the military commission decided to implement measures aimed at “strengthening nuclear capabilities both qualitatively and quantitatively.” They also called for expanding the duties and missions of North Korea’s General Bureau of Reconnaissance, the country’s military intelligence agency responsible for operations related to South Korea.

Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the move suggests that Pyongyang increasingly views the two Koreas as “enemy” states, a shift that could replace the current armistice-based framework governing relations between the two countries.