Kim Jong Un Prepares Military For 'Offensive Measures' As US Nuclear Deal Deadline Nears

Two days before he gives his New Year’s address and one day before his New Year’s Eve deadline for the United States to concede on sanctions, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, reportedly, told his military and diplomats to prepare “offensive measures” to protect the country's security and sovereignty.

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, from a plenary meeting of the Workers Party Central Committee, that Kim had “comprehensively and anatomically analyzed” the country’s economic problems and suggested actions for “urgently correcting the grave situation of the major industrial sectors.” A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference that all members of all parties are required to attend.

Observers fear that Kim might react to the deadlocked nuclear negotiations with the United States by lifting his self-imposed pause on nuclear and long-range missile tests. This might be the “new path” that Kim has referred to in recent weeks.

Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee, published pictures of Kim at the podium as hundreds of attendees took notes on his comments. The paper issued an English version of a report that read: “Emphasizing the need to take positive and offensive measures for fully ensuring the sovereignty and security of the country as required by the present situation, (Kim) indicated the duties of the fields of foreign affairs, munitions industry and armed forces of the DPRK.” North Korea’s formal name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or DPRK.

The KCNA’s Korean version of events was that Kim has “comprehensively and anatomically analyzed the problems arising in the overall state building, including the state management and economic construction in the present time.”

“He stressed the need to reasonably straighten the country’s economic work system and order and establish a strong discipline and (he) presented the tasks for urgently correcting the grave situation of the major industrial sectors of the national economy,” the KCNA report continued. It also noted that Kim stressed the need for a “decisive” increase in agricultural production and gave out instructions for improving science, education and public health standards.

South Korea is closely watching the proceedings of its northern neighbor. Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea’s private Sejong Institute, observed that this was the first plenary meeting under Kim’s rule that had lasted for more than one day.

Observers will also be watching to see if Kim rides a white horse to Mount Paektu, considered a sacred mountain in the North. He often does this as a prelude to a major announcement and with the New Year’s Day address looming this will be a prime opportunity to send a message to the rest of the world. Hopefully, that message will be a verbal one and not a show of arms.