North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his nuclear ambitions at a major year-end party meeting, saying that strengthening the country's nuclear arsenal is the top policy priority for next year.

According to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Sunday, Kim made the remarks the previous day during a plenary session of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party.

The KCNA said that Kim analyzed and assessed the nature of military confrontation maneuvers by hostile forces and the precarious security environment on the Korean Peninsula, which is on the brink of nuclear war, and declared an important policy decision to further accelerate the radical development of national defense capabilities.

Kim reportedly said that the United States has been posing various types of military threats to North Korea, driving the peninsula into a more unpredictable and dangerous situation.

Kim called on the nation to build a reliable foundation for continuously increasing nuclear weapons production, stressing that the country must continue to accelerate preparations to respond quickly to any nuclear crisis or major crisis.

Wrapping up five days of the meeting, Kim also reportedly ordered the Navy to enhance its military capabilities and called for developing powerful unmanned armed aerial vehicles and means for electronic warfare in a bid to accomplish its key defense projects.

[Photo : YONHAP News]