North Korea is set to unveil new weapons development goals at its Ninth Party Congress this month, amid assessments that Pyongyang has checked off only part of a sweeping list of capabilities that leader Kim Jong Un targeted at its 2021 Congress.
While nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles remain central to Kim’s strategy, analysts say the more mixed record lies in the conventional systems that could sharpen North Korea’s ability to find targets, coordinate forces and apply pressure below the nuclear threshold — including drones, submarines and space-based surveillance.
In his report to the Eighth Party Congress, Kim urged development of a range of systems, including hypersonic weapons, a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, and military reconnaissance satellites and drones, according to state media.
The full report also referred to the design of a new nuclear-powered submarine as being in its “final examination” stage, and said work had been completed on “unmanned striking equipment”, “means of reconnaissance and detection” and a “military reconnaissance satellite”, among other electronic weapons.