Kim Jong-un is planning to ramp up North Korea's production of nuclear warheads.
Kim Jong-un plans to expand North Korea's nuclear arsenal
The dictator has called for an "exponential increase" to the nation's nuclear arsenal during a meeting of the ruling Workers' Party that took place recently.
Kim's statement was released hours after North Korea had fired a ballistic missile towards its eastern waters, continuing its aggressive approach after conducting a record number of weapons tests last year.
According to the official KCNA news agency, the despot said: "The currently established situation calls for our country doubling down our efforts to strengthen our military power overwhelmingly to safeguard our sovereignty, safety and basic national interest to cope with the dangerous military moves by the US and other hostile forces that target us."
Kim accused the US and South Korea of conducting a "plot to isolate and stifle" Pyongyang.
He described Seoul as the nation's "undoubted enemy" and described it as "hell-bent on an imprudent and dangerous arms buildup".
Soo Kim, a security analyst at the Rand Corporation, said: "Kim's comments from the party meeting reads like an ambitious - but perhaps achievable - New Year's Resolution list.
"It's ambitious in that Kim consciously chose to spell out what he hopes to accomplish as we head into 2023, but it also suggests a dose of confidence on Kim's part."