Summary

At a key year-end Workers’ Party meeting, North Korea vowed its “toughest anti-US counteraction” to protect national interests, while strengthening ties with “friendly” nations, including Russia.

Kim Jong Un emphasized advancing defense technology to bolster deterrence and condemned the US-South Korea-Japan alliance as a “nuclear military bloc.”

The meeting coincides with reports of North Korean troops suffering heavy casualties while fighting in Ukraine under a military pact with Moscow, raising international concern over Pyongyang’s expanded military involvement.