North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un assembled the top military officials of the state to discuss assigning more duties to frontline army troops, according to a government-run news outlet.
The summit indicated that Pyongyang would likely deploy nuclear weapons along its borders, aiming at rival South Korea.
The talks take place as South Korean authorities say North Korea has finalized plans for its first nuclear test in five years as part of its probable attempt to develop a warhead to be installed on short-range weapons capable of striking targets in South Korea.
Preparing The Frontlines
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), leader Kim Jong Un and other senior military officials discussed "the work of additionally confirming the operational duties of the frontline units of the Korean People's Army and modifying the operation plans" during a meeting of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the ruling Workers' Party on Wednesday.
KCNA reported that Kim also tasked officials to "enhance the operational capabilities of the frontline units."
Although discussions centered on the South Korean coastal map on display may have encompassed military facilities where the ROK has conducted several missile testing recently in response to North Korean missile tests, state media did not define what improving "frontline" capabilities implies, as per ABC News.
The state news agency released a picture of what appears to be a sizable map of the Korean Peninsula's eastern coast next to the discussion table.
In other images, per NK News, Kim could be seen examining various regions of the Korean peninsula on a larger map that was lying on his table. The maps were largely obscured by state media, making it challenging to identify the exact location being presented.
The brief report also said the meeting covered "reorganizing major military organizations."
South Korea Closely Monitors Pyongyang's Actions
Later on Thursday, Kim Jun-rak, a spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea, told reporters that the country is actively monitoring related North Korean operations but didn't go into further detail.
In April, when North Korea test-fired a new type of tactical guided weapon," it said the weapon has "great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the frontline long-range artillery units, enhancing the efficiency in the operation of (North Korea's) tactical nukes and diversification of their firepower missions.
Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea's private Sejong Institute, believes that the "issue of forward-deploying tactical nuclear weapons were discussed at the meeting in an in-depth manner,"
In the first half of 2022, North Korea already broke its previous record for annual ballistic launches, launching 31 missiles across more than 18 separate launch occasions, including its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) testing in almost five years, according to Al Jazeera. The military of South Korea also observed its northern neighbor last week firing what seemed to be artillery munitions into the water.
According to US and South Korean sources, North Korea's testing facility in the northeastern town of Punggye-ri is almost ready for a nuclear detonation. In September 2017, North Korea reportedly conducted its sixth nuclear test, claiming to have detonated a thermonuclear bomb made for its ICBMs. The facility was torn down the following year, Pyongyang claimed.
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