New US report reveals North Korea's military power

The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) of the US Department of Defense has just released a report on the current state of military power.North Korean military, including missiles and nuclear weapons.

"North Korean leaders view nuclear weapons as crucial to the survival of the regime" and "we may see a long-range missile test next year," Japan's NHK News quoted the report as saying.

The report added that North Korea will work to improve its ballistic missiles using newer solid fuels.

“Integrating a nuclear weapon with a ballistic missile and enabling that nuclear-armed missile to operate as a system is North Korea’s ultimate goal,” the DIA stated, noting that “there may be additional underground nuclear tests to confirm the weapon’s capabilities.”

According to the DIA, although North Korea "has not conducted a nuclear test since 2017," it has continued to develop "components of its weapons of mass destruction infrastructure," and in recent years, "Kim Jong Un has prioritized developing weapons that provide North Korea with the means to strike distant adversaries, including the United States, with nuclear weapons."

The agency stressed that those goals represent a strategy focused on "deterrence" to help North Korea develop and improve its military capabilities, from ballistic missiles to submarines, nuclear weapons, drones and cyberspace.

In 2018, North Korea unilaterally announced a moratorium on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) testing ahead of the first summit between leader Kim Jong Un and then-US President Donald Trump. However, in January this year, Mr. Kim announced plans to step up the country's missile and nuclear development programs.

In recent months, Pyongyang has conducted a series of new missile launches.