Kim Jong Un Discusses 'Building Up' Military In Rare Meeting After Months Of Missile Tests

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly discussed with his officers “crucial strategic and tactical tasks” facing the country’s armed forces, according to the state media.

The multi-day Central Military Commission (CMC) meeting was held Tuesday. The items on the agenda included “building up” the military and “summing up” defense policy execution this year. The meeting came as Pyongyang ramped up weapons development and tested more missiles, including long-range ballistic missiles that have stirred tensions with Washington and Seoul.

The CMC will “review the military and political activities” of officials at all levels from the Ministry of National Defense (MND) to the Korean People’s Army (KPA), the Rodong Sinmun reported Wednesday. Earlier this month, there was a significant reshuffle of CMC and MND officials at a party assembly.

Photos shared by local media showed two top party officials, Jo Yong Won and Ri Pyong Chol, sitting in the same seat at different times. This indicated more reshuffling in the party. Local media reports, however, did not specify any plans or mention critical remarks toward the United States or South Korea. It also did not mention the military’s role in major construction projects or battling an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

In recent months, the U.S. and South Korean officials have said Pyongyang could be preparing to conduct its first nuclear test since 2017.

Cheong Seong-Chang, a senior analyst at South Korea’s private Sejong Institute, told Al Jazeera the members could discuss the progress in weapons development and plans to deploy some of the systems that have been tested in recent months.

Tuesday's meeting was the first of the CMC since June 2021, according to state-run KCNA Watch. Concerns over the meeting increased as previous CMC meetings lasted for only a day, but this was spread across multiple days, giving rise to speculation that the military leaders had more to discuss or Kim made changes to the meeting’s format.

North Korean officials are also set to discuss the five-year weapons development plan introduced in January 2021. The plan includes new solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), multiple-warhead missiles, reconnaissance drones and a nuclear submarine. All these weapons are yet to be revealed publicly.

Kim had set an annual record in ballistic launches in the first half of 2022, firing 31 missiles in more than 18 different launch events. This also included its first demonstrations of ICBMs in nearly five years.