Pyongyang, North Korea - North Korea will strengthen its nuclear capabilities "both in quality and quantity" and expand the role of its military intelligence agency in South Korea, state media reported on Friday.
The announcement comes after North Korea has repeatedly spurned South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's dovish overtures, labeling Seoul its "most hostile" enemy and declaring itself an "irreversible" nuclear state.
Pyongyang is under widespread sanction over its nuclear program, and both North and South Korea remain in a technical state of war as their 1950–53 conflict ended without a formal peace treaty.
The issues were discussed during an enlarged meeting of the ruling party's central military commission on Thursday, Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
The meeting decided on measures such as "bolstering up the nuclear force both in quality and quantity," the report said.
It also called for broadly expanding the functions and missions of the General Reconnaissance and Intelligence Bureau, Pyongyang's military intelligence agency tasked with operations involving South Korea.
The unit "plays a pivotal role in controlling the potential enemies' threats and gathering key information," KCNA said.
The meeting discussed ways to enhance the unit's "capability of military reconnaissance and intelligence activities in a radical way," it added.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said North Korea's latest move reflects Pyongyang's shift to treating the two countries as "two hostile states," potentially replacing the previous armistice-based framework.
"Military reconnaissance takes on a different meaning under a state-to-state approach, as intelligence activities targeting another sovereign state can carry diplomatic implications," he told AFP.
South Korea's Unification Ministry told AFP it was "closely monitoring" any developments related to the North Korean unit's reported expansion.