SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to launch three additional military spy satellites, produce more nuclear material and introduce attack drones in 2024 as he called for an “overwhelming” war readiness to deal with U.S.-led confrontations to finish is moving, state media reported on Sunday.

Kim’s comments, made during a key meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party to set state targets for next year, suggest he will step up a series of weapons tests ahead of the US presidential election in November. Observers say Kim believes an increased nuclear capacity would give him another chance for high-risk diplomacy with the United States to secure sanctions relief if former President Donald Trump returns to the White House.

During the five-day meeting that ended Saturday, Kim said the “vicious” anti-North Korea actions of the United States and its supporters had “reached extremes unprecedented in history” and had brought the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war said Kim to the official Korean Central News Agency. Kim pointed to the expansion of U.S.-South Korean military exercises and the temporary stationing of powerful U.S. military assets such as bombers and a nuclear submarine in South Korea – steps the allies have taken in response to the North’s weapons tests since last year.

Kim called for “overwhelming war response capability” to deter potential enemy provocations, KCNA said.

He unveiled plans to launch three more military spy satellites next year in addition to the country’s first reconnaissance satellite, which was launched in November. He stressed the need to create “a reliable basis” for building more nuclear weapons, an apparent reference to facilities that produce fissile materials such as weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium. Kim also directed authorities to improve submarine capabilities and develop various types of unmanned combat equipment such as armed drones.

“Pyongyang may be waiting for the U.S. presidential election to see what provocations it can win in the next government,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

“The Kim regime has closed the political door on denuclearization negotiations but could offer rhetorical restraint and a trial freeze in exchange for sanctions relief,” Easley said. “Although North Korea has no intention of giving up nuclear weapons, it may seek to extort money for behaving like a so-called responsible nuclear power.”

Kim has been focused on modernizing his nuclear arsenal since his diplomacy with Trump collapsed in 2019 over a dispute over how much sanctions relief the North could receive for a partial abandonment of its nuclear program. Experts say Kim likely believes Trump might make concessions if elected to a second term as the US is preoccupied with the war between Russia and Ukraine and fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea, said if President Joe Biden is re-elected, North Korea will not get what it wants. But he predicted a Trump victory could reinvigorate diplomacy and said Trump would likely say during his campaign that he could persuade North Korea to suspend intimidating weapons tests.

He said Kim’s pledge to increase production of plutonium and uranium was aimed at strengthening his negotiating positions. Nam said North Korea will also test more intercontinental ballistic missiles this year that could reach the U.S. mainland.

“North Korea will fully implement its provocation plan by U.S. Election Day,” Nam said.

During his speech at the party convention, Kim used bellicose, mocking rhetoric against South Korea, calling it “a hemiplegic deformity and colonial understate” whose society was “tainted by Yankee culture.” He said South Korea should not be considered as a partner for reconciliation or unification. He ordered the military to use all available means, including nuclear weapons, to conquer South Korea in the event of a conflict.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry responded with a strong condemnation of North Korea for pushing ahead with its nuclear program and hostility toward its neighbors. A statement said South Korea would seek to overwhelmingly deter North Korean threats based on a solid alliance with the United States.

Some analysts have speculated that there could be limited clashes between the Koreas along their tense border next year. South Korean intelligence said last week that North Korea was likely to launch military provocations and cyberattacks ahead of South Korea’s parliamentary elections in April and the U.S. presidential election in November.

Kim also stressed that North Korea needs to consolidate cooperation with “anti-imperialist, independent” countries that he said oppose U.S.-led Western hegemony.

Kim did not name the countries. But North Korea is seeking to increase cooperation with Russia and China, which have repeatedly blocked attempts by the United States and its partners to increase U.N. sanctions against the North over its banned missile tests. The United States and South Korea accuse North Korea of ​​supplying Russia with artillery and ammunition in return for Russian high-tech technologies for its own military programs.

Julianne Smith, U.S. permanent representative to NATO, said earlier this month that the U.S. believes the suspected Russian technologies North Korea is seeking involve fighter jets, surface-to-air missiles, armored vehicles, ballistic missile production facilities or Materials of this type are related. Smith said U.S. intelligence revealed that North Korea provided Russia with more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and ammunition.

South Korean officials said Russian support likely enabled North Korea to put its spy satellite into orbit for the first time on November 21. Many foreign experts are skeptical about the satellite’s capability, but South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik said in November that Russia could help North Korea produce higher resolution satellite photos.

Yang Uk, an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, said he believes North Korea does not yet have operational intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of launching nuclear attacks on the continental United States. However, he said North Korea’s shorter-range nuclear-armed missiles could reach South Korea and Japan, where a total of 80,000 American troops are stationed.

Estimates of the size of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal vary from 20 to 30 bombs to more than 100. The U.N. nuclear agency and foreign experts recently said that North Korea appeared to have begun operating a light water reactor at its main nuclear complex in 1999, a possible attempt to find a new source for weapons-grade plutonium.

Meanwhile, Kim said during the meeting that North Korea has achieved “eye-opening” economic achievements by meeting or exceeding set quotas in key areas such as agriculture, housing and fishing. Nam, the professor, said the self-praise appeared aimed at burnishing Kim’s image as a leader who cared about the public’s livelihood as much as military concerns.