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North Korea increases military expenditure, launches diplomatic committee

By Elizabeth Shim
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un attended the fifth session of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly on Tuesday, according to state media. Pyongyang is increasing its defense budget but is also exploring diplomatic channels. File Photo by KCNA
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un attended the fifth session of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly on Tuesday, according to state media. Pyongyang is increasing its defense budget but is also exploring diplomatic channels. File Photo by KCNA

April 12 (UPI) -- North Korea may not have reached the final stages of nuclear weapons development and could be turning to diplomatic channels for future negotiations following the fifth session of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly.

Pyongyang's Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported Wednesday the portion of the national budget that is to be allocated to defense would be fixed at 15.8 percent.

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"In order to handle the critical situation of the nuclear threat and endless war provocations of the United States and its followers, we will apportion 15.8 percent of all spending to defense expenditures, in order to strengthen the self-defense and pre-emptive capabilities centered around our nuclear armed forces," Pyongyang stated in the report.

The budget announcement could mean North Korea still needs to carry out additional nuclear tests and missile development, and that the country has yet to reach the stage of completion Kim Jong Un had claimed in his New Year's speech in January, South Korean news service News 1 reported.

Defense spending is also up by 5.4 percent from 2016, and is now on par with military expenditures in 2015, estimated to be 15.9 percent of North Korea's budget, according to the report.

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KCNA reported Kim Jong Un was in attendance at the gathering of Pyongyang's rubber-stamp parliament on Tuesday, although Kim did not deliver a speech to the congress.

The assembly also launched a foreign affairs committee while forgoing explicit condemnations of the United States and South Korea.

The revival of the foreign affairs committee and other tactful gestures could mean North Korea could be taking a step back from escalating tensions in response to recent U.S. measures, including the scheduled redeployment of the USS Carl Vinson to the peninsula.

Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said Pyongyang could be "taking a breather" under increased pressure from the United States.

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