North Korea's main goals for 2022 will be jump starting economic development and improving people's lives as it faces a"great life-and-death struggle," Kim said in a speech on Friday at the end of the 4th Plenary Meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea , which began on Monday.
But summaries of his speech published in North Korean state media made no specific mention of the United States, with only a passing reference to unspecified discussions of inter-Korean relations and"external affairs." Kim spent the majority of his speech detailing domestic issues from an ambitious plan for rural development to people's diets, school uniforms and the need to crack down on"non-socialist practices."
Saturday's state media report cited the development of"one ultra-modern weapon system after another" as a major achievement of the past year and said Kim called for bolstering the national defence to face an unstable international situation.