North Korea to launch 3 more spy satellites, Kim Jong Un says

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country will launch three additional military spy satellites, build more nuclear weapons and introduce modern unmanned combat equipment in 2024, as he called for "overwhelming" war readiness to cope with U.S.-led confrontational moves, state media reported Sunday.

Kim's comments, made during a key ruling Workers' Party meeting to set state goals for next year, suggest he'll continue a run of weapons tests to increase his leverage in future diplomacy ahead of the U.S. presidential elections in November. Observers say Kim could eventually offer to halt North Korea's testing activities and take other limited denuclearization steps in return for sanctions relief but he has no intentions of fully abandoning his advancing nuclear arsenal.

During the five-day meeting that ended Saturday, Kim said moves by the U.S. and its followers against North Korea have been unprecedented this year, pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.