North Korea's Kim seeking reunification with South Korea a 'mistake'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he would no longer seek reconciliation and reunification with South Korea, state media reported.

"I believe that it is a mistake that we should no longer make to consider the people who declare us as the 'main enemy'... as someone to seek reconciliation and unification with," the official KCNA news agency cited Kim as saying at a year-end party meeting.

On other hand, KCNA reported on Sunday that Pyongyang plans to launch three more spy satellites in 2024 as part of an effort to strengthen its military.

"The task of launching three additional reconnaissance satellites in 2024 was declared" as one of the key policy decisions for next year at a year-end party meeting, the official KCNA said.

The plan was laid out as part of Kim's address to the meeting, in which he said the country has no choice but to press forward with his nuclear ambitions and forge deeper ties with anti-US countries as Pyongyang is facing unprecedented confrontational moves by the US, a reference that likely includes Russia.

Regional tensions

North Korea says it successfully launched its first military spy satellite on November 21, transmitting photos of the White House, the Pentagon, US military bases and "target regions" in South Korea.

That successful launch was preceded by two failed attempts last year when its new Chollima-1 rocket crashed into the sea.

The move raised regional tensions and sparked fresh sanctions from the U.S., Australia, Japan and South Korea. Pyongyang has yet to release any imagery from the new satellite, leaving analysts and foreign governments to debate its capabilities.

The apparent su ccess also came after Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to help North Korea build satellites. South Korean officials said Russian aid likely made a difference in the success of the mission, though experts said it was unclear how much help Moscow could have provided.