North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for "diplomatic and military countermeasures" for preserving the country's sovereignty and security ahead of Pyongyang's self-imposed year-end deadline for U.S. concessions in nuclear talks, state-run media reported Tuesday.
Kim issued the calls during a seven-hour "comprehensive report" on the third day of a plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
The meeting came amid rising tensions and ahead of the looming year-end deadline set by Kim for the United States to lift crushing sanctions or make other concessions in the deadlocked denuclearization negotiations — or risk Pyongyang taking an unspecified "new path."