North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered Pyongyang to bolster security, as talks with the United States over denuclearization near their year-end deadline.

Kim told a meeting of senior Workers’ Party officials that actions should be taken to strengthen foreign affairs, as well as the country’s arms industry and military. He said the policies would serve as “positive and offensive measures for fully ensuring the sovereignty and security of the country,” state media KCNA reported on Monday.

Negotiations with the United States over North Korea’s nuclear program have stalled in recent months, with Pyongyang setting a year-end deadline for Washington to adopt a less rigid approach to the issue. The United States has promised to ease sanctions in exchange for full denuclearization – a proposal which North Korea has firmly rejected.

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Pyongyang has warned it could take a “new path” if the negotiations fall through.

North Korea has carried out a series of missile tests in recent weeks. Prior to the Christmas holidays, Kim issued a cryptic warning to the US about receiving possible “Christmas gifts.”

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