The following analysis is written by Ankit Panda, the Stanton senior fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. See part one of Panda’s Eighth Party Congress weapons analysis here.

Last week, North Korea unveiled future goals to boost its nuclear forces and modernize its military, suggesting a potential testing campaign on the horizon. 

Beyond the topline items outlined in a previous NK Pro piece, those modernization efforts deserve further breaking down to understand the DPRK’s long-term goals for its armed forces and for foreign relations.