December was another mammoth month for North Korean weapons.

At the multi-day ruling party plenum on New Year’s Eve, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would “exponentially increase” nuclear weapon production in 2023 to counter the threat from the U.S. and South Korea. 

Kim also said that North Korea is developing “another new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system” with “rapid nuclear counterattack ability.” This came shortly after the first test of a new solid-fuel rocket engine — solid-fuel missiles require less preparation time than their liquid-fueled counterparts, meaning there is less time for