North Korea’s much-anticipated Ninth Party Congress concluded with new announcements about Kim Jong Un’s core weapons modernization plans, and while the regime offered less information than many had hoped, it still provided a good sense of Kim’s high-level priorities in the years ahead.

In order to "usher in a new era of building a powerful nation," Kim's next five-year plan maintains continuity on longstanding strategic nuclear force development priorities, while shifting emphasis within ongoing conventional modernization efforts. 

As recently as last September, Kim indicated that conventional arms modernization would be a major