North Korea's ruling party begins key annual meeting

North Korea's ruling party has kicked off a major annual meeting with economic policy on the agenda, state media reported Tuesday.

Instead of a New Year's Day speech, leader Kim Jong Un in recent years has used the year-end plenary meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea as a platform to outline policies in key areas such as diplomacy, security and the economy.

This year's meeting began on Monday with Kim at the helm, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, capping a year that saw Pyongyang conduct a record-breaking wave of weapons tests that sparked concern and warnings from South Korea, Japan and the United States.

North Korea's power has "remarkably increased in all fields of politics, military, economy and culture", KCNA quoted Kim as saying in his report to the meeting.

The meeting's agenda includes a review of policy implementation in 2022 and next year's budget, it added, without providing details.

At last year's plenary, Kim focused on domestic policies, especially the economy and agriculture, instead of directly addressing the United States.

Experts have said the tone could be different this time around.

Despite heavy international sanctions, Pyongyang has doubled down on the development of its arsenal.

Kim has said he wants North Korea to have the world's most powerful nuclear force, and declared the country an "irreversible" nuclear state this year.

The United States and South Korea have warned for months that North Korea is preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear test.

Also on Monday, the South Korean military said it deployed fighter jets and attack helicopters after several drones from North Korea flew into its territory.