North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his government to be prepared for both dialogue and confrontation with the Biden administration, but more for confrontation, state media reported Friday, days after the United States and others urged the North to abandon its nuclear program and return to talks.

Kim's statement indicates he'll likely push to strengthen his nuclear arsenal and increase pressure on Washington to give up what North Korea considers a hostile policy toward the North, though he'll also prepare for talks to resume, some experts say.

During an ongoing ruling party meeting Thursday, Kim analyzed in detail the policy tendencies of the U.S. under President Joe Biden and clarified steps to be taken in relations with Washington, the Korean Central News Agency said. It did not specify the steps.

Kim "stressed the need to get prepared for both dialogue and confrontation, especially to get fully prepared for confrontation in order to protect the dignity of our state" and ensure national security, it said.

In 2018-19, Kim held a series of summits with then-President Donald Trump to discuss North Korea's advancing nuclear arsenal. But the negotiations fell apart after Trump rejected Kim's calls for extensive sanctions relief in return for a partial surrender of his nuclear capability. 

Biden's administration has worked to formulate a new approach on North Korea's nuclear program that it describes as "calibrated and practical." Details of his North Korea policy haven't been publicized, but U.S. officials have suggested Biden will seek a middle ground between Trump's direct meetings with Kim and former President Barack Obama's "strategic patience" to curb Kim's nuclear program. 

Earlier this week, leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations issued a statement calling for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and "the verifiable and irreversible abandonment" of North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. They called on North Korea to engage and resume dialogue. 

Sung Kim, the top U.S. official on North Korea, is to visit Seoul on Saturday for a trilateral meeting with South Korean and Japanese officials. His travel emphasizes the importance of three-way cooperation in working toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the State Department said.

Kim Jong Un has recently threatened to enlarge his nuclear arsenal and build high-tech weapons targeting the U.S. mainland if Washington refuses to abandon its hostile policy toward North Korea. 

In March, Kim's military performed its first short-range ballistic missile tests in a year. But North Korea is still maintaining a moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests in an indication that Kim still wants to keep prospects for diplomacy alive. 

Kwak Gil Sup, head of One Korea Center, a website specializing in North Korea affairs, wrote on Facebook that Kim's statement suggested he's taking a two-track approach of bolstering military capability and preparing for talks. But he said Kim will more likely focus on boosting military strength and repeating his demand for the U.S. to withdraw its hostile policy, rather than hastily returning to talks.

Kim said last week North Korea's military must stay on high alert to defend national security.

Analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea said North Korea will likely return to talks but won't accept a call for immediate, complete denuclearization. He said North Korea may accede to a proposal to freeze its atomic program and partially reduce its nuclear arsenal in phased steps if the Biden administration relaxes sanctions and suspends its regular military drills with South Korea.

Cha Duck Chul, a deputy spokesman at South Korea's Unification Ministry, said it's closely monitoring the North's ongoing political meeting and wants to reemphasize the best way to achieve peace on the Korean Peninsula is through dialogue.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijiang called for renewed dialogue between North Korea and the U.S., saying that "We believe that the Korean Peninsula situation is facing a new round of tension."

Kim called the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee meeting taking place this week to review efforts to rebuild the economy, which has been severely crippled by pandemic border closings, mismanagement amid the U.S.-led sanctions, and storm damage to crops and infrastructure last year.

On Tuesday, Kim opened the meeting by warning of potential food shortages, urging officials to find ways to boost agricultural production because the country's food situation "is now getting tense." He also urged the country to brace for extended COVID-19 restrictions, suggesting North Korea would extend its border closure and other steps despite the stress on its economy.

President Biden's announcement earlier this week that the U.S. will donate half a billion doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine around the globe is the largest any single country has made so far. 

"Even though 250 million is still only a small portion of the entire population that needs to be vaccinated in those countries, it will go a long way to vaccinate people above 65 years of age, as well as the front line workers like health care workers," said Richard Reithinger, vice president of global health at RTI International. 

It also further establishes the U.S. as a world leader in vaccine distribution at a time when some public health experts have called on wealthy nations to do more to help those outside their borders. 

The White House says the doses, which will be produced in the U.S., will begin shipping in August. The first 200 million will be delivered by the end of this year. The remaining 300 million will go out in the first half of 2022. 

Pfizer's vaccine is a two-dose regimen that has to be kept cold during every stage of transportation. Once it's removed from ultra cold storage, the doses only last about five days. That could present some logistical challenges, and possibly determine where the vials are sent. 

"Larger urban centers should be also prioritized, where, of course, you are more likely to find the type of infrastructure that you need to distribute the vaccine," Reithinger said. 

Senior administration officials say the total cost is still being determined, but they expect to spend at least $1.5 billion on from the American Rescue Plan. 

Still, some say the U.S. and other nations need to do more to vaccinate the world. Democratic congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi praised the announcement in a statement, but added, "This must be only the first step in a larger effort to expand and accelerate the production and delivery of the billions of doses we need to end the pandemic."

President Biden has also said the U.S. will export 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and 20 million doses of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson vaccines this summer. He said the doses would be given with no strings attached.

"We're doing this to save lives, to end this pandemic. That's it. Period," President Biden said Thursday. 

This story originally reported by Kellan Howell on Newsy.com

There appears to be progress between the U.S. and Iran to get both nations back in line with the 2015 nuclear deal. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with international leaders Tuesday for the G7 summit in London, but he's downplayed any reports of an imminent deal with Iran. 

Despite that, two of the nuclear deal's biggest supporters in Congress, Democratic Senators Chris Coons and Chris Murphy, are currently touring the Middle East. 

Secretary Blinken joined his counterpart for a news conference in London yesterday and he also addressed reports coming out of Iran in regards to American prisoners being held in the country.

Iran says a deal has been struck to get hostages back to the U.S. In exchange for billions of dollars, but Blinken says that's not true. 

"I have no higher priority than bringing arbitrarily detained Americans, American hostages home to the United States. And that's across the board," he said. "And as Dominic said, the reports coming out of Tehran are not accurate. We are very closely engaged, ourselves, on this issue and will remain so." 

While these types of prisoner swaps are common, they hold more weight between the two countries now as talks over the nuclear deal continue. 

This story originally reported by Eliana Moreno on Newsy.com.