North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged his military to train to become the strongest in the world at a two-day meeting of company commanders in Pyongyang, state media said Saturday.
The official Korea Central News Agency said the gathering, held Thursday and Friday, was aimed at developing a plan “to train the strongest armed forces in the world.” Kim called the effort a “Korean-style military revolution” and said all companies of the North’s army should be turned into a strong elite unit in military and technical aspects and consolidated into perfect combat forces.
KCNA said it was the first gathering of the entire army since a February party congress, where Kim called for stronger conventional forces and reaffirmed plans to develop nuclear weapons and missiles. North Korea has recently tested a slew of weapons, including a new-type precision-guided torpedo system and an intermediate-range hypersonic missile, both of which were said to use AI technology. Despite long-running UN sanctions, North Korea has enshrined its status as a nuclear-armed state in law, and its regime has repeatedly declared its atomic arsenal permanent and irreversible.
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, North Korea has become a key Russian ally, sending troops to support Moscow’s war effort in return for economic benefits and military technology.
Kim’s remarks came the same week Seoul’s military proposed talks to clarify the border after an explosion inside the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone further strained inter-Korean ties. Seoul and Pyongyang remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. South Korea proposed military talks on Friday to clarify the border and restore communication channels after blaming the blast, which injured South Korean soldiers, on North Korean landmines. Pyongyang strongly rejected that claim, had earlier rejected Seoul’s demand for an apology, and has not responded to Friday’s proposal.