Kim Jong Un has called for North Korea to create the world’s strongest army by upgrading its company-level units.
Kim supervised the Korean People's Army's third gathering of company leaders in Pyongyang, held on Thursday and Friday, the Korean Central News Agency said on Saturday. He urged the armed forces to build their strength by improving the army’s companies.
"the main spirit of the Third Meeting of Company Leaders of the Korean People's Army is to build the strongest army and accelerate the Korean-style military revolution by training the strongest companies"
In practical terms, the order puts the army’s smallest named units at the centre of the plan. North Korea said the companies should be improved in both military and technical areas, with the aim of making them elite forces able to operate as complete combat units.
What we know
- The conference addressed company-level leadership and training systems.
- The plan includes military ability, technical ability, combat readiness and political loyalty.
- The meeting did not set out specific changes to training or forces.
Still unclear
- What specific training or force changes will follow from the meeting.
Thousands of company leaders attended the conference. The subjects included loyalty to Kim and the ruling party, better training arrangements, and making soldiers more effective leaders and role models in combat.
Kim said the gathering was meant to produce a plan for building the world’s strongest armed forces.
"to train the strongest armed forces in the world"
He also called for each company to become a powerful elite unit and a fully capable combat force.
"turned into a strong elite unit in military and technical aspects and consolidated into perfect combat forces"
The political side of the instruction was also clear. Kim told commanders to preserve the army’s identity as the force of the Workers’ Party and as an army built around ideology and its core elements.
The Korean Central News Agency described the meeting as the first gathering of the entire army since the Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea.
Reports differ over the party gathering
Vanguard, Punch and the South China Morning Post said the political meeting was a February party congress that involved calls for stronger conventional forces and renewed plans to develop nuclear weapons and missiles.
Descriptions of the party gathering
The Korea Herald
Description in its report
- Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea
- Meeting of the entire army came afterwards
Vanguard, Punch and SCMP
Description in their reports
- February party congress
- Calls for stronger conventional forces
- Continued nuclear and missile development
The sources do not reconcile the difference between the Ninth Congress description and the February party congress description. The date of the commanders’ meeting is also not more specific than Thursday and Friday in Pyongyang.
The military message came in the same week that Seoul proposed on Friday that South Korea and North Korea meet to settle questions about their border and restore communication channels. Seoul made the proposal after an explosion inside the Demilitarized Zone further strained relations.
A disputed explosion raised border tensions
South Korea said the blast, which injured South Korean soldiers, was caused by North Korean landmines. Pyongyang strongly rejected that claim and had earlier refused Seoul’s demand for an apology over the explosion.
- Thursday and FridayArmy commanders meet
Kim Jong Un supervised the company leaders’ meeting in Pyongyang.
- FridaySeoul proposes talks
South Korea asked for military discussions on the border and the restoration of communication channels.
- After FridayNo North Korean response
Pyongyang had not responded to Seoul’s proposal for military talks.
The two sides remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with a truce rather than a peace treaty. North Korea had not responded to Seoul’s Friday proposal for military talks, and it was not clear whether it would do so.
The border dispute forms part of a wider military setting. North Korea has recently tested two systems, a precision-guided torpedo system described as new and an intermediate-range hypersonic missile, and both were described as using artificial intelligence technology.
Despite long-running United Nations sanctions, North Korea has written its status as a nuclear-armed state into law. It has also repeatedly described its atomic arsenal as permanent and irreversible.
Pyongyang has become a key Russian ally since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. North Korea has sent troops to support Moscow in return for economic benefits and military technology.
The next step remains uncertain
KCNA gave no further timetable for putting the military instructions into effect. The available reports also do not say what specific training or force changes will follow from the company commanders’ meeting.
