Kim discusses ‘bolstering war deterrent’ at military meeting
Seoul, July 19 (efe-epa).- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has presided over a military strategy meeting in which key issues for “bolstering a war deterrent” were discussed, state media reported Sunday.
A closed meeting of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) was held to “examine the strategic mission of the major units for coping with the military situation in the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula” as well as the “potential military threat and the alert posture” and to discuss the “key issues of further bolstering a war deterrent of the country,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The message did not elaborate on the “war deterrent,” although Yonhap news agency said the term usually refers to nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
The group also approved “key munitions production plan indices” while Kim “signed the orders for carrying out key tasks that had been discussed and decided,” it added.
An enlarged meeting was also attended by Kim along with Ri Pyong-chol, vice chairman of the CMC of the WPK, and other high-ranking officials.
KCNA said it discussed issues of “intensifying the party’s education and guidance of commanders and political officials of the people’s army in line with the Party’s idea and requirements after exposing a series of issues arising in political and ideological life of the commanding officers of the KPA and military affairs.”
It did not specify what the “series of issues” referred to.
“The meeting stressed the need to thoroughly arm the young commanding officers of the KPA with the revolutionary idea of the WPK and indicated a concrete orientation and ways for it,” it added.
The dismissal or appointment of commanding officers in major posts of the armed forces institutions was also tabled.
The measures taken by the CMC in the meetings “are a historic decision which makes it possible to more reliably guarantee the future of the Juche revolution with the reliable military muscle,” KCNA added.
Juche refers to the North Korean ideology of self-reliance.
Absent from the message was any referral to other countries such as South Korea or the United States, with which Pyongyang recently reached new diplomatic lows.
It was the first public appearance of Kim since his visit to Kumsusan Palace of the Sun early this month to mark the 26th anniversary of the death of his grandfather and the country’s founder Kim Il-sung. EFE-EPA
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