Kim Jong-un, North Korea's state affairs commission chairperson, watched a commemorative concert on the 28th marking the 80th anniversary of the Defense Ministry Central Military Band's founding, the Korean Central News Agency reported on the 29th.
The performance was attended by Defense Minister No Kwang-chol, Korean People's Army General Political Bureau Director Kim Sung-gi, Chief of the General Staff Ri Yong-gil, and other key commanders of the Defense Ministry, as well as officials of the Workers' Party Central Committee.
Chairperson Kim said the band has "exhorted a brave and heroic army with revolutionary military music and displayed immense power that cannot be compared with any armed equipment," and added, "I pay respects to the band not as an artistic troupe but as a military group representing the revolutionary army."
Kim noted, "Wherever the sound of the military band rings high, scenes of stirring canvases unfold in which invincible valor soars and epochal transformations are created," and praised, "The Defense Ministry Central Military Band is the face of our state and the symbol of the Korean People's Army."
Kim went on to say, "The band's creators and performers must, with boundless loyalty to the Party, the motherland, and the people, and with high artistic skill, inspire our army's advance with revolutionary military music," and took commemorative photos with them.
Recently, Kim Jong-un, the chairperson, has been focusing on internal unity by personally visiting frontline military units on commemorative days such as the birthday of Kim Il-sung and the anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army to encourage service members.