Kim Jong-un, chairperson of North Korea's State Affairs Commission, visited the Ministry of Defense on the 78th anniversary of the founding of the People's Army (Army Day) and said, "The next five years will be a period when our army's exceptional role, which no one can replace, rises even higher," hinting that a new five-year plan to strengthen national defense could be presented.
Korean Central News Agency reported on the 9th that Kim delivered a speech during a congratulatory visit to the Ministry of Defense on the 8th for Army Day.
Earlier, Kim presented a "five-year plan for national defense development" at the 8th Labor Party Congress held in early 2021. Accordingly, there is an outlook that at the 9th Party Congress to be held at the end of this month, tasks in the military and defense institutional sector will be handled as key agenda items.
However, in this speech, the anti-U.S. criticism that stood out in last year's Army Day message and the aggressive remarks related to "strengthening nuclear force" were relatively less noticeable. With variables in the international situation growing and the Party Congress imminent, some interpret this as placing more weight on emphasizing internal unity and the military's role rather than excessively highlighting external messages.
The outlet said Kim expressed gratitude to military commanders and military administration officials at the Ministry of Defense that day, while also paying respect to the commanders and fighters of the overseas special operations unit that was mentioned as having been dispatched to Russia.
Kim said, "Because this Army Day comes ahead of the 9th Congress, I more keenly feel our army's greatness and value," repeatedly highlighting the military's contributions while looking back on the past five years. He also described last year as "a year with especially many dramatic events and feats that only our army can achieve," and defined this year as "a grand year of transformation in which the struggle front expands further and we must fight more boldly."
At the end of the speech, he said, "The theater of the solemn struggle that the 9th Congress will indicate is calling the officers and soldiers of the Korean People's Army," once again putting the military at the forefront as the主体 for carrying out future tasks. After the speech, Kim reportedly took commemorative photos with key commanders of the Ministry of Defense and demobilized soldiers, and also attended a sports event.
The outlet reported that core figures of the military accompanied the visit. Senior military officials paid their respects at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the bodies of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are enshrined, for Army Day, and commemorative events were held in Pyongyang and other regions.