SEOUL (Dispatches) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for the country’s army companies to be turned into elite, self-sufficient combat units during a two-day meeting of company commanders in Pyongyang, state media KCNA said on Saturday.
The event underscored Kim’s consistent policy priority of strengthening the military.
In a speech at a conference of company commanders for North Korea’s Army on October 22-23, which KCNA said was the first military-wide gathering since the Ninth Congress of North Korea’s ruling party in February, Kim called for every company to fully prepare so that “the goal of the new-era military build-up” can be achieved.
“Let us build the strongest army and speed up a military revolution in our style”, Kim said.
During the Ninth Congress of North Korea’s ruling party in February, which sets the country’s direction for the next five years, Kim called for stronger conventional armed forces as well as reaffirming efforts to develop nuclear weapons and missiles.
On Saturday, North Korean leader visited China, inaugurating a new bridge that connects the two countries and saying he hoped to expand cooperation with his powerful neighbor.
Kim’s visit to China is his latest move in an increasingly assertive foreign policy as he seeks to align Pyongyang with Beijing and Moscow in a united front against the United States under what he portrays as a “new Cold War.” It’s his first visit in a year.
Kim arrived in the Chinese border city of Dandong after crossing the newly opened bridge, according to South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles affairs related to North Korea, and China’s official Xinhua News Agency.