Pyongyang: North Korea called on its military to show "absolute" allegiance and obedience to leader Kim Jong-un as it marked the anniversary of the founding of anti-Japan forces that later evolved into its state armed forces.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Rodong Sinmun, a mainstream daily published by the country's Workers' Party of Korea, emphasized in an editorial on the 93rd founding anniversary of the People's Revolutionary Army that the revolutionary armed forces should be further developed and strengthened for Kim Jong-un. Kim Il-sung had led these forces in the fight against Japan's colonial rule before founding North Korea.
North Korea celebrates April 25 as the founding date of its anti-Japanese forces, which it regards as the origin of the Korean People's Army (KPA). However, it officially changed the military's founding day in 2018 to February 8, the date the KPA was formally established.
The Rodong Sinmun further stated that the sole guidance system of Kim should be more thoroughly solidified to firmly establish military discipline of absolute allegiance and obedience to the ideology and leadership of the party's center across all forces. The daily also claimed that the armed forces, built up under the country's founder and late former leader Kim Jong-il, are at their peak under Kim Jong-un's leadership, describing him as the foundation of the country's military development.
According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the anniversary was marked with various events, including the screening of a film in Pyongyang about Kim Il-sung's formation of the anti-Japan forces, which was viewed by students.