Pyongyang: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited a military and political university and emphasized the "ideology-first" principle and loyalty in building a powerful military, the North's state media reported Tuesday. Kim visited the Kim Il Sung University of Politics the previous day and gave a speech to faculty and students, describing the university named after North Korea's founder and the leader's grandfather as the supreme military and political school of the armed forces.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Kim stressed that "The Korean People's Army ... should surely become the strongest army in the world" and adhere to and strengthen "the political, ideological, spiritual and moral advantages." In his speech, Kim highlighted the importance of imbuing the army with ideology before equipping it with military technology, citing "soldiers, weapons and ideology" as the "three elements of the armed forces."
Kim further noted that the development of the Korean People's Army should prioritize strengthening its political, ideological, and moral qualities before advancing military technology equipment, including nuclear armed forces. A photo published by the KCNA shows Kim observing a class during his university visit, with a chalkboard and a TV screen in the classroom displaying the headline: "Party's political project at the time of offensive combat for mechanized infantry brigades."
On the computer monitors next to the professor's desk and in front of the students was a map that appeared to show the southern South Korean city of Sacheon, home to an Air Force base and Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd., the developer of fighter jets. Hong Min, a senior research fellow at South Korea's Korea Institute for National Unification, assessed that Kim's emphasis on ideology may be aimed at preventing any lapse in the military's ideological posture, given the North's troop deployment for Russia and Ukraine's capture of North Korean soldiers.
An official at South Korea's unification ministry separately said the move might target young soldiers who may not be accustomed to the ongoing mobilization of troops for nationwide construction projects. Top-ranking military cadres accompanied Kim on his visit to the university, including Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the party's Central Military Commission, and Defense Minister No Kwang-chol, according to the KCNA.
Founded in 1945 in Pyongyang, the Kim Il Sung University of Politics trains political officers for the armed forces, while Kim Il Sung Military University educates field commanders.