[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] On the 25th, North Korea emphasized the importance of strengthening its defense capabilities on the occasion of the 61st anniversary of the Military-First Day. However, it toned down the rhetoric by not mentioning nuclear weapons, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), or submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).
On this day, the Workers' Party organ, Rodong Sinmun, published an editorial commemorating Military-First Day on its front page, stating that "military power is national power" and asserting that "there is a strong nation and the well-being and happiness of the people on the path of comprehensively strengthening military power."
North Korea’s Military-First Day commemorates the day when Kim Jong-il, then Chairman of the National Defense Commission, inspected the 105th Tank Division led by Ryu Kyong-su, the 'Guard Seoul' unit that first entered Seoul during the Korean War on August 25, 1960, claiming it as the first step of 'Military-First leadership' and marking it as a public holiday.
While the newspaper emphasized military technology, it did not mention any specific achievements. It explained, "For the army to demonstrate its might as an invincible fighting force capable of instantly crushing any formidable enemy, it must be well-prepared not only politically and ideologically but also militarily," adding, "Our defense industry has developed into a modern and self-reliant industry capable of producing any armed equipment at will."
Notably, the article stressed 'absolute loyalty' to the Party and the people. This reaffirmed the Kim Jong-un regime’s governance approach of establishing the Workers' Party as the core of the political system.
The newspaper stated, "There is no social group more loyal to the Party’s leadership than the People's Army," and mentioned, "The People's Army will continue to uphold its essence as the Party’s army, absolutely loyal and obedient to the Party’s ideology and leadership forever."
It also encouraged the deployment of military personnel to major construction sites, including the building of 50,000 housing units in Pyongyang damaged by consecutive floods last year and this year.
The newspaper explained, "The People's Army must become a true army of the people that not only serves as the main force of national defense but also opens breakthroughs in the main fronts of socialist construction," describing it as "a genuine Party army and people's army that alleviates the hardships of the Party and the state and the pain of the people."
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