Kim Jong-un says North Korea must fully commit to completing war preparations

[Anchor]

Kim Jong-un, Chairman of North Korea's State Affairs Commission, stated that preparations for war must be completed, emphasizing that the nuclear force will continue to be strengthened.

He made critical remarks aimed at the United States for the first time since the U.S. presidential election.

Reporter Yang Min-cheol has the story.

[Report]

Thousands of soldiers arriving by train disembark at Pyongyang Station and board buses to move to their destination.

A conference gathering battalion-level officers and political instructors responsible for battalion ideological education was held for the first time in ten years.

At this event, Chairman Kim emphasized the importance of "preparation for war."

[North Korea's state-run Korean Central TV: "The most important and vital task for our armed forces is preparation for war, to respond to war."]

He specifically threatened that the strengthening of nuclear forces is an "irreversible policy," stating, "We will continue to steadily strengthen our self-defense capabilities centered on nuclear forces."

He also claimed, "The U.S.-led military alliance is expanding, and the spearhead of that invasion, namely the tip of the sword, is focused on North Korea, the most hostile adversary of the United States."

Since the U.S. presidential election, this is the first time Chairman Kim has directly sent a message targeting the United States.

He also criticized the U.S. and the West for expanding military intervention worldwide by using Ukraine as a spearhead, but did not mention the participation of the North Korean military.

[Lim Eul-chul/Professor at Kyungnam University Far Eastern Studies Institute: "In a situation where specific achievements related to the deployment of North Korean soldiers to Russia have not been revealed, the process of securing the legitimacy and rationality of the deployment primarily among field commanders within the North Korean military..."]

South Korea's Ministry of Unification analyzed that Chairman Kim's speech appears to be an event held after ten years to solidify military morale amid signs of unrest following the news of troop deployment to Russia.

KBS News, Yang Min-cheol.