Kim Jong-un, Chairman of North Korea’s State Affairs Commission, stated that “the five years ahead indicated by the Party’s 9th Congress will be five years in which our military’s irreplaceable, exceptional role will rise further.”

In a speech delivered during his visit to the Ministry of National Defense on the 8th to mark the 78th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army (Army Day), he said, “as everyone is prepared for, this year is a grand year of transformation in which our military’s front of struggle will broaden and we must fight more boldly,” according to Rodong Sinmun on the 9th.

He did not present specific plans. It is expected that a new five-year blueprint for the development of national defense will be unveiled at the 9th Party Congress later this month. North Korea presented a five-year plan at the 8th Party Congress in 2021.

He did not refer to messages aimed at the United States or South Korea, nor to matters related to nuclear forces. On last year’s Army Day, he reaffirmed a policy of advancing nuclear forces and repeatedly expressed a line of support for Russia. This is interpreted as a cautious approach to sending external messages amid an international situation that is uncertain and full of variables. It is also seen as taking into account the possibility of issuing related messages at the 9th Party Congress.

He said he “pays tribute to the responsible efforts” of commanders and officials of the Ministry of National Defense. He also sent “warm encouragement and congratulations” to “the commanders and fighters of the overseas special operations unit, who are carrying out the motherland’s orders in distant forward positions, staking the honor of the heroic army.” The ‘overseas special operations unit’ refers to the unit dispatched to Russia.

He said, “you have truly done great work in safeguarding the Party’s cause and protecting the security of national sovereignty and the people’s lives,” adding, “among these, I assess that there was even more hard work last year.” He went on, “it was a year with an unprecedented series of dramatic events and remarkable feats that only our military could achieve,” and “as a result, it can be said that the Party’s and the people’s trust and love for their own military grew larger and stronger.”

After the speech, he took commemorative photographs with key commanders of the Ministry of National Defense and demobilized soldiers, and watched sporting events.