North Korean leader Kim Jong-un significantly increased military-related public activities in the March-May period after he vowed to deal with inter-Korean relations with increased hostility, a report showed Friday.
Kim participated in 33 public activities during the three-month period ending in May, up 59 percent from the average of 20.7 recorded for the same period from 2021 to 2023, according to the report by the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU).
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (in leather jacket) observes a drill during a visit to a major operational training base in the country’s western region on March 6, 2024, in this photo released by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Of them, the number of military-related public activities came to 19, up 184 percent from a three-year average of 6.7 activities, the report said.
KINU monitors the activities of Kim and three other key party officials by anal
yzing reports from state media outlets, such as the Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmin, the country’s main newspaper.
Notably, Kim inspected or guided military drills six times during the cited period, with five of such on-site inspections carried out in March, when North Korean troops wrapped up winter military exercises.
He oversaw military exercises involving paratroopers on March 15 and supervised “salvo” drills with artillery units using the 600mm multiple launch rocket system in the western region three days later.
In the six-month period ending in May, the number of Kim’s public activities came to 64, compared with a three-year average of 44.3 activities, the report showed.
At a year-end party plenary meeting, Kim defined inter-Korean ties as those between “two states hostile to each other” and said there is no point in seeking reconciliation and unification with South Korea.
Meanwhile, Premier Kim Tok-hun made 11 public appearances in the March-May period, lower than the average of
13.7 over the previous three years.
But he did not carry out any standalone public activity from May 7 till the end of that month and was not seen attending a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party on May 24 for an unknown reason.
As for Choe Ryong-hae, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, his public activities came to 13 during the period, a sharp rise from the three-year average of four activities.
He may travel to China if Beijing holds an event to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries’ diplomatic relations on Oct. 6, the report said.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
