North Korea's Kim calls for 'military revolution' as he urges stronger army units

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for the country's army companies to be turned into elite, self-sufficient combat units during a two-day meeting of company commanders in Pyongyang, state media KCNA said on Saturday.

The event underscored Kim's consistent policy priority of strengthening the military.

In a speech at a conference of company commanders for North Korea's army on Oct 22-23, which KCNA said was the first military-wide gathering since the Ninth Congress of North Korea's ruling party in February, Kim called for every company to be fully prepared so that "the goal of the new-era military build-up" could be achieved.

"Let us build the strongest army and speed up a military revolution in our style," Kim said.

During the Ninth Congress of North Korea's ruling party in February, which sets the country's direction for the next five years, Kim called for stronger conventional armed forces while reaffirming efforts to develop nuclear weapons and missiles.