Government to Kim Jong-un pointing at 'Seoul': "Focus on people's livelihood"

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The government criticized North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, who spread out a map of South Korea and spoke of 'war preparations,' saying, "Do not waste scarce resources on futile military buildup, but use them to take care of the people's livelihoods."

An official from the Ministry of Unification told reporters on the 10th that the expanded meeting of the Workers' Party Central Military Commission chaired by Kim was "North Korea's way of sending a threatening message regarding the upcoming South Korea-U.S. joint exercises scheduled for this month." Regarding Kim pointing to Seoul and the metropolitan area on the South Korean map, the official said, "It seems he wanted to send a threatening message to the South through provocative actions."

North Korea's Kim Jong-un

The official criticized North Korea for once again blaming the South Korea-U.S. alliance for the deterioration of the Korean Peninsula situation and mentioning 'offensive war preparations,' saying, "We cannot help but deplore North Korea's brazen talk of mass production of armed equipment."

In particular, the official warned, "The more North Korea engages in war preparations and military buildup, the more it will face stronger extended deterrence from the South Korea-U.S. alliance and overwhelming responses," adding, "Do not waste scarce resources on futile military buildup or military parades, but use them to take care of the people's livelihoods."

Additionally, the official described North Korea's announcement of a 'civilian armed forces military parade' on September 9, marking the 75th anniversary of the regime's founding, as 'unprecedented.' This is because North Korea has never previously announced military parades in advance, nor has it held three parades in a single year. North Korea held military parades earlier this year to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army in February and the 70th anniversary of Victory Day (the day the armistice agreement was signed) at the end of last month.

Previously, on September 9, 2021, North Korea held a 'civilian and safety forces military parade.' However, at that time, strategic weapons including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) did not appear, and only conventional weapons were mobilized. It is expected that this upcoming parade will be conducted in a similar format.

North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un is presiding over an expanded meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party on the 9th, pointing at a map of the South.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, according to the Korean Central News Agency, at the expanded meeting of the Party Central Military Commission held the day before, Kim said, "Along with expanding the possession of powerful strike means to fulfill the mission of war deterrence, we must continue to deepen the work of tactically deploying units in actual combat readiness." The agency explained that he made a resolute conclusion to further accelerate the military's offensive war preparations.

Kim also ordered, "All factories and enterprises in the military-industrial sector must vigorously push forward the mass production struggle of various armed equipment in accordance with the modernizing operational demands of the military." Notably, photos released that day showed Kim spreading out a map of the Republic of Korea and pointing to Seoul and the metropolitan area where Osan Air Base is located, drawing attention.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.