Pyongyang: North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong Un on Monday made his first public appearance after 36 days. His absence had sparked speculations over his health. He met with officials and discussed major military tasks.
They are aimed at bringing "great change" in the military including "constantly expanding and intensifying the operation and combat drills."
According to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim presided over his ruling Workers' Party's Central Military Commission meeting along with his top military officials. They discussed organisational changes to "fundamentally improve and strengthen" military affairs. The Independent reported that the leader ordered his military to display "matchless military strength" and perfect preparedness for war.
Images released by the KCNA showed new flags for all Korean People's Army (KPA) branches, including the Missile General Bureau. The military branch responsible for nuclear missiles was renamed to "Missile General Bureau". This is the first-ever official mention of the branch in state media. The flag had an icon of the country's largest nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile, Hwasong 17.