A combined tactical drill of special operations sub-units for surpassing the standards for an all-mission battalion and a match and joint fire strike drill demonstration of tankmen’s sub-units were held on May 13 as a demonstration drill under the training course of the Conference of the Training Officers of the Korean People’s Army.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, visited Training Camp No. 60 of the Capital City Defence Corps of the KPA and watched the tactical drill demonstrations of different arms held under the training course of the conference of training officers.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un was greeted on the spot by No Kwang Chol, minister of National Defence of the DPRK, Ri Yong Gil, chief of the General Staff of the KPA, Jong Kyong Thaek, director of the General Political Bureau of the KPA, and other leading commanding officers of the Ministry of National Defence and military and political commanding officers of large combined units of the KPA.

Before watching the drill, Kim Jong Un acquainted himself with the functions and components of the training base, and appreciated that all conditions are well provided for properly conducting various tactical drills of sub-units as befitting a multi-functional combined training base.

He watched various tactical drill demonstrations together with commanding officers of the KPA at the observation post.

Also watching the demonstrations were the participants in the Conference of the Training Officers of the KPA.

The combat training department of the KPA General Staff explained to the spectators the forms, methods and contents of various tactical drills and matches.

Various tactical drills conducted by special operations sub-units for surpassing the standards for an all-mission battalion and the match between tankmen’s sub-units held afterwards aroused the spectators’ special interest.

Kim Jong Un said that scientific combat training systems have been established throughout the whole army as our Party set forth the five-point policy for effecting a revolution in training and paid close attention to thoroughly establishing a climate of prioritizing training at all levels of the KPA, strengthening the integral system of organizing, judging and reviewing training and putting the main stress on war-like training in keeping with the developing aspects and changing trend of modern warfare. He affirmatively appreciated that this has promoted substantial changes in the training sector and the strengthening and development of combat capability of units and sub-units. And he continued:

Amid the training matches of different services and arms being held in an innovative way in various spheres to cope with the actual war, changes have begun to take place in the understanding of the officers in the training sector. The fundamental change in the viewpoint on training will play a great role in cultivating the high combat spirit of our service personnel, perfecting the military and technical preparedness and improving the combat efficiency and effectiveness of our weapon systems, and this serves as a potential driving force for developing our armed forces’ capability to fight a war to the full.

Our revolutionary armed forces are now in charge of not a few fronts, but the most important among them is the anti-imperialist class front and making full preparations for war is their most crucial task. Combat drill to turn all the levels of the army into elite ranks that are thoroughgoing and perfect in executing any order is the first revolutionary task.

In order to implement the Party’s military strategic plan for putting the special operations forces on an all-mission arms of services and all-mission specialists basis, it is important to launch a vigorous revolutionary movement to surpass the standards for an all-mission battalion.

Modern warfare is a showdown between military talents and war of commanding officers’ brains. In order to firmly maintain and strengthen the qualitative superiority of our army, all combat drills should be organized on the principle of enhancing the initiative, independence and creativity of commanding officers and practical brain drills and actual manoeuvrings be intensified.

The secure prospect of building a powerful army desired by our Party is provided on the training front, and the combat preparedness of the KPA is completed and guaranteed first by the training sector. To this end, it is necessary to decisively improve the quality of military education and put the main emphasis on educating and strengthening the ranks of training officers.

He then underlined the need to perfect in all aspects the training apparatuses and elements of training grounds for preparing all levels of our armed forces for modern warfare as required by the reality that urgently demands their qualitative change, to introduce IT and scientific judgement systems into training, and to renew the training system in keeping with the developing trend of the new century.

That day, he met the combatants of a sub-unit under the 11th Corps of the KPA, who surpassed the standards for an all-mission battalion, and appreciated and warmly encouraged them, saying that they played the role as vanguard fighters in bringing about a revolution in training and as a model in rounding off the war preparations. Then he had a photo taken with them.

He clarified the tasks for fundamentally improving the contents, forms and methods of operations and combat drills in the training sector and making the training part of life, habit and mental quality of the service personnel in order to prepare the KPA to be an army that is capable of fighting a war any time, an army that wins without fail if it fights, and for expanding its strategic potential as a powerful army.

Hoping that the seventh conference of training officers will serve as an occasion for bringing about an epochal leap forward in further enhancing the qualifications and abilities of all the training officers, he extended militant encouragement to all the participants in the conference.