NKor's Kim says weapons without ideology are 'ironware'

25/2/2025 12:08

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country has come a long way in building a powerful army but weapons without ideology are simply "ironware", as he stressed loyalty to some of its most elite military cohorts, state media reported on Tuesday.



Kim's remarks at the Kim Il Sung University of Politics come at a time of political uncertainties at home with many of the more than its 10,000 troops fighting for Russia against Ukraine reportedly suffering heavy losses.



Kim said, as the Korean People's Army (KPA) aims to become the world's strongest military, and the focus of the mission should be "none other than the political, ideological, spiritual and moral advantages of the army of the Party and the people."



KCNA news agency reported, "Saying that arms without ideology are little short of ironware ... he clarified building the KPA should be invariably and thoroughly oriented toward giving priority to making the army politically, ideologically and morally strong."



The school is the training ground for officers who go on to serve in the powerful political apparatus of the country's more than 1 million active-duty military, exerting political control directed by the ruling Workers' Party.