North Korean leader Kim Jong-un discusses war deterrent of the country

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presided over a Central Military Commission meeting of the ruling Workers' Party and discussed "the key issues of further bolstering a war deterrent of the country", state media reported on Sunday. The meeting held on Saturday also examined the "strategic mission" of major military units for coping with the "military situation around the Korean Peninsula" and approved "major key munitions production plan indices", according to Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"The enlarged meeting discussed issues of intensifying the party's education and guidance of commanders and political officials of the people's army and stressed the need to thoroughly arm the young commanding officers," Yonhap News Agency quoted KCNA as saying.

"Then there was a closed meeting... to examine the strategic mission of the major units for coping with the military situation in the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula and the potential military threat and the alert posture and to discuss the key issues of further bolstering a war deterrent of the country," it added.

Kim signed the orders to execute tasks that had been dealt with during the meetings. The KCNA, however, did not say what measures related to the "war deterrent" were discussed, though the term usually nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. Nor did it mention any measures related to South Korea.

Saturday's meeting came after Kim attended a preliminary session of the Central Military Commission last month and suspended all military plans that the North had threatened to take against South Korea in anger over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets, Yonhap News Agency reported. During that meeting, the North also discussed measures to bolster "the war deterrent".

The latest party meeting marked Kim's first public appearance in 11 days since he visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun to mark the 26th anniversary of the death of his late grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung earlier this month. (IANS)

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