DPRK top leader convenes party military meeting, supervises artillery firing contest

PYONGYANG -- The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday convened the Eighth Enlarged Meeting of the Eighth Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), state media said Friday.

Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the WPK, chairman of the Central Military Commission of the WPK and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, stressed that "only when the role of the Party organizations and political organs at all levels which perform the function of helm in realizing the guidance of the Party Central Committee over the army is steadily enhanced, can all the problems arising in the army building and military activities be successfully solved," according to a report of the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The meeting discussed and decided on military measures to firmly maintain the strategic and tactical superiority in all aspects on the basis of the analysis of the situation related to national security, and approved and assigned a series of new projects in the fields of defence science and industry, the report said.

The meeting made an important conclusion on the enhancement of national defence capabilities and the orientation and immediate tasks for the military and political activities of the DPRK armed forces, the KCNA said.

Separately, the DPRK leader supervised a firing contest among artillery sub-units of large combined units of the Korean People's Army (KPA) on Thursday, the KCNA said in another Friday dispatch.

Kim praised the success of the artillery sub-units of perfectly demonstrating the actual war capability of the KPA artillery force, saying "a scientific combat training system has been thoroughly established in the entire army and qualitative changes are being made in strengthening the war capability of the artillery in conformity with the developing aspects and changing trend of modern warfare," the KCNA said.