KJU Inspects SOF Battalion

Kim Jong Un waves during a field inspection of a special forces operations battalion under KPA Unit #525 in a photo which appeared top-center of the Noveber 4, 2016 edition of the WPK daily organ Rodong Sinmun. Standing behind Jong Un on the right is Chief of the KPA General Staff and State Affairs Commission Member Vice-Marshal Ri Myong Su (Photo: Rodong Sinmun).

Kim Jong Un’s last observed appearance was his attendance at commemorative photo-op with GFTUK Congress participants

DPRK state media reported on November 4 (Friday) that Kim Jong Un [Kim Cho’ng-u’n] conducted a field inspection of a special operations forces [SOF] battalion subordinate to Korean People’s Army [KPA] Unit #525.  Also in attendance were KPA General Political Department Director VMar Hwang Pyong So [Hwang Pyo’ng-so], Chief of the KPA General Staff VMar Ri Myong Su [Ri Myo’ng-su] and 1st Vice Chief of the KPA General Staff and Director of the KPA General Staff Operations Bureau Colonel-General Ri Yong Gil [Ri Yo’ng-kil].

Close up of KJU commemorative photo-op: [a] a man who appears to be former XI Corps Commanding Officer and WPK Central Military Commission Member Lieutenant-General Choe Kyong Song; [b] Director of the KPA General Staff Operations Bureau Col. Gen. Ri Yong Gil; [c] KPA General Political Department Director and State Affairs Commission Vice Chairman Vice-Marshal Hwang Pyong So; [d] Chief of the KPA General Staff Vice-Marshal Ri Myong Su (Photo: Rodong Sinmun).

According to state media reporting, the SOF unit was “personally organized” by Kim Jong Un.  He toured the battalion’s quarters, training and education facilities and other places then watched and commanded a series of drills.  Jong Un remarked that the “combatants of the battalion having their basic mission to wipe out the human scum who have committed thrice-cursed high treasons, holding important posts at Ch’o’ngwadae, the puppet government and the military, having fully displayed their capability to fulfill their duties independently and effectively” and “highly praised them for their successes in the drills…all of them are one-match-for-a-hundred fighters with iron fists and they are crack shots as they all targets with pistols and automatic rifles.”

Commemorative photo of Kim Jong Un with members of a special forces battalion subordinate to KPA Unit #525 (Photo: Rodong Sinmun).

Jong Un noted that “the battalion is a combat unit to which the supreme commander attaches special importance and in which he reposes the deepest trust” and issued “tasks facing the battalion.”  Prior to a commemorative photo-op and ceremonial presentation of an automatic rifles and binoculars, he expressed his “expectation and conviction that the combatants of the battalion having an important mission to stab the enemy hearts with sharp daggers and break their backs would successfully carry out their honorable combat duty.”

Filed under: 2007-2010 kpa management, 2016 tactical rhetoric, Central Committee, Central Military Committee, Col. Gen. Choe Kyong Song, colonel general, corps command, corps commanders, DPRK External Relations, DPRK Intelligence Community, Events Management Section, Executive Policy Bureau, Gen. Ri Myong Su, Gen. Ri Yong Gil, gsd, gsob, Guard Command, Hwang Pyong So, Hwang Pyong So (GPD; KPA VMAR), Inter-Korean Relations, Kim Chong-un inspections, Kim Jong Un Visits, Kim Jong-un, KJI Personal Secretariat, Korean People's Army (KPA), Korean People's Army Supreme Command, Korean People's Internal Security Forces, Korean Workers' Party (KWP), KPA basic party organizations, KPA General Political Bureau, KPA General Political Department, KPA General Staff, KPA infantry corps, KPA Supreme Command, kpif, Lt. Gen. Pang Kwan Bok (GS/Training Bureau), Military Affairs, military security command [msc], ministry of people's security, Ministry of State Security, Ministry of the People's Armed Forces (MPAF), MPAF GPB, North Korean press, Notification, Operations Department, Organization and Guidance Department, Political Bureau, Pyongyang Defense Command, Reconnaissance Bureau, reserve training units, State Affairs Commission, State Security Department, Storm Corps, XI Army Corps (SOF)