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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (center) sits for a photo with the nation’s top military commanders, in this photo that ran with a front-page story in the party-run newspaper the Rodong Sinmun on April 30. (screen capture from the Rodong Sinmun website)

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expressed the determination of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) “to surely maintain the absolute superiority of our revolutionary armed forces and constantly develop it to preemptively and thoroughly contain and frustrate all dangerous attempts and threatening moves, including ever-escalating nuclear threats from hostile forces,” the party-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported in its cover story on Saturday.

Kim made these comments at the headquarters of the WPK Central Committee while taking commemorative photographs with the leaders of the Korean People’s Army who had planned events including the military parade marking the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army on April 25.

“In the present world, where a force clashes with another fiercely and one can preserve one's dignity, rights and interests only when one gets stronger, the tremendous offensive power, the overwhelming military muscle that no force in the world can provoke, is the lifeline guaranteeing the security of our country and people and the future of posterity,” Kim said.

The meeting was attended by WPK Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Pak Jong-chon, Defense Minister Ri Yong-gil, and commanders of the army’s services and corps.

By Lee Je-hun, senior staff writer

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