North Korea gave gifts to the wives of submarine unit commanders on International Women’s Day, Daily NK has learned.
The gift-giving comes as North Korea stresses the importance of strengthening its navy as the regime urges preparations for war.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a Daily NK source in the North Korean military said last Friday that the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army gave sets of “Morning Dew” cosmetics to the political departments of submarine units of the East Sea and West Sea fleets on Mar. 4. The bureau said that the gifts were handed out on orders from Kim Jong Un.
These gifts from Kim were intended for the wives of submarine commanders to mark International Women’s Day on Mar. 8. On Mar. 5, the day after the political departments received the gifts, the units held separate political ceremonies in their assembly halls to distribute the gifts.
The General Political Bureau, the Navy Command and the commanders-in-chief of the political departments of the headquarters of the East Sea and West Sea Fleets personally visited the units to conduct the ceremony and distribute the gifts.
According to the source, the General Political Bureau handed out a set of cosmetics to each of the wives of the submarine unit commanders, telling them that the gifts represented “the comrade Supreme Commander’s true parental love for the commanders of the submarines and submersibles of the Navy.”
They emphasized that “the commanders of the submarine units must remember that training is war and prepare to carry out their assigned duties with excellence, and the wives must support their husbands who are entrusted with such a vital mission.”
In conveying Kim’s gratitude, the General Political Bureau also asked the commanders’ wives to “take good care” of the submarine crews.
“The wives of the submarine unit commanders were touched and very happy to receive such good cosmetics,” the source said.
North Korea has repeatedly stressed the importance of strengthening its navy, and the latest gifts to submarine commanders’ wives appears to be aimed at boosting the morale of naval commanders and the navy as a whole.
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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