The Supreme Guard Command (SGC), the military branch responsible for protecting the Kim family, carried out an ideological education program calling for absolute loyalty to the Baekdu bloodline.
The SGC’s political department issued study materials titled “We Protect Comrade Kim Jong Un with Our Lives” to subordinate units and ordered training sessions and discussions for all personnel, a Daily NK source reported recently.
The materials prominently featured the anti-Japanese guerrillas’ “spirit of defending the leader to the death.” They stated that “the Supreme Guard Command is not merely a bodyguard unit but a revolutionary force with the sacred mission of protecting the Baekdu bloodline like a shield.”
The materials presented the idea that the “Baekdu bloodline equals national legitimacy equals the Supreme Guard Command’s reason for existence,” emphasizing that each soldier must thoroughly internalize this concept.
This emphasis on bloodline loyalty appears connected to the increasing public appearances of Kim Jong Un’s daughter, known as “Ju-ae.” The move seems designed to expand loyalty beyond Kim Jong Un himself to include his family and bloodline while cementing that commitment.
The materials also described Guard Command soldiers as “living shields protecting the Workers’ Party and leader’s safety” and “living revolutionary outposts.” The materials added that “Guard soldiers are fighters who protect the Supreme Commander’s heart” and “must become those who can repay the leader’s great trust.”
SGC soldiers are considered “weapons” that protect the leader
The SGC subjects its personnel to ideological education at levels far exceeding regular units.
“The Supreme Guard Command protects the top leadership’s security, so its soldiers receive colonel-level political-ideological education,” the source said. “While other units often treat ideological programs as formalities, the SGC enforces them more thoroughly and intensively.”
“Supreme Guard Command soldiers must excel physically, but more importantly, they must be thoroughly armed politically and ideologically,” the source added. “They consider it an honor to be used as a weapon for the supreme commander’s well-being.”
Such ideological education programs designed to instill loyalty to the Baekdu bloodline and emphasize the importance of protecting it are expected to continue.
Translated by Kyungmin Kim.
