North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has issued an order to the entire military calling for sweeping promotions ahead of the 80th birthday of late leader Kim Jong Il.
This suggests Kim wants to bolster army morale and encourage loyalty while remaining true to the celebratory spirit of the period.
A Daily NK source in the North Korean military said Wednesday that an order “in the name of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces” was issued on Saturday morning calling for reorganizations and promotions of the army’s commanders.
According to the source, a similar order was handed down for Kim’s birthday last year, too, followed by the promotions of military officers.
While Kim has pursued “party-first politics,” he has also long emphasized that he inherited the legitimacy of his father, who pursued “military-first politics,” or songun.
However, unlike Kim’s previous orders – which focused on one-star promotions for generals such as corps commanders and political officers – this order calls for promotions of field-grade officers at headquarter units and corps commands.
With Kim handing out “gift” promotions to so many officers, some North Koreans point out the move is quite extraordinary compared to last year, when Kim did not make even a single visit to a military unit.
Some North Koreans also speculate that Kim felt politically pressured to hand out promotions to the military in the first year of the decade according to North Korea’s Juche calendar, which begins with the year of birth of Kim Il Sung, North Korea’s founder.
The year 2022 is Year 110 according to the calendar.
Daily NK has not confirmed specific promotions of military officers so far. However, people speculate that the promotions will focus on personnel involved in the development of the military’s priority weapons, such as hypersonic and ballistic missiles. This means Kim has likely moved to hand down the promotions to underscore the strengthening of national defense during his first decade in power.
Meanwhile, North Korean media confirmed on Tuesday that Kwon Yong Jin, the director of the army’s General Political Bureau, was demoted from vice marshal to army general.
Kwon is in charge of the military’s party activities and personnel affairs.
His demotion means the authorities are continuing attempts to “keep cadres in line” even as they hand out promotions.
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