The North Korean military has designated February and March as a critical period for completing preparations for war, Daily NK has learned.
The move follows Kim Jong Un’s congratulatory visit to the defense ministry to mark the anniversary of the founding of the North Korean military on Feb. 8, where he again called South Korea the North’s No. 1 enemy and ordered the military to maintain combat readiness.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a Daily NK source inside the North Korean military said Monday that the General Staff Department issued a telegraphic order to the entire army on Feb. 13 titled, “Designating February and March as a critical period for completing war preparations in response to the given situation and conducting unit-specific troop training in a real combat atmosphere.”
The order also called for the “occupation and pacification of the territory of the Republic of Korea – the No. 1 enemy – in a time of emergency,” the source added.
The order appears to emphasize the special importance of February and March while calling on the entire military to maintain a high level of readiness. The emphasis is likely related to the fact that South Korea and the United States will hold the large-scale “Freedom Shield” military exercise in March.
In the order, the General Staff Department issued an order to train specialized military units. These troops include personnel with specialized skills in firepower, naval vessels, aircraft, sharpshooting, anti-air, command and communications (wired and wireless, sitrep recording, telegraph, and secure communications), chemical weapons, and reconnaissance.
“The General Staff Department designated February and March as months for intensifying wargames for specialized military units in each unit to maintain sufficient readiness to fight a war at any time,” the source said. “The department emphasized the improvement of the quality of the training of specialized military units and said it would frequently inspect the training of specialized troops and conduct unannounced evaluations in February and March.”
Construction mobilizations spark concern over combat readiness
In this regard, some military officials believe that the General Staff Department wants to intensify wargames focused on specialized military units to better prepare for war amid concerns that the government’s mobilization of military units to build regional factories could hurt war preparations, the source said.
In fact, the North Korean military needs to immediately mobilize troops to implement North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s “20×10” policy for regional development. According to the source, North Korea’s military authorities are responding to the resulting security vacuum by stepping up war games for specialized military units.
“In the latest order, the General Staff Department reiterated its warning against carelessness in political training during the winter combat exercises,” the source said. “Everyone is on alert as the authorities emphasize the intensified double and triple war readiness with the wargames for specialized military units in addition to the winter training.”
Since Kim’s ceremonial visit to the defense ministry, the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army has been hard at work indoctrinating soldiers, issuing propaganda materials to unit political departments that warn that “the enemies are rushing to completely rid us [North Korea] of our nuclear weapons through sweet talk of negotiations and lifting of sanctions,” and calling on troops to “respond to the enemies’ chronic military drills in February and March with an actual war.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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