(LEAD) N. Korea’s Kim oversees artillery firing contest on state founder’s birthday

(ATTN: UPDATES with more info in last 3 paras, photos)

SEOUL, April 16 (Yonhap) — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has overseen an artillery firing contest on the birth anniversary of state founder Kim Il-sung, grandfather of the current leader Kim, the North’s state media reported Thursday.

“Comrade Kim Jong-un … oversaw an artillery firing contest of artillery subunits under the large combined units of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) in the western area organized on April 15, the Day of the Sun,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Participating subunits demonstrated “militant marksmanship” and a “full war posture,” with the top spot going to the Capital City Defence Corps’ artillery subunit followed by the KPA’s 4th Corps, the KCNA said.

Kim expressed satisfaction with the firing contest held on the “greatest auspicious” national holiday, calling it “an important occasion” to boost artillery training enthusiasm and strengthen combat capability.

He called the utilization of artillery forces “the most important factor deciding the victory in operation and battle and furthermore in war,” urging the KPA to enhance artillery combat readiness and thoroughly implement modernization of artillery forces under a new five-year defense development plan.

“The KPA should be engrossed only in the training for rounding off the combat preparations,” Kim also said, adding that “it is precisely the way for realizing the great leader Comrade Kim Il-sung’s desire for building a powerful army.”

North Korea observes the founder’s birthday, known as the Day of the Sun, as one of the country’s most important national holidays.

The KCNA said Premier Pak Thae-song, Supreme People’s Assembly Chairman Jo Yong-won, and other party and government officials visited the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the founder’s embalmed body lies in state, on his birth anniversary.

Kim Jong-un does not appear to have visited the family mausoleum, with the KCNA reporting only that he sent a flower basket.

Since 2023, Kim has not paid respects at the mausoleum on the founder’s birthday for a fourth consecutive year, a move likely aimed at shifting loyalty from his grandfather, founder Kim Il-sung, and his father, late leader Kim Jong-il, toward himself.

pbr@yna.co.kr
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