What did Kim Jong-un tell North Korean company commanders to do to improve combat readiness?

Kim said commanders should prepare their units to be ready to fight a war by making training more strenuous and intensive. He also urged them to demonstrate loyalty and leadership through their units’ performance.

When and where did North Korea hold the Third Meeting of Company Leaders, and what made it notable?

Kim presided over the meeting in Pyongyang on Oct. 22 and 23. KCNA described it as the first gathering of the entire North Korean army since the Workers’ Party of Korea’s ninth congress in February.

Which senior North Korean officials attended Kim Jong-un’s photo session with army company leaders?

Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Central Military Commission, attended alongside Defense Minister Kim Song-gi and Korean People’s Army Chief of the General Staff Ri Yong-gil.

N. Korea's Kim calls for combat readiness at photo session with army company leaders

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Summary

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un urged company commanders to intensify training and improve combat readiness at a photo session in Pyongyang on Tuesday. He called preparing their units for war their primary revolutionary task. Kim said commanders should demonstrate loyalty and leadership by making their units more capable. He had presided over the Third Meeting of Company Leaders on Oct. 22 and 23.

Key Facts

The meeting was the first gathering of North Korea’s entire army since the Workers’ Party of Korea’s ninth congress in February, KCNA reported.
Kim said the way to prepare units for war was to bring about a radical improvement in strenuous and intensive training.
Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Central Military Commission, Defense Minister Kim Song-gi and Korean People’s Army Chief of the General Staff Ri Yong-gil attended the photo session.
At the meeting, Kim instructed commanders to preserve the army’s character as the army of the Party and of ideology and core elements.

By Yonhap

Published Oct 28, 2026 8:26 am KST

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un speaks at a meeting with military company commanders in Pyongyang, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency on Saturday. Yonhap

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has urged company commanders to intensify training and sharpen combat readiness, calling it their "primary revolutionary task," state media reported Wednesday.

He made the remark Tuesday at a photo session with participants in the Third Meeting of Company Leaders of the Korean People's Army (KPA), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Pak Jong-chon, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK); Defense Minister Kim Song-gi; and KPA Chief of the General Staff Ri Yong-gil were with the leader.

"The primary revolutionary task of the company leaders is to round off the combat preparations of their units for getting fully ready for fighting a war and the way for its implementation is to bring about a radical improvement in the strenuous and intensive training," Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA.

He said their loyalty and leadership should be demonstrated through successes in turning their units into "a-match-for-a-hundred ranks with firm revolutionary faith, patriotic spirit and matchless heroic mettle and fighting efficiency," the report said.

The future of building a strong army looked "immensely rosy thanks to them," he added.

Kim had presided over the meeting on Oct. 22 and 23 in Pyongyang, where he told the commanders "to build the strongest army and accelerate the Korean-style military revolution by training the strongest companies."

Kim also instructed them to "firmly carry forward the true nature of our army as the army of the Party and the army of ideology and core elements."

The meeting was the first gathering of the North's entire army since the party's ninth congress in February, the KCNA said.

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