Flashpoints | Security | East Asia

Kim Jong Un Convenes a Military-Wide Commander Meeting

The North Korean leader called for restructuring the army’s training system and reinforcing front-line units along the southern border, as Pyongyang deepens its push to redefine the security landscape of the Korean Peninsula.

In this photo provided by North Korean state media, Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un poses for a photograph with military commanders during a meeting on May 17, 2026.

Kim Jong Un, the autocratic leader of North Korea, met with division and brigade commanders from across the Korean People’s Army on May 17, calling for sweeping changes to the military’s training system and organizational structure. 

According to a report published on May 18 in the North’s state-controlled media Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the meeting was held at the Party Central Committee headquarters in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, with the attendance of senior military figures including Ri Yong Gil, chief of the KPA General Staff, and Pak Jong Chon, an adviser to the Ministry of National Defense.

Kim said the training system must be overhauled to reflect the changing nature of modern warfare and ordered a restructuring of the military’s organizational and technical setup. He also directed commanders to redefine operational concepts across all domains in line with the KPA’s accelerating modernization.

“We are building a powerful army and affirmed that as already clarified, if the tasks for the period of the Five-Year Plan are carried out, preparedness of the KPA’s strategic action will be renewed beyond comparison with the present and a great change will be made in an aspect of deterring war,” Kim was quoted as saying in KCNA report. 

With this, Kim singled out the southern........

© The Diplomat