North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country has come a long way in building a powerful army but weapons without ideology are simply "ironware", as he stressed loyalty to some of its most elite military cohorts, state media reported on Tuesday.
Kim's remarks at the Kim Il Sung University of Politics come at a time of political uncertainties at home with many of the more than its 10,000 troops fighting for Russia against Ukraine reportedly suffering heavy losses.
As the Korean People's Army (KPA) aims to become the world's strongest military, and the focus of the mission should be "none other than the political, ideological, spiritual and moral advantages of the army of the Party and the people," Kim said.
"Saying that arms without ideology are little short of ironware ... he clarified building the KPA should be invariably and thoroughly oriented toward giving priority to making the army politically, ideologically and morally strong," KCNA news agency reported.
The school is the training ground for officers who go on to serve in the powerful political apparatus of the country's more than 1 million active-duty military, exerting political control directed by the ruling Workers' Party.
Kim said the party highly appreciates "the matchless loyalty and heroism of overcoming hardship and sacrifice cheerfully if the country calls," adding the "ideological and moral superiority of the army means the qualitative superiority of the army."
Kim did not specifically mention the United States or South Korea in the speech, but has said the allies are responsible for raising regional tensions and vowed countermeasures including building more nuclear weapons, despite US President Donald Trump saying that he would be reaching out to Kim.
North Korea has also not formally acknowledged its military support for Russia in the Ukraine war.
