North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to root out "evil" and scolded lazy officials while praising his troops fighting with Russia against Ukraine, state media said Friday, capping a major meeting of Pyongyang's top brass.
The three-day meeting of the regime's central committee discussed key policy issues as well as plans for a congress of its ruling party, expected in early 2026 -- North Korea's first in five years.
Wrapping up the meeting on Thursday, Kim condemned "the wrong ideological viewpoint and inactive and irresponsible work attitude" of some officials, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
He called on officials to have "greater confidence in and courage for the future of our cause and struggle".
State media did not offer specifics, though it did say the ruling party had revealed numerous recent "deviations" in discipline -- a euphemism for corruption.
The North Korean leader reserved praise for Pyongyang's soldiers fighting against Ukraine alongside Russia, of whom at least 600 have died and thousands more sustained wounds, according to South Korean estimates.
Their work, Kim said, "demonstrated to the world the prestige of our army and state as the ever-victorious army and genuine protector of international justice".
'Modern' armed forces
Analysts say Pyongyang is receiving financial aid, military technology, food and energy supplies from Russia in return for sending troops.
Kim's mention of the troops "signaled Pyongyang's intention to maintain that deployment", Ahn Chan-il, a researcher originally from North Korea, told AFP.
"North Korea is also highly likely to seek a role in post-war reconstruction in Russia once... the conflict ends," he added.
Kim also hailed efforts this year in "modernizing" the country's defenses in the face of great "global geopolitical and technological changes".
Pyongyang's central committee began meeting on Tuesday, the same day North Korea fired a salvo of artillery from a multiple rocket launcher system, which analysts say could strike the South.
Last week, South Korea's dovish President Lee Jae Myung said he felt an apology was due to the North over his predecessor's alleged order to send drones and propaganda leaflets across the border.
Pyongyang has not responded to the overture from Lee, who has sought to mend fractured ties with the North.
And Friday's readout made no mention of South Korea or the United States, whose leader Donald Trump had hoped to meet Kim during a visit to Asia in October.
The pair -- who Trump once famously declared were "in love" -- last met in 2019 at Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas after the US leader extended an invitation to Kim on Twitter.
But analysts now say that the North Korean leader, increasingly emboldened by his growing ties with Russia, had few good reasons to join the photo-op.
