North Korea calls for its 1.2 million troops to show greater loyalty to Kim

Country urges soldiers to unite behind leader as it marks his 10th anniversary as supreme commander

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un attends the eighth conference of military educationists of the Korean People's Army at the April 25 House of Culture in Pyongyang. Korean Central News Agency / AFP

Kim Jong-un attends a military parade marking the ruling party congress at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang in January 2021. KCNA / AP

Kim Jong-un is applauded by a military unit after what North Korea claimed was a test firing of its 'super-large' multiple rocket launcher in November 2019. KCNA / AP

Kim Jong-un rides a horse to climb Mount Paektu in North Korea in October 2019. KCNA / AP

Kim Jong-un and former US president Donald Trump shake hands over the military demarcation line at the border village of Panmunjom in the demilitarised zone in June 2019. KCNA / AP

Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in raise their hands after signing a joint statement in Panmunjom in April 2018. Korea Summit Press Pool / AP

Kim Jong-un inspects a launch drill of the medium and long-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 at an undisclosed location in September 2017. KCNA / AFP

Kim Jong-un smiles with soldiers after inspecting the multiple-rocket launching drill of the women's sub-units under the Korean People's Army Unit 851 at an undisclosed location in North Korea, April 2014. KCNA / AFP

Kim Jong-un talks to former NBA star Dennis Rodman as they watch an exhibition basketball game at an indoor stadium in Pyongyang in January 2014. KCNA / AP

Kim Jong-un inspects a mass parade of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards at Kim Il-sung Square in Pyongyang to mark the 65th anniversary of national foundation day, September 2013. KCNA / AFP

Kim Jong-un visits watch posts of KPA Unit 507 in the Kangwon province of North Korea, June 2013. KCNA / AFP

Kim Jong-un enjoys the ride as he attends the completion ceremony of the Rungna People's Pleasure Ground in Pyongyang in July 2012. KCNA / AP

Kim Jong-un is surrounded by members of the Korean Children's Union in Pyongyang in June 2012. KCNA / AFP

Kim Jong-un attends a meeting of the Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang in April 2012. KCNA / AFP

Kim Jong-un aims a gun on an inspection tour of the Sporting Bullet Factory in Pyongyang in February 2012. KCNA / AFP

Kim Jong-un salutes besides the convoy carrying the body of his father and late leader Kim Jong-il at Kumsusan Memorial Palace in Pyongyang in December 2011. KCNA / AFP

Late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il with his son Kim Jong-un on the balcony as they attend a military parade marking the 65th anniversary of the communist nation's ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, October 2010. Kyodo News / AP

Kim Il-sung with his son and chosen successor, Kim Jong-il in November 1986. KCNA / AFP

North Korea on Thursday urged its 1.2 million troops to unite behind leader Kim Jong-un and defend him with their lives as it marked the 10th anniversary of his ascension to supreme commander of the military.

Earlier this month, North Korea commemorated 10 years since the death of former leader Kim Jong-il.

Born in January 1984, Kim Jong-un is the youngest son of Kim Jong-il.

After his father's death from a sudden heart attack on December 17, 2011, he assumed power, beginning a period of manoeuvres back and forth with the outside world.

The anniversary of Mr Kim's ascension comes as North Korea is holding a key multi-day political conference in which officials are expected to discuss how to address difficulties brought by the pandemic and long-dormant diplomacy with the US.

Some experts say Mr Kim has been grappling with the toughest moment of his 10-year rule due to the coronavirus pandemic, UN sanctions and his own mismanagement.

In a lengthy editorial, the official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said that North Korea's military commanders and soldiers must become an “impregnable fortress and bulletproof walls in devotedly defending (Kim) with their lives”.

It also called for the building of a more modern, advanced military that serves as a “reliable guardian of our state and people”. The editorial said all of North Korea’s troops and people must uphold Kim’s leadership to establish a powerful socialist country.

Observers say North Korea will be likely to disclose Mr Kim’s stances on relations with Washington and Seoul, the deadlocked nuclear diplomacy and the economic hardships at the end of the plenary meeting expected later this week.

An arsenal of as many as 60 nuclear weapons, by some estimates, with the means to add as many as 18 more a year, has allowed Mr Kim to solidify domestic unity and achieve some measure of the global prestige he’s long coveted.

Crushing UN sanctions over that weapons build-up may be giving Mr Kim the hardest moment of his rule, observers say, but those weapons are no closer to being wrenched away by outside negotiators than they were when his father died.

Mr Kim has staged an unusually large number of weapons tests. And four of North Korea’s six nuclear test explosions and all of its three intercontinental ballistic missile tests have happened during his rule.