North Korean leader Kim Jong-un demanded “absolute loyalty and allegiance” from the military force and vowed to bolster the country’s defense capabilities in response to the “destabilizing situation” on the Korean Peninsula. Kim was speaking at the Workers’ Party’s five-day plenary meeting on Friday, which coincided with his tenth year anniversary of ruling since his father’s death in 2011. “The increasingly unstable military environment on the Korean Peninsula and international politics have instigated calls to vigorously push forward with our national defense build-up plans without any delay,” Kim was quoted saying by the official Korean Central News Agency. South Korea has been pushing for a declaration to end the 1950–53 Korean war, which ended in an armistice, as a way to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula. However, North Korea insists that any formal treaty to end the war must first be preceded by an end to U.S. “hostilities” toward …
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