▲ North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un (C) attends a concert marking the 80th founding anniversary of the Central Military Band of the Ministry of National Defense on April 28, 2026, in this photo carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

NK leader-military band

N. Korea's Kim attends concert marking 80th founding anniv. of key military band

SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has attended a concert marking the 80th founding anniversary of a key military band, calling it a symbol of the country's armed forces, state media reported Wednesday.

The concert was held the previous day to commemorate the founding anniversary of the Central Military Band of the Ministry of National Defense, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The event was also attended by key military and party officials, including Defense Minister No Kwang-chol and Kim Song-gi, director of the military's general political bureau.

The North Korean leader praised the military band as displaying a "tremendous might incomparable with any military hardware," noting it has encouraged the Korean People's Army (KPA) with revolutionary military music for decades.

Kim "highly appreciated that the Central Military Band ... is the face of our state and symbol of the KPA," according to the KCNA.

Kim has recently ramped up inspections of military units to encourage troops in an apparent bid to boost internal solidarity on the occasion of the country's key anniversaries, including the April 15 birthday of late state founder Kim Il-sung.

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