▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (5th from L) joins a group photo session with commanding officers of the divisions and brigades of the army after holding a meeting with them, at the headquarters of the ruling Workers Party's Central Committee in Pyongyang on May 17, 2026, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (C, in black) holds a meeting with commanding officers of the divisions and brigades of the army in Pyongyang on May 17, 2026, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
▲ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (rear) holds a meeting with commanding officers of the divisions and brigades of the army in Pyongyang on May 17, 2026, in this photo released by the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) the next day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(2nd LD) NK leader-military meeting

(2nd LD) N. Korea's Kim chairs army commanders' meeting, orders southern border defense buildup

(ATTN: CHANGES lead, photos; UPDATES with more details throughout)

SEOUL, May 18 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has convened a meeting with commanding officers of the armed forces and called for reinforcement of front-line units on the southern border, state media reported Monday.

Kim made the call Sunday in a meeting with the commanders of the army's divisions and brigades, stressing that advancement of military technology at key units, particularly front-line forces, plays a critical role in effective deterrence of war, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

It marked the first such gathering since Kim took power in late 2011.

Urging the military to continue to heighten their awareness against North Korea's "arch" enemy, the North Korean leader highlighted the country's policy of turning the southern border into an "impregnable fortress" and strengthening the front-line units.

To this end, the country plans to remodel the military organizational structure and strengthen the first-line units and other major units as an "important decision to more thoroughly deter war," Kim said, according to the KCNA report.

He also emphasized the commanders' responsibility for building the world's "strongest" military and announced a policy to reform the training system with greater focus on practical drills suited to "modern warfare."

The meeting, attended by an estimated 180-250 commanding officers, was the largest of its kind and follows a push by Pyongyang to reinforce its front-line posture. Earlier this month, Kim ordered the military to deploy a new self-propelled howitzer along its southern border by the year's end.

Kim held a photo session with senior military commanders, including Ri Yong-gil, chief of the general staff of the Korean People's Army, and Pak Jong-chon, adviser to the North's defense ministry.

South Korea's unification ministry said in a regular briefing that the meeting appears to emphasize the need for military modernization and ideological discipline.

"It is also meant to serve to encourage and motivate the armed force," ministry spokesperson Yoon Min-ho said, adding, "The government will continue to closely monitor related developments."

North Korea has deployed troops near the inter-Korean border to plant mines, erect anti-tank barriers and reinforce barbed wire fences after its leader Kim declared inter-Korean ties as those between "two states hostile to each other" in late 2023.

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