Kim Jong Un orders intensified education to prevent army corruption

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Friday urged intensified education and oversight to prevent corruption among military officials during a joint meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea, the government, and the Korean People's Army — citing a recent high-profile bribery case as a warning to the armed forces.

Senior official convicted in bribery scandal

The case centers on Pak Hui Chol, the former vice director for organizational affairs at the Korean People's Army's General Political Bureau, who was accused alongside associates of accepting large bribes, facilitating the sale of official posts, and committing what Pyongyang described as "political fraud" within the military. The Supreme Court of North Korea "sharply condemned extra-large scandal corrupt elements for their crimes and imposed penalties on them," according to the Korean Central News Agency. Kim said during his concluding speech that the case was "a political crime against the Party's line of building discipline and a deliberate act of embezzlement and plunder against the interests of the state and the people."

He cautioned discipline inspection units at all levels and stressed that officials should keep "principle and uprightness as their lifeblood and should be mindful of the Party's trust and think of the people first." Kim noted that the Party Central Committee stands for strengthening "the organizational and ideological offensive for transforming the ranks of cadres into an elite and the legal struggle for rooting out irregularities and corruption." He warned that "if we fail to steadily intensify education and control to prevent the officials from getting contaminated with irregularities and corruption and abandoning Party principles, it is impossible to prevent such wrongdoings."

Pyongyang rejects NATO denuclearization demands

Separately, North Korea on Saturday expressed "serious concern" while "strongly condemning and rejecting" remarks by the US, Japan, and South Korea at the recent NATO summit calling for Pyongyang's "complete denuclearization" and stronger cooperation against cyber threats. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused the three countries of fueling instability through military buildups while using politically motivated criticism to justify strengthening military alliances. The spokesperson said that North Korea's nuclear status is "irreversible" as well as the "final conclusion both theoretically and practically," saying instead that denuclearization concerns should focus on Japan and South Korea's "attempts" to "go nuclear" under US support. Pyongyang will continue to strengthen its capabilities to defend its sovereignty and regional stability, the spokesperson added.