North Korea orders military loyalty lectures ahead of April 25 army anniversary
North Korea’s Korean People’s Army General Political Bureau (GPB), the military’s primary organ for political indoctrination, ordered a series of special lectures across the armed forces in late March to reinforce loyalty to the Paektu bloodline ahead of the April 25 Korean People&
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Kim Ju Ae operates a new-model tank during a combined infantry and tank unit tactical exercise at Pyongyang's 60th Training Base on March 19, 2026, as Kim Jong Un and military officers watch from above. Photo: Rodong Sinmun/News1
North Korea’s Korean People’s Army General Political Bureau (GPB), the military’s primary organ for political indoctrination, ordered a series of special lectures across the armed forces in late March to reinforce loyalty to the Paektu bloodline ahead of the April 25 Korean People’s Revolutionary Army founding anniversary, a Daily NK source within the North Korean military said Monday.
The GPB distributed ideological studymaterials declaring that “the Paektu bloodline is a peerless family that can carry forward the leadership lineage of our revolution, and its security must be upheld with a spirit of absolute devotion.” The lectures are ostensibly designed to promote Kim Jong Un’s leadership achievements in military strengthening and national defense, but the source said a clear secondary purpose is to drive deeper loyalty to the Paektu bloodline into the ranks.
The study materials distributed to units contain passages such as “all you need to do is trust in the Paektu bloodline,” “defending the Paektu bloodline with absolute devotion is the front line that protects the security of our state and our people,” and “the Paektu bloodline is a peerless family of extraordinary leaders born with special qualities.”
“Guiding star” language signals succession signaling
Notably, the materials reference Kim Jong Un’s daughter, Kim Ju Ae, as a “guiding star,” stopping short of naming her directly. The passage describes “the guiding star who is always by the Marshal’s side through life and death in the cause of protecting the security of the state and the people, and who watches over the entire process of the people’s growth together.” The “guiding star” honorific is terminology normally reserved for the supreme leader, making its application to Kim Ju Ae a pointed signal.
This is not the first time North Korean state media and official materials have applied the term to Kim Ju Ae. On March 15, 2024, state media used the expression in the plural after Kim Jong Un and Kim Ju Ae attended the inauguration of the Kangdong General Greenhouse complex near Pyongyang and observed airborne training exercises. Analysts at the time noted that the usage could indicate Kim Ju Ae had entered the line of succession, while others cautioned the term may have been used as a reference to the Paektu bloodline more broadly.
The materials also include an anecdote about Kim Jong Un personally teaching Kim Ju Ae how to drive a tank during his March 19 visit to the Pyongyang No. 60 Training Base under the Capital Defense Corps. That episode was widely reported by North Korean state media at the time.
Given that the special lectures are explicitly aimed at cementing the legitimacy of the Paektu bloodline, the reappearance of the “guiding star” expression appears intended to reinforce that narrative. The move may be designed to preempt internal resistance to a fourth-generation succession and to consolidate early loyalty within the military. By embedding the Paektu bloodline’s legitimacy as ideological bedrock, the regime appears to be laying the groundwork for a future power transfer.
The study materials also exhort soldiers to “take pride in serving this peerless family of greatness through the fourth and fifth generations, for 100 and 200 years,” and call on officers to build combat readiness and cultivate young soldiers as “all-capable fighters.”
Military drills and competitions set for April 25
In parallel with the ideological campaign, the Korean People’s Army General Staff and the Ministry of National Defense are quietly preparing a range of events to mark the April 25 anniversary, including marksmanship competitions, artillery firing competitions, and tactical training competitions, the source said.
“Orders have been issued for each corps to organize basketball, volleyball, soccer, and swimming competitions to build unit cohesion,” the source added. The combination of political indoctrination and competitive military exercises may reflect the regime’s effort to boost morale and tighten internal discipline against a backdrop of ongoing domestic and external tensions.
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