North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has greatly increased public activities , related to the army, in the period March-May. This is stated in a report by the state Korean Institute for National Unification, Yonhap agency reports, quoted by News.bg.
This comes after he vowed to deal with inter-Korean relations with increased hostility.
Kim participated in 33 public events during the three-month period ending in May. This is 59% more than the average of 20.7 recorded for the same period from 2021 to 2023.
Of these, 19 community activities are related to the military, which is 184% more than the three-year average of 6.7 activities.
The institute noted that Kim inspected or led military drills six times during the period under review, with five of those on-site inspections occurring in March, when North Korean troops completed winter military drills.
He led the military exercises involving paratroopers on March 15, as well as the "salvo" with artillery units using the 600 mm multiple launch rocket system in the western region three days later.
During the six-month period ending in May, Kim's number of public engagements reached 64, compared to an average over the previous three years of 44.3 engagements.
At a party meeting at the end of the year, Kim described inter-Korean relations as between "two countries hostile to each other" and stated that there is no point in seeking reconciliation and unification with South Korea.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kim Tok-hun made 11 public appearances in the March-May period, down from an average of 13.7 over the previous three years.
He did not carry out any independent public activity from May 7 until the end of the same month and did not attend the ruling Workers' Party Politburo meeting on May 24 for an unknown reason.
As for Choe Ryong-hye, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly, his public activities during the period were 13 - a sharp jump from the three-year average of four activities.
He may travel to China if Beijing holds an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries on October 6.