North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has asked education officials to foster military officers who remain "absolutely loyal" to the country's ruling Workers' Party.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) said on Tuesday that Kim made the call at the eighth conference of military education workers in Pyongyang over the weekend.
The KCNA said the party's Central Committee and Central Military Commission convened the conference to make a "radical turn" in education projects in line with the changing times.
Kim, who presided over the meeting, reportedly emphasized the need to prepare all military education workers to be true soldiers loyal to the ideas and leadership of the party.
He reportedly added that educators should bring up all cadets to be commanding officers who remain absolutely loyal to the Party Central Committee.
Kim appears to have called for boosting ideological education and military loyalty amid economic difficulties and prolonged border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.