The Rodong Sinmun, North Korea’s state-run newspaper, reported on Tuesday that Kim Yong-bok, First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army, denounced the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS). Kim criticized the deployment of American stealth fighters, including F-35s, to the Korean Peninsula during the exercise, labeling it as the logic of brazen warmongers.
The newspaper, serving as the mouthpiece for the ruling Workers’ Party, published Kim’s statement on its third page. It underlined that it is widely acknowledged that large-scale war games, conducted by the world’s largest nuclear power in collaboration with over ten allied nations against a single country in a region that is legally still at war, cannot possibly be considered defensive by any standard.
On the front page, the Rodong Sinmun spotlighted Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un’s youth-centric ideology. The paper quoted Kim Jong Un as stating that the country is a political and ideological powerhouse, a military powerhouse, and a youth powerhouse, the latter being the most crucial. The newspaper also emphasized the importance of ideological education for the youth, who are expected to carry forward the revolutionary legacy.
Page 2 reported on Prime Minister Park Tae-sung’s inspection of the Chollima Steel Complex and farms in the Mangyongdae District. Park underscored the necessity of leveraging scientific technology and driving renovations in the production process to significantly reduce electric furnace melting times.
The fourth page featured stories of military families participating in support campaigns for the armed forces. Their efforts were described as a journey of blood ties, with any hardships endured being regarded as a source of pride and joy. An editorial urged citizens to contribute to strengthening the socialist homeland with unwavering conscience and burning patriotism.
Page 5 highlighted achievements in the development of high-efficiency automatic valves by workers and scientists from the Ministry of Machine Industry and the Muncheon Valve Factory. The party leadership called on local organizations to prioritize rural development initiatives.
The sixth page focused on a renewable energy power plant and production base constructed by the Power Transmission and Distribution Department in North Pyongan Province. The facility includes new livestock areas, vegetable greenhouses, and mushroom cultivation sites. The newspaper emphasized that harnessing renewable energy not only yields economic benefits but also enables self-reliant development.