Kim Jong Un marks special forces anniversary with rest order and ideological crackdown
North Korea issued a special order to its special operations forces on April 3, 2026, marking the first anniversary of leader Kim Jong Un’s visit to a special operations training base. The order combined a day of rest for enlisted troops with a sweeping political education campaign focused on
Daily NK
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North Korea issued a special order to its special operations forces on April 3, 2026, marking the first anniversary of leader Kim Jong Un’s visit to a special operations training base. The order combined a day of rest for enlisted troops with a sweeping political education campaign focused on military discipline and ideological commitment.
A Daily NK source in North Pyongan province said on Wednesday that the order was issued jointly in the name of the Supreme Commander, the Ministry of National Defense, and the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army (KPA), the North Korean military’s top operational command. It was handed down the afternoon of April 3.
The order directed that all enlisted soldiers across the KPA’s special operations forces be given a full day off in honor of the anniversary of Kim’s April 4, 2025, visit, during which he personally observed and directed comprehensive training exercises. Going forward, the order stipulates that the date is to be observed annually: enlisted troops will be given a special rest day each year, while commanding officers take over their combat duties in their place.
Discipline and ideology take center stage
Beyond the rest day, the order tasked all special operations units with conducting intensive political study sessions and large-scale ideological education campaigns to mark the anniversary. The source said commanders were instructed not to treat the occasion as a simple act of commemoration, but to use it as an opportunity for a forceful ideological campaign targeting persistent discipline problems within the military, particularly desertion.
Political departments within each unit led the anniversary education drive. The sessions repeatedly screened photos and video footage of Kim firing a sniper rifle during the April 2025 visit, with commanders using the imagery to reinforce a message attributed to Kim: “For a soldier who holds a gun, patriotism means being fully prepared to fight.” Troops were urged to embrace that standard with the spirit of “one soldier worth a hundred.”
Commanders also stressed that soldiers must keep pace ideologically with the modern weapons systems now being issued to the KPA. The sessions hammered the point that marksmanship training alone is insufficient, and that ideological discipline must match technical capability. A soldier lacking “ideological preparedness,” the education materials argued, cannot be considered a true soldier.
The source said the political study sessions, which were squarely focused on tightening internal military discipline, left special operations troops with a noticeably heightened sense of tension.
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