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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a joint meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea, the government, and the military on Friday, urging "intensified" education and oversight to prevent corruption among military officials.
"It is a lesson taught by the recent case that if we fail to steadily intensify education and control to prevent the officials from getting contaminated with irregularities and corruption and abandoning Party principles, it is impossible to prevent such wrongdoings," he said, according to the Korean Central News Agency on Saturday.
The case involved Pak Hui Chol, the former vice director for organizational affairs at the Korean People's Army's General Political Bureau, and his associates, who were accused of accepting large bribes, facilitating the sale of official posts, and committing what Pyongyang described as "political fraud" within the military.
The Supreme Court of North Korea "sharply condemned extra-large scandal corrupt elements for their crimes and imposed penalties on them," the statement said.
Kim said during his concluding speech at the meeting that the case was "a political crime against the Party's line of building discipline and a deliberate act of embezzlement and plunder against the interests of the state and the people."
He cautioned the discipline inspection units at all levels and stressed that all the officials should keep "principle and uprightness as their lifeblood and should be mindful of the Party's trust and think of the people first."
The Party Central Committee stands for strengthening "the organizational and ideological offensive for transforming the ranks of cadres into an elite and the legal struggle for rooting out irregularities and corruption," Kim added.
North Korea rejects US, Japan, South Korea's denuclearization call
Separately, on Saturday, North Korea expressed "serious concern" while "strongly condemning and rejecting" the remarks of the US, Japan, and South Korea at the recent NATO summit calling for Pyongyang's "complete denuclearization" and stronger cooperation against cyber threats.
A Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused the three countries of fueling instability through military buildups while using what it called politically motivated criticism of sovereign states to justify strengthening military alliances.
The spokesperson said that North Korea's nuclear status is "irreversible" as well as the "final conclusion both theoretically and practically," arguing instead that denuclearization concerns should focus on Japan and South Korea's "attempts" to "go nuclear" under US support, as well as NATO members hosting US nuclear weapons.
The spokesperson added that Pyongyang would continue to strengthen its capabilities to defend its sovereignty, security interests, and regional peace and stability.
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