While still praised as the country’s guiding ideology, Kim Jong Il’s Songun (military-first) idea is now declining in actual influence over North Korean state strategy, Kyongnam University professor Kim Keun-sik said in an interview with NK News.

Kim Jong Un, now having a firm grip on leadership, has rebalanced the party-military relationship by weakening the armed forces, which had become bloated under his father’s reign, and seeks to diversify North Korea’s foreign policy partners, Kim said.

In the first part of two-part interview with NK News, Kim talked about a number of issues, including his assessment of North