An opposing interpretation of military-first politics suggests that Kim Jong-il transformed the country from a party-state
to a military-dominant regime. According to this view, military-first politics switched the locus of power from the party to the
military so that the latter directed the former: “[T]he military is so powerful that it is above the state. The military has now
become the supreme commander of the state, the party, and society, turning North Korea into a military garrison state” (Kim,
2006, p. 65). Military-first politics resulted in the institutional autonomy of the military from the party and the “institutional differentiation” between the two so that the former was not only the vanguard of state apparatuses, but also provided the
nation’s spirit and morale (Kim, 2006, p. 81).