General Phan Van Giang, Minister of National Defense and Chairman of the Steering Council, chaired the conference.
According to the report presented by Major General Nham Cao Thanh, Editor-in-Chief of the National Defense Journal, in 2025, the journal closely followed the guidance of the Steering Council, the Ministry of National Defense, and the General Department of Political Affairs, as well as developments in global, regional, and domestic situations related to military and defense tasks.
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General Phan Van Giang chairs the conference. |
During the year, the journal published 12 print issues, including two special editions. Its online version was strictly managed, with more than 720 articles updated, translated, and published in English and Chinese, and all content from the print version posted. It also curated hundreds of military and defense-related articles from other press agencies to publish, ensuring timeliness, scientific rigor, and safety. The journal’s website recorded over 8 million visits. Preparations are underway to launch the Russian, Lao, and Khmer versions on the online platform.
The journal maintained a balanced scale of articles across military units, localities, and regions, with close coordination in information dissemination activities. It sustained stable quality and quantity across regular sections, with increasingly comprehensive coverage of domestic and international military and defense events. In addition to regular sections, both print and online versions introduced special columns linked to major national events. The journal also continued promoting content to counter wrongful and hostile viewpoints in political and ideological domains, including manifestations of “self-evolution” and “self-transformation.”
The journal’s project on digital transformation for the 2026–2028 period has been implemented on schedule and with quality. In 2025, the journal won one A prize at the 9th National Press Award on Party Building and multiple other press awards organized by the military.
Speaking at the conference, General Phan Van Giang requested the journal to further promote research and information dissemination on the implementation of resolutions and directives on military and defense tasks in 2026. Priority should be given to topics such as training, combat readiness, exercises, building comprehensively strong units, discipline enforcement, disaster and epidemic prevention and response, as well as search and rescue operations across the military.
He also emphasized the need to disseminate experiences and results in military and defense work across units and localities; to promote building the whole-people defense posture, defensive areas, the militia force, and the military reserve force, in connection with strengthening the people's heart posture.
The journal should maintain effective communication on Party building within the military, highlighting exemplary models in studying and following Ho Chi Minh’s thought, morality, and lifestyle. It should continue publishing theoretically grounded and persuasive articles to counter hostile viewpoints and firmly protect the Party’s ideological foundation.
The defense minister said that the journal’s information dissemination must remain comprehensive and balanced across sections, regions, units, and authors, while increasing contributions from collaborators, especially scientists and leaders from the Ministry of National Defense and central and local agencies. The journal is encouraged to conduct regular readership surveys, closely monitor audience demand, and continuously innovate to improve quality and effectiveness.
At the same time, it should leverage existing technical infrastructure, develop new features to deliver content more efficiently, and focus on building a professional, capable, and ethically strong team of journalists, editors, and collaborators, General Phan Van Giang concluded.
Translated by Trung Thanh