Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, made a speech at a banquet for celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) on February 7.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said:

Comrade generals, commanding officers of the heroic Korean People’s Army present in this significant place,

Today is the 75th birthday of our army.

At this moment when I recollect the proud history of the KPA, which has written an epic of glorious tradition, brilliant victory and honour in the long course of struggle spanning 27 395 days since the day when its birth was welcomed with cheers, I remember the unforgettable names and images of the service personnel of the preceding generations who devoted themselves to defending the vigorous advance of the ever-victorious Korean revolution and boosting the invincibility and mightiness of our state.

I also remember the images of all the service personnel of the KPA firmly standing on the front-line, border and other posts and socialist construction sites to defend the eternal prosperity of the motherland and the well-being and happiness of the people even at this moment of glory this evening.

Upon authorization by our Party and government, I pay high tribute to the anti-Japanese revolutionary forerunners who provided the origin of the tradition of victory immortal in the history of the hard-fought struggle of the revolutionary armed forces, and to the fallen soldiers of the People’s Army, the respected veterans and the army commanding officers of the preceding generations who passed away.

I also extend warm congratulations to all the officers and men of the KPA and the armed forces of the DPRK through you, commanding officers and generals at all levels present here.

My best wishes and heartfelt thanks also go to all the people including officers’ wives who have absolutely supported and encouraged our Party’s line of building a powerful army and its defence policy, sent their beloved husbands and children to the posts of national defence and devoted themselves to strengthening the defence capabilities of the country.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said that such a heroic and patriotic army remaining faithful to its cause as the KPA can be found nowhere else in the world and everybody knows its devotion to defending the Korean revolution without any vacillation despite the harsh challenges, and hoped that the officers and men of the KPA, who have always gone to the trouble of overcoming hardships, would celebrate their holiday deservedly, proudly, honourably and significantly amid the blessings of all the people today, the day of army founding, even though it is one day.

He further said:

Comrade generals and officers and men of the People’s Army,

What force drives the unprecedentedly arduous Korean revolution, what makes our state invincible and how will our ideal and future be shaped?

The most veritable answer to this and the fairest appreciation by history are found in the 75-year history of our army.

The more we look back on how our revolutionary cause has been defended, how our Party’s ideas and lines have been safeguarded and how our national flag has fluttered at the peak of honour in the turbulent history, the more we value the precious blood shed by our army officers and men for victory and their countless feats.

In the initial period after its founding, our army made clear its inherent mission of sharing the destiny with the Party and started a long bloody journey to remain faithful to it. This constituted a key factor that made our history of army building be the one that can never be separated from the history of struggle of the Party, the revolution, the country and the people, and enabled its 75-year history to be recorded in the grandest way.

A history of righteous strength was made on this land, proving through a hard-won victory the truth that the dignity and honour are only given to the strong and the validity of the revolutionary cause is verified only through victory, and independence and self-sufficiency are only guaranteed by self-reliance in defence.

The army of the Party, the army of the people, the army of the government and the army of the class which defends and realizes everything the dearest and most urgent to our destiny and future, and the army that shoulders hardships before anyone else and is ready to make sacrifices—these are the precious names that our People’s Army has won at the cost of blood and lives and that should be maintained from one century to the next and from one generation to the next.

What we value more than anything else and are fully proud of today is the fact that the baton of the revolutionary army of the Party, the history and tradition of loyalty, has been steadily carried forward.

Even under the present harsh circumstances, our army is demonstrating its inexhaustible strength as the armed forces of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the vanguard of the class. This is from A to Z attributable to the fact that the red soul, the noble mission, the staunch revolutionary spirit and the fighting spirit of death-defying resistance the first generation of the revolutionary armed forces charged in their weapons have remained unchanged even today when its fifth and sixth generations have appeared.

The highest honour of the 75-year history of our People’s Army lies in the great succession, which continues staunchly and vigorously despite the passage of time and the storms of history.

I am quite sure that though commanding officers and soldiers of the new generation, forming the main force of our revolutionary armed forces, have experienced neither a grim revolutionary war nor a difficult period of the revolution, they have inherited the absolute loyalty peculiar to our People’s Army and the characteristic features of the preceding generations, who shed blood and sweat and sacrifice themselves without hesitation, if the revolution calls for it.

Our servicepersons have fought vigorously not only in the frontline combat positions where they confront the enemy directly but also in all parts of the country where legendary victories and miracles are made and the red military colours associated with their loyalty and patriotic traditions are fluttering.

Whenever I see our service personnel fighting unyieldingly with the might of the will surpassing their mental and physical limitations in the theatres of defending the national sovereignty and the people and epoch-making creation, I cannot but make a bow to them.

As our army cherishes a noble view of life that there is only honour on the road of sharing the destiny with the Party and carrying out its orders, I have thought of our army when the situation of the country is difficult and entrusted it with greater tasks of struggle, and our army has never hesitated to respond to the Party’s call.

When I am determined to share the destiny with our army, feeling the greatest honour of being the Supreme Commander who leads such a laudable army, I feel the greatest delight.

Lots of changes have been made and the appearance of our army has changed beyond recognition for a long period since its early days, but the looks of our faithful army, which always stands firmly in the van of the revolution, come rain or shine, and shoulders the heavy burden that no one can dare to do, remain unchanged.

Its succeeding as well as its pioneering were so great that our army was able to win the fulfilling call of the times and history as the strongest army in the world.

Kim Jong Un said that our army’s gallant, dignified, strong and resolute looks are a trait peculiar to it based on the extraordinary pride and strong self-respect that its life is devoted to the greatest sacred cause and its arms serve the most righteous cause in the world, and the display of an irresistible might unique to our army that comes from the unusual sense of responsibility and superhuman will that it can neither be broken nor fall until it has fulfilled the duty entrusted by the Party Central Committee.

Noting that the appearance of our state growing more powerful and stronger in the face of hardships and ordeals is a mirror of the fighting army and the names of the heroic service personnel shine along with the peak of the dignity of our people, he said with pride. He continued: There are hundreds of countries and not a few armies boasting of their long history and traditions in the world, but it is only the KPA that shares life and death with the Party, the country and the people, adds to their prestige and greatness and defends their high honour and rosy future in the whole course of its development.

He declared that the DPRK has finally cultivated a great and absolute strength, overcoming indescribable pains and sufferings for the sake of the eternal peace, genuine prosperity and development on this land and for the good of the coming generations.

He said that the KPA should brave trials as always, holding higher the slogans “Let the People’s Army take charge of both national defence and socialist construction!” and “When the Party is determined, we can do anything!”

I never doubt that you will be as brave as always, dedicating your lives to the eternal prosperity of the country and the wellbeing of the people, true to the letters written on the glorious military colours.

He went on to say:

Affirming that I will always share life and death, weal and woe with you, I entrust you and our People’s Army with the forefront of the revolution.

I wish all of you good health and hope that you will become commanding officers making selfless and devoted efforts for the good of our soldiers.

I entrust you with our officers and men.

Let us all redouble efforts and work harder to strengthen and develop our army and to achieve the prosperity and development of our socialist country.

I hope, with my hand on my heart, that the wellbeing of the people and the peace of the country will be promoted in proportion to the efforts made by the KPA.

I would like to propose a toast to the health of army generals present here and to the health of the officers and men of the entire army, to the glory of the KPA and to the eternity of its great honour.

Long live the Korean People’s Army, an ever-victorious heroic army!