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, met major commanding officers including the commanders of the large combined units of the Korean People’s Army at the office building of the WPK Central Committee on December 31 last year to highly praise the KPA’s feats in 2023 and give them a pep talk.

The commanders expressed their heartfelt thanks to Kim Jong Un for showing them deep loving care and placing his trust in them again after glorifying 2023 with eye-opening successes and events in bolstering up the national defence capability with his outstanding military idea and energetic leadership and clearly indicating a plan for army building at the historic December plenary meeting of the WPK Central Committee.

He highly praised the feats performed by the service personnel in defending the country and building socialism all the year round, regarding the boundless loyalty to the Party and the people and the spirit of absoluteness and unconditionality in implementing the orders and instructions as their lifeblood, and extended his warm thanks and New Year greetings to all the service personnel through the commanders.

Analyzing in detail again the critical security environment on the Korean peninsula inching closer to the brink of armed conflict as the days go by and the nature of the US and other hostile forces' military confrontation moves, he said that the situation indicates the urgency to further sharpen the treasured sword for safeguarding the security and peace of the DPRK and perfect the army's regular military response posture.

Referring to the importance of the great responsibility and role of the commanders who are responsible for the destiny of the country and the people and standing guard at the outpost for national defence, he stressed the need to make it a fait accompli that armed conflict may occur any time due to the reckless provocations of the enemy and thoroughly carry out the militant tasks assigned by the WPK plenary meeting to the revolutionary armed forces.

The more dynamically the Korean revolution advances, the more desperately the US imperialists and the ROK clan try to stop it, he said, stressing that our army should frustrate any forms of provocations of the enemy without fail with firm hostility toward the enemy and transparent viewpoint on the principal enemies, and that if the enemy opt for military confrontation and provocation against the DPRK, our army should deal a deadly blow to thoroughly annihilate them by mobilizing all the toughest means and potentialities without a moment’s hesitation.

He expressed belief that all the service personnel of the entire army would register bigger successes in implementing the Party’s line of building a powerful army and its military policy with due self-confidence and pride that their arms serve the most just cause in the world, bearing in mind the trust and expectation of the Party and the people, and thus glorify 2024 as a new heyday of strengthening the war preparations.

All the commanding officers made a firm pledge to remain absolutely loyal to and obey the idea and leadership of the Party Central Committee and fully guarantee the invincibility of the revolutionary cause, prosperity of the country and happiness of the people with the irresistible military super-power, and thus discharge their noble mission and duty as the armed forces of the WPK and the vanguard of the class.