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, guided a training match between the large combined tankmen’s units of the Korean People’s Army on March 13.

He was accompanied by Pak Jong Chon, secretary of the Central Committee of the WPK and vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the WPK.

He was greeted on the spot by Kang Sun Nam, minister of National Defence of the DPRK, Ri Yong Gil, chief of the General Staff of the KPA, the vice-minister of National Defence in charge of equipment, the director of the tank department of the KPA General Staff and commanding officers of the large combined tankmen’s units of the KPA.

Commanding officers of the tank and mechanized units of the KPA at all levels watched the match.

The training match was aimed at strictly inspecting tankmen’s actual combat capabilities and making them get familiar with combat action methods on different tactical missions.

Tank crews selected from the combined units competed in the match.

The tank crews, who came out to the training ground with the joy and pride of showing their combat actions to Kim Jong Un, were full of militant confidence to give full play to their wisdom and courage as a-match-for-a-hundred tankmen who have tenaciously prepared themselves as fully-fledged riders of "iron horses" amid the flames of a revolution in training kindled by the Party.

Kim Jong Un mounted the observation post, where he received a report on the plan for the match.

When the beginning of the match was signalled, the tanks started making dashes reflecting the bravery of tankmen fully armed with the fighting spirit to annihilate the enemy.

Swiftly negotiating the various worst combat circumstances, the heavy tanks hit targets at once with powerful strikes and broke through strong defence lines with high maneuverability.

Watching with satisfaction the fierce advance of the tanks dashing ahead like wind, Kim Jong Un said with pleasure that it was quite spectacular and the grandiose looks of tanks seemed to mirror the bravery and audacity peculiar to the KPA.

The match fully demonstrated the perfect capability for actual war and matchless fighting spirit of the gallant tankmen who have grown to be strong combat ranks equipped with high mobility and striking power and the reliable performance of the tanks, one of the powerful means for fighting war and their full combat preparedness.

The Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division won the match with its overwhelming fighting efficiency.

Congratulating the division on its success, Kim Jong Un said with great satisfaction that the tankmen of the division are really well prepared, adding that he has so far guided the training of units of different services, arms and corps and sub-units of the KPA many times but none of them satisfied him more than the tankmen’s preparedness displayed at the match. He repeatedly expressed his great satisfaction, saying that if all the units and sub-units of the entire army are well prepared like the sub-units of the 105th Tank Division which participated in the match, he would never worry about the preparations for war.

Recalling that the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division is a unit with the proud history and tradition of having occupied the enemy capital, he highly praised the brave tankmen of the division, adding that he was really happy to see the indomitable soul and heroic mettle of the wartime guard tankmen still pulsate in the fighting spirit of the tankmen of the new generation.

He expressed great satisfaction over the fact that the new-type main battle tank successfully demonstrated its very excellent striking power and mobility, displaying its amazing combat capability for the first time in the tankmen’s match. He said it is something we can be proud of that the KPA is equipped with the most powerful tanks in the world.

He highly appreciated once again the untiring efforts the officers and men of the combined units have made to gird themselves for war while keeping highly alert, and set forth important tasks for making leaps forward in rounding off the preparations for war by giving fuller play to the elated fighting spirit.

Stressing the importance of the role and duty of tankmen in modern warfare, he underscored the need to organize intensive exercises simulating an actual war and training matches for enhancing combat capability so that they can carry out any combat mission promptly and accurately under various circumstances in contingency, and to take revolutionary measures to dynamically conduct the movement for becoming versatile tank crew and other mass movements, thoroughly subordinating and orienting the movements to perfecting war preparations

It is most important to prepare all tankmen of the army to be strongest in mental power like the wartime heroic tankmen who performed proud feats with matchless bravery, he said, calling on the tank units and sub-units at all levels to consistently conduct ideological education among them in combination with their practical activities so that they would fully display the heroic spirit of the preceding generations on battlefields.

He expressed expectation and belief that the brave tankmen of the KPA would always remain loyal to the struggle to prepare themselves to be one-match-for-a-hundred iron fists with a firm will to annihilate the enemy and thus fully demonstrate as ever the valiant spirit of the powerful iron-clad ranks.

He reviewed the tank crews involved in the match and encouraged them.

The tankmen who were greatly encouraged by the great brilliant commander’s inspection, an expression of his deep trust, alongside their glorious colours on the training ground, extended deep gratitude to him.

After reviewing the tank crews, he mounted a new-type main battle tank, took the control lever and drove the tank himself, adding to the high militant spirit of the tankmen and instilling in them thoroughgoing outlooks on the enemy and war.

All the officers and men of the tank units raised stormy cheers of hurrah, looking up to the invincible and iron-willed brilliant commander.

They vowed to more firmly prepare themselves to be stalwart fighters who make a breakthrough in the van of advance with their invincible "iron horses", deeply cherishing the matchless pluck and courage provided by him.

Then Kim Jong Un had a photo session with the tankmen of the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division who won the match.

Commanding officers of the KPA and participants in the match made a pledge to remain always loyal to Kim Jong Un who guided their match on the spot and bestowed great honour and deep trust upon them and added to their militant spirit and courage, and to make selfless, devoted efforts for the country and its people.