The people’s Air Force of the Korean People’s Army perfectly carried out the special order of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea by rapidly flying to the flooded areas in the northwestern part of North Phyongan Province and rescuing over 4 200 precious lives. The legendary feats of the courageous red flying corps of the Workers’ Party of Korea that displayed an indomitable fighting spirit are stirring the whole country.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the WPK and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, on August 2 paid a congratulatory visit to the helicopter unit of the Air Force of the KPA that performed a miracle of air rescue operation.

Lining up at the unit’s apron with national flag fluttering were the helicopters which were dispatched to the flooded areas to save the people.

All the officers and men, waiting for the moment of greeting the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un at their unit, were filled with boundless reverence for the Supreme Commander, who, with the warmest love for the people and the will to save their lives at any cost, organized and commanded the rescue operation in a dangerous flooded area and brought about an unprecedented miracle and bestowed all laurels on them.

When Kim Jong Un arrived, the service personnel of the Air Force burst into cheers of “Hurrah!” as a token of their highest tribute and glory to the great brilliant commander.

He received a salute from the commander of the KPA Air Force.

He paid tribute to the colours of the KPA Air Force and of the unit.

He was greeted by leading commanding officers of the Air Force and commanding officers of the unit.

Responding to the enthusiastic cheers, he extended warm greetings to the reliable soldiers who glorified the name of the people’s Air Force with their brilliant military feats in the emergency rescue operation for implementing the special order of the WPK Central Military Commission.

He was accompanied by Choe Ryong Hae, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee, first vice-president of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly, Pak Jong Chon, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the WPK and secretary of the WPK Central Committee, Kang Sun Nam, minister of National Defence of the DPRK, and Ri Yong Gil, chief of the General Staff of the KPA.

There took place a ceremony of an awarding order to the helicopter unit that performed distinguished military feats in the sacred struggle for defending the people.

The national anthem of the DPRK was played.

Kim Jong Un made a rallying speech.

In the speech, he said:

I wanted to proudly boast about the pilots of the helicopter unit who performed matchless feats in protecting our God-like people without an equal in the world, and out of this desire I have come to the unit on the way back from the site of repairing the flood damage. Holding a grand commendation ceremony and making the whole army learn from them and the world know about them represent the extent of the feats of the pilots and the height of the appreciation of the Party and the country.

No casualties occurred in the Sinuiju area, which suffered the greatest flood damage caused by the record heavy rainfall and the rapid increase in water inflow in the basin of the Amnok River. This fact cannot be expressed otherwise than a miracle. The service personnel of the Air Force demonstrated matchless combat efficiency in achieving feats by giving full play to their bravery in the face of the then dangerous weather conditions and to their expertise and perfectness in carrying out their successive missions.

They left another precious and honourable record that would go down in the history of distinguished military feats of our heroic army. I extend heartfelt thanks to all the service personnel of the Air Force, who protected the God-like people and firmly defended the people’s trust in the Party and the government by piloting their aircraft through rain clouds and heavy rains at the risk of their lives.

I am also thankful that all the pilots are safe although one helicopter crash-landed in an operation area on its mission.

I also extend warm thanks to the combatants of the sharpshooter brigade of the Navy, maritime guard formation of the Border Guards and the General Reconnaissance Bureau who were involved in the rescue operation.

The pilots of the helicopter unit proved what the soldiers and the well-prepared unit, to be emulated by the entire army, should be like through its capability for fighting a war at the battlefield where their lives were at stake, not on a training ground for judging capability.

Seeing the organized, professional and unhesitating combat actions of all the soldiers, who immediately launched into a rescue campaign in the unfamiliar flood-hit areas in bad weather conditions at night true to the order of the Party Central Committee, my heart grew warmer as I felt that I found a genuine model unit.

I would like to speak highly specially of the combat spirit and deep ideological and moral world of the unit commander, who is able to stand in the vanguard before shouting an order. Our Party needs such a field commanding officer of abilities and action required by modern warfare. I was deeply moved to see him carrying out the successive and repeated missions of reconnaissance, rescue and search without showing any sign of getting tired that day. It is a real miracle to have saved more than 4 200 people within a few hours with the helicopters, totalling more than 5 000 people when those, rescued by other units which carried out their rescue mission on the water, are included.

These are undying feats to be described with the words heroic and miraculous as they are a success greater than shooting down 10, nay, 100 enemy aircraft and feats to be glorified and handed down in history for the character of the operation as a campaign for defending the people.

Although the wonders done by heaven are constantly changing and no milestone exists in the vast open sky, our Air Force’s skyway is the only one indicated by the Party and revolution. This is why the feats performed by our pilots are so honourable. I am of the belief that the pilots and all other officers and men of this unit will as ever firmly defend the cause of the Party and reliably safeguard the security of the airspace sovereignty of our state and the well-being of its people with ardent patriotism and loyalty and heroic fighting spirit.

The service personnel should raise more fiercely the flames of the revolution in training just as they were brave, skilled and unhesitating in the struggle for defending the people, so as to annihilate the enemy.

The enemy’s rubbish media are spreading a false rumour that the number of casualties in our flood-hit areas is expected to be over 1 000 or 1 500 and that several helicopters are believed to have fallen on the rescue mission. Clear is the sinister purpose of those in Seoul obsessed about such a smear campaign.

Saying that the enemy remain unchanged, he bitterly censured the inveterate habits and despicable nature of the ROK scum keen on a vicious smear campaign to disparage the DPRK and tarnish its image at any cost, and continued:

We will neither give up national defence for disaster relief or for the people’s living nor pay less attention to their living for national defence.

Referring to the future orientation of development of the Air Force, Kim Jong Un affirmed that the people’s Air Force would make a great contribution to ensuring national security and regional peace and stability, adding:

The people are our God. We should care about the inconvenience of the flood victims who are at evacuation areas even at this moment when boiling heat still rages. We should speed up the rehabilitation as much as possible. We should make the whole country brim with the communist trait of one for all and all for one the harder the times are, and in particular, our army should show utmost filial devotion to the people as befit their sons and daughters.

Expressing his thanks again to the unit for having performed sacred feats in the campaign for defending the people, he ardently wished the heroic people’s Air Force victory and glory.

When his speech was over, the service personnel of the Air Force burst into thunderous cheers again.

All the participants expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the Supreme Commander, who put them forward, who had only remained faithful to the mission of the sacred people’s Air Force, as a source of pride of the Party and the state, and renewed their iron will to be always thoroughgoing and courageous in defending the sovereignty of the country and ensuring the safety and well-being of the people true to the slogan inscribed in their glorious colours.

Choe Ryong Hae read out the decrees of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK on awarding the Order of Freedom and Independence 1st Class to the helicopter unit of the KPA Air Force and the title of DPRK Hero to its commander who had led the unit in the campaign for defending the people to achieve brilliant feats.

Kim Jong Un personally conferred the orders.

He affixed the Order of Freedom and Independence 1st Class to the colours of the unit.

He awarded the title of DPRK Hero, Gold Star Medal and Order of National Flag 1st Class to the commander of the unit.

The citation of the Supreme Commander of the armed forces of the DPRK was conferred on 47 pilots and flight engineers.

The officers and men of the Air Force broke into enthusiastic cheers, looking up with deep gratitude to the great brilliant commander who decorated their feats performed on the road of military service with the gold star while respectfully calling them the army of lifeguards of the Party Central Committee and the first death-defying corps in defending the revolution and the people.

The unit commander made an oath-taking speech on behalf of his unit.

The self-sacrificing devotion of the great father, who regards our people as part of his flesh and blood that can never be lost, constituted an inexhaustible driving force that encouraged us to brave downpour and strong wind and a key to the fighting efficiency that enabled us to bring about an unprecedented miracle in air rescue operation, he said, and made the following pledge: The red hawks of the brave Air Force of the DPRK will as ever fly along the route of loyalty and requital without even 0.001mm of deviation, cherishing the trust of the Supreme Commander and the Party Central Committee as their whole life.

The venue of the awards ceremony was filled with the militant enthusiasm of the participants to fully demonstrate the spiritual qualities and mettle of the people’s Air Force in the struggle to death-defyingly defend the well-being, rights and interests of the state and the people by giving fuller play to the steadfast revolutionary faith, patriotic spirit and spirit of devoted service with which they have supported the ideas and cause of the great Party Central Committee in the vanguard.

There took place a march-past of the guard of honour of the KPA Air Force.

Kim Jong Un posed for a photo with the pilots, who performed distinguished feats in the operation for defending the people, with the glorious colours at the centre.

He repeatedly said with high appreciation that the steadfast officers and men of the Air Force, who share the steps of strenuous efforts and mind with the Supreme Commander to serve the people with absolute commitment, cherishing the outlook on the revolution and life that there is no greater happiness than the pride of sharing intention, will and practice with him, are a source of the highest pride of our Party and people, expressing expectation and belief that the pilots will steadily carry on the present honour with more brilliant feats.

The firm pledge of the air fighters to display the mettle of the WPK’s red phoenix braving any flames and storm, cherishing the great love and trust shown by Kim Jong Un as the mainstay of their faith, resounded far and wide in the sky of August along with the loud shouts of “Kim Jong Un” and “Death-defying defence”.

That evening Kim Jong Un hosted a reception in congratulation of the unit’s officers and men who received the orders of honour.

Leading officials of the Party, government and military attended the reception and warmly congratulated the winners.

The reception was filled with the feelings of kinship and trust between the great brilliant commander and his bodyguards.

Kim Jong Un’s congratulatory visit to the helicopter unit will be brilliantly recorded in the history of army building as an event filled with warm love and encouragement that put on the eminence of the times the brilliant tradition and ever-victorious militant spirit of the people’s Air Force, which has always flied along the route of absolute loyalty and heroic military service to defend the country and the people, and powerfully inspired it to perform continuous feats.