Last year proved again that the Korean peninsula where a large-scale war broke out for the first time since the Second World War remains a tinderbox that could trigger a nuclear war at any time.

The US and the puppet ROK launched the largest-ever joint military exercise, code-named Ulji Freedom Shield, in a bid to finally complete their nuclear war scenario against the DPRK and implement it on a full scale. The facts made public last year suggested a nuclear war could have broken out on the peninsula anytime.

Moreover, the puppet ROK perpetrated such an appalling act of flying drones that carried nasty things to the DPRK’s sacred capital which the Korean people value as their own lives. This awakened people to the fact that war is not far away but just around the corner and it is most likely to start without notice at this very moment.

Through last year’s ever-risky situation people have keenly realized that peace is the most valuable and priceless in the world.

No sooner is peace broken than a nation will see its sovereignty violated and lose peace and the lives of its members.

Lasting peace means national strength being tremendous and prosperity being achieved.

The value of peace is just everything–national existence, people’s life, prosperity and others.

Last year the DPRK brought about an astonishing leap forward.

Across the country ceremonies were held almost every day to inaugurate new rural villages, with agricultural workers moving into new homes amid cheerful peasant dance.

New entities such as regional-industry factories in Songchon County, South Phyongan Province, sprang up, opening up new horizons for regional development.

The flood-hit areas in North Phyongan, Jagang and Ryanggang provinces turned into socialist fairylands and flood victims moved into new houses in several months, which is a surprising event that cannot be imitated or copied by any other countries.

As all countries around the world are plagued by the constantly-widening gap in different fields, especially between the rich and the poor, between cities and rural areas and among regions, the DPRK is making a new history of setting itself to achieve a comprehensive development while bridging the gap in all realms, a remarkable undertaking no one else in the world has ever tried or dared to do.

Given this, it is needed to think this over again.

If the DPRK’s defence capabilities had been inferior even a bit to those of its enemies training their guns on it and if its leader had not made devoted efforts for the modernization of major munitions factories and successful test-fire of new-type strategic weapon systems so as to build up the most powerful defence capabilities, it would have been impossible to talk about such proud achievements and prosperity.

Peace is just power and it depends on powerful strength.

Powerful strength means a power that is not stagnant and keeps increasing ahead of others.

Whereas the Middle East and Eastern Europe are traumatized by war, peace has been maintained on the Korean peninsula, a place with the greatest risks of war. This is because the DPRK has built the most powerful strength in the world.

Peace on the peninsula owes much to the DPRK’s great strength.

Ri Kyong Su