The heroic Korean People’s Army, which has remained faithful to its sacred mission of firmly defending the sovereignty and security of the state and safeguarding the well-being and happiness of the beloved people with the image of the dignified Workers’ Party of Korea embroidered on its glorious colours, is now greeting its proud 77th founding anniversary along with its undying honour, while recording another year of victory and miracles in the history of army building.

The KPA, the ever-victorious elite ranks, is a source of the most powerful strength and great pride of our Party and people as, mindful of the creed and faith “for our great Party, for our great state and for our great people,” it has won a brilliant victory after another for the country and revolution with the characteristic outlook on the revolution, thoroughgoing patriotic spirit, matchless heroism and devoted service of pursuing the greatest honour and glory only on the road of remaining faithful to the creed and faith.

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, paid a congratulatory visit to the Ministry of National Defence of the DPRK on February 8, the 77th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army, to encourage the service personnel.

The participants were filled with great emotion and joy of meeting the great illustrious commander, who has trained the KPA into a large contingent of brave warriors invariably shining in the vanguard of the era and is steadily leading them to victory and glory with his firmest trust and affection, at the highest command organ of the armed forces of the DPRK on the significant army founding day.

Colours of victory, symbolic of honour of all services and corps, combined units and units at all levels of the KPA, were lined up for the glorious moment.

When the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un arrived at the Ministry of National Defence, the service personnel of the KPA broke into stormy cheers of “Hurrah!” looking up to the invincible and iron-willed commander who has ushered in a golden age of bolstering up the revolutionary armed forces with his outstanding ideas of army building and matchless commanding art and is glorifying the noble name of the KPA with victory and glory.

A solemn ceremony of greeting the head of state took place.

After receiving a salute from the head of the guard of honour of the KPA, Kim Jong Un reviewed the guard of honour and the glorious colours of the three services.

He was greeted by No Kwang Chol, Jong Kyong Thaek, Ri Yong Gil and other leading commanding officers of the ministry and military and political cadres of the KPA large combined units.

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

Kim Jong Un met military and political commanding officers at all levels of the Ministry of National Defence and the KPA and made a speech in celebration of the army founding day.

Paying deep respects to the heroic mettle and noble revolutionary spirit of the KPA, which is proudly recording the history of fierce struggle with every eye-opening event and miracle in all parts of the country, flying the ever-victorious and glorious colours, he extended warm congratulations and militant greetings to the generals, officers and soldiers of the KPA who are unsparingly devoting their precious blood and sweat to carrying out the huge important tasks of the revolution.

He highly appreciated the great reputation and glory of the KPA, which has recorded the decades of legendary victories and miracles with its unique spirit and noble soul always remaining true to its sacred appellation of the army of the Party and the leader, and praised the distinguished services and feats of the service personnel of the KPA, who are striving to firmly defend the happiness and peace of the country and build a greater future.

Outlining the features of the world-wide changes in the political, military and geopolitical structure including the surrounding environment of the state, he stressed the need to more highly develop the war response posture of the DPRK’s armed forces to proactively cope with any variable security situation.

He continued:

The US nuclear strategic means constantly deployed on the Korean peninsula, the US-led bilateral and multilateral nuclear war simulation exercises staged on the level of actual war, the US-Japan-ROK tripartite military alliance system established according to the US’s regional military bloc scenario and the formation of the Asian version of NATO as its axis constitute a basic factor that causes military imbalance and a new conflicting structure on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia, and they are raising a grave challenge to the security environment of our state.

It is a correct answer to tell those who worship supremacy of power with the language only they can understand. The DPRK does not want unnecessary tension in the regional situation but will take sustained countermeasures to ensure the regional military balance out of the aspiration for preventing the outbreak of a new war and ensuring peace and security on the Korean peninsula.

The Middle East crises including those in the Gaza Strip and Syria and the issue of Ukraine, which were scenes of global geopolitical conflicts and confrontation last year, are expected to flow as the main current of the tense international situation trend this year, too. The geopolitical crises caused by the US in different parts of the world are further increasing the danger of the outbreak of a new world war and having a serious impact not only on international peace and security but also on all other spheres of human activities.

Standing in the centre behind the war machine, which is stirring up the tragic situation in Ukraine that has lasted for three years amid a serious concern of the world people, is the US, an entity that is carrying the fixed name of the wrecker of global peace and stability, hallucinated by a wild ambition for establishing unipolar hegemony. The reckless behaviours of the US and the Western group of intentionally fostering the prolonged war from the unrealizable dream of dealing strategic setbacks to Russia are arousing a serious concern.

It is the invariable stand of the DPRK government to oppose and reject any acts of denying the international justice and disturbing global peace and security, and our army and people will invariably support and encourage the just cause of the Russian army and people to defend their sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, in keeping with the spirit of the treaty on the comprehensive strategic partnership between the DPRK and Russia.

The dark shadows of the US, which appear without fail behind the world’s big and small disputes and tragedies of bloodshed at present, prove that the line of our Party and government aspiring to the building of an unlimited defence capability is most just. Our revolutionary armed forces should always and practically be faithful to their supreme duty to defend the Constitution of the DPRK and the state and people.

Referring to a series of new plans for rapidly bolstering all deterrents including the nuclear forces, Kim Jong Un clarified once again the unshakable policy of more highly developing the nuclear forces.

The future of the KPA, the pride of our great people and symbol of the honour and strength of our state, depends mainly on its commanding officers. The KPA should consistently hold fast to and more thoroughly carry out the task of making itself politically, ideologically and morally strong, before anything else, and in this regard it is particularly important to train our service personnel into the fighters strong in ideology and faith, filled with a correct understanding of the enemy and indomitable will to fight with the enemy.

Kim Jong Un set forth important tasks which will serve as the guidelines for further strengthening the KPA into a matchless revolutionary army, including those of making this year a year of training by further kindling the flames of the training revolution on the principle of increasing the combat capability of the KPA to the highest level, making war preparations more thoroughly as required by modern warfare and waging a fierce struggle to establish steel-like order and sound military discipline.

Expressing belief that the glorious history of struggle and feats of the heroic KPA boundlessly loyal to the Party, the country and the people will record more exciting and noble events in the course of the development of our eternally powerful state, he ardently called for continuing to fight courageously for the dignity and great might of the DPRK and for the peace and happiness of our beloved people.

The speech by the great brilliant commander, which clarified ambitious measures for army building that will lead the brilliant history of the revolutionary armed forces to eternal victory and glory, made the military and political commanding officers’ heart beat with boundless emotion.

When Kim Jong Un finished his speech, the participants raised the enthusiastic cheers of “Hurrah!”

All the commanding officers were filled with the firm faith and militant enthusiasm to remain faithful to the mission and duty as the army of the Party, the army of the leader and the genuine army of the people to the last for the great Comrade Kim Jong Un, for the prosperity of our great state and for the happiness and peace of our great people.

Kim Jong Un had a photo session with the commanding officers of the Ministry of National Defence, soldiers of sub-units under it and military and political commanding officers of units of the services and large combined units at all levels of the KPA and combined units and units under them as a token of his visit to the ministry.

When he appeared at the venue of the photo session, all the participants paid the highest glory and tribute to the great brilliant commander who is training the KPA into the most powerful entity in the world overwhelmingly winning any formidable enemy ideologically and mentally, militarily and technically and into a patriotic vanguard advancing bravely, shoulder any missions for the prosperity and development of the country, through his continued, immortal guidance over the army.

He said that although the days of army founding and war victory to be specially recorded in the history of the struggle of the revolutionary armed forces are becoming far distant with the passage of time, we should always remember the spirit and soul of the revolutionary forerunners, who provided the origin of the tradition of eternal victory of heroic Korea, an independent power, and laid the cornerstone of building a rich country with a strong army through an ever-victorious tradition, adding that we should proudly write an honourable new chapter of history of our generation by performing miraculous feats and creating wonderful legendary tales beyond precedents and limits, staking the honour of our times and our army.

He expressed expectation and belief that the commanding officers of the KPA, mindful of their important task for glorifying the great pioneering with greater succession, will always demonstrate its undying fame in the sacred war for defending the Party and the revolution and safeguarding the territory and people with their unique sense of pride, a strong sense of self-respect and indomitable fighting spirit of guaranteeing the most just cause in the world with arms.

The shouts “Kim Jong Un” and “Death-defying defence” raised by all the participants resounded far and wide in the sky of February reflecting their firm pledge to steadily glorify with distinguished services of their generation the heroic history and tradition of the KPA which has performed brilliant feats in the history of the country following the great Party.

Kim Jong Un’s visit to the Ministry of National Defence will be recorded in history as a sacred one which further highlighted the ennobling mission of the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK to firmly guarantee the sure victory of the DPRK with arms and vigorously propel the grand all-people advance for comprehensive national rejuvenation with the ardent pioneering spirit and indomitable mettle.