In Celebration of Great Victory in Fatherland Liberation War: Kim Jong Un’s Speech

General Secretary Kim Jong Un made a speech "The Veterans of the Fatherland Liberation War Are the Most Heroic Generation of Our Republic" at the celebration of the 69th anniversary of the great victory in the War on July 27, 2022.

The following is the full text of his speech:

Esteemed comrade veterans of the Fatherland Liberation War,

Comrade lecturers and officials engaged in the administration of revolutionary relics associated with the victorious war, service personnel and students of universities and revolutionary schools present in this meaningful place with the revolutionary elders,

Dear Pyongyang citizens,

Dear all the other people,

Comrades,

This is the victorious July 27, which we have greeted again with a feeling of great pride and with precious memories.

Although as many as 25 203 days have passed since the birth of the epoch-making miracle, the delight in and glory of victory in the war are just as those of yesterday. As we have felt these feelings every year, our emotion and pride are also infinite again today.

Comrades,

I warmly congratulate you on the great Victory Day that brought imperishable glory and honour to our motherland.

Esteemed comrade war veterans,

The country's situation is difficult and recently we have experienced a public health crisis, but until today you have maintained sound in your precious bodies. I am very grateful for this.

Thank you, indeed.

Comrades,

At this moment the whole country is recollecting the glorious lives of the martyrs of the Korean People's Army and other revolutionary martyrs who dedicated their youth and lives in defence of the sovereignty and honour of their motherland, and is paying an ennobling tribute, praying for the immortality of their great souls and spirit.

Countless war martyrs, both sung and unsung, have left us and many war veterans are not with us in this place, but they all live in the embrace of the country they defended at the cost of their blood and lives, and they are greeting the glorious night with us at this moment.

Hoping that you, comrade war veterans, will live in good health and the conference of war veterans as glorious as this one will be held continuously, I, on behalf of the Workers' Party of Korea and the government, pay a noble tribute to the victors in the 1950s, who gave our people the privilege and infinite honour of celebrating the great victory in the war year after year, and extend warm greetings to the war veterans and other people of wartime merits across the country, who laid the foundation of the existence and development of our socialist state and are still giving us an encouragement as a spiritual pillar.

My gratitude also goes to the family members of the war veterans and to all others who are devoting their efforts and sincerity for the preservation of health and the living of the war veterans.

Availing myself of this opportunity, I pay a noble tribute to the martyrs of the Chinese People's Volunteers, who shed their precious blood without hesitation sharing the same destiny as our soldiers and people in the same trench against the imperialists' aggression. I also send warm greetings to the veterans of the Chinese People's Volunteers.

Comrades,

Of all the meaningful and auspicious holidays of our state, July 27 is an extraordinarily dignified holiday in that we celebrate victory.

For every country and people, there is no other proud and brilliant glory and honour than the victory in a do-or-die war.

The past Fatherland Liberation War was, for our Republic, a war for defending the existence of its territory and people, as well as a fierce confrontation, the first of its kind after the Second World War, between the two poles, the democratic camp and the imperialist camp.

The fact that the US imperialists hurled not only their troops but also a large number of troops of their vassal states to the Korean front shows the fierce nature and international character of the Korean war.

The fight by the young army of the newly-emergent, two-year-old Republic against the imperialist aggressive army of the United States, which was the most ferocious on the earth, and its vassal forces was the one against too heavy odds.

However, as etched in history correctly, the arrogant aggressive ambition of the United States to occupy our territory at a stroke and expand the sphere of its influence met at its first step an unprecedentedly strong counterattack and terrific bravery and was completely frustrated with the signing of an armistice agreement after their three-year desperate war.

The military capability of the US imperialists and their allies sustained a serious defeat in this war.

We defended the dignity, honour and sovereignty of our Republic, safeguarded the environment for the peaceful development of our state, checked the US ambition for world supremacy, and defended peace of mankind by preventing a new world war. Herein lies the great significance of the Fatherland Liberation War in the history of our nation and the world history of wars.

The great victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, in which we staunchly defended the most dangerous first line of the anti-imperialist struggle in an eastern part of the earth, is a victory of defenders over aggressors, a victory of justice and the progressive over injustice and the reactionary, and a victory of significance in human history, which proved the iron truth that no aggressors, however strong and superior they may be, cannot overwhelm an army and people that have turned out in a do-or-die resistance.

Those who wrought this legendary miracle are none other than you, war veterans present here, and the numerous comrades-in-arms you still recollect.

The numerous battles the brave defenders of the country fought under the hail of bullets and bombs in the war produced the priceless glory of victory, and the flag of our Republic, which they held in the vanguard of advance and which became redder by the precious blood of the sons and daughters of heroic Korea, became known to the whole world as a symbol of bravery, victory and justice and as an immortal banner of the anti-imperialist struggle.

Comrades,

The unyielding spirit of the war veterans, who unhesitatingly rose to the crisis of a life-or-death war in the grim times of the country, is felt more valuable now when the country is experiencing difficulties.

As everyone knows well, the veterans of the Fatherland Liberation War were quite ordinary young men and women, but they were laudable sons and daughters of the nation who were not ordinary at all in the battles for defending their country.

Simple as they were at workplaces and schools, they were courageous enough to volunteer to join the army and confront the aggressive army of the US imperialists. This was because they had a firm belief in their Party and government and a conviction that they would surely emerge victorious, as well as a strong will to safeguard their rights as the masters of their new country and new life.

With the love for their benevolent system, native homes, workplaces, parents and siblings and with the hatred against the enemy who were trying to deprive them of these all, our war veterans stoutly surmounted grim trials and heartrending pains of loss and displayed unequalled mass heroism, striking terror and despair into the hearts of the brutal and heinous invaders.

Our great Fatherland Liberation War clearly showed that something miraculous can be created when a people, though simple and ordinary, turn out in defiance of death to defend what belong to them.

Although they defended the dignity and honour, the territory and sovereignty of their country at the cost of their blood, our war veterans have continued to work selflessly, steadfastly, honestly and devotedly for their country throughout their lives, setting a model of a patriotic life for posterity. Herein lie the true features of a human being, ennobling traits, which can be found only in them.

Our priceless socialist system and our great state of today, which is growing stronger, are unthinkable separated from the imperishable feats of the veterans of the Fatherland Liberation War, both sung and unsung, and the pure devoted service of the victorious wartime generation.

Indeed, the war veterans are the most heroic generation that laid an unbreakable foundation of our Republic in the face of upheavals of history, and they are models of the great, unyielding Korean people.

The loyalty, bravery and patriotism you have demonstrated throughout your life are now pulsating in the hearts of the tens of millions of people. Because our revolution has the great and excellent features created in the flames of the grim war in the 1950s as its genetic quality, it is indomitably carving out its cause by its own efforts down through generations without any setback or retreat in the face of difficulties.

Comrades,

For us, the V-day is not merely a celebration day of commemorating and looking back to the chapter of resistance in the heroic era.

The day serves as a valuable and significant occasion for us to judge whether we can proudly say before the embodiment and witnesses of history, who brought about the greatest victory in the harshest and grimmest annals, that our current struggle is an inheritance of the great tradition and to renew confidence and courage, passion and mettle.

We are now entrusted with the heavy historic duty of exalting to the height of the current times the brilliance of the glory and honour which the victorious wartime generation achieved 70 years ago and of ensuring that they are stoutly inherited to the next generation.

Just as the victorious wartime generation did, so should we exert ourselves without let-up for the next generation.

To further consolidate the nation's defence capability on the strength of the heroic spirit displayed during the war is a fundamental guarantee for defending the national interests of the Republic and its independent development.

Our revolution has been in sharp confrontation with the United States which has bluntly resorted to nuclear threat against us since the Fatherland Liberation War. This historical environment demanded that we, above all else, raise our state's self-defence capability onto a due level, and we have realized this pressing historic task through an arduous struggle.

Our Republic has firmly safeguarded socialism and built up formidable self-defensive strategic potentials in the fierce confrontation with the United States, which spanned nearly 70 years after the war. This is a victory which is no inferior to, even greater than, the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War.

However, we cannot rest content with this.

The United States which did our nation the gravest harm in its modern history still perseveres with dangerous hostile acts against our Republic.

While instigating the south Korean authorities to suicidal anti-DPRK confrontation on the pretext of solidifying "alliance," the United States, in pursuit of military confrontation with us, persists in spreading groundless rumours of "threat" from us.

It is the US's habitual method of executing its policy to fabricate such rumours and spread them so as to make them sound authentic before using them as a justification for bringing pressure to bear upon us.

As they always did, the US imperialists have recently spread rumours against the DPRK in the international arena assiduously, describing our state as the "main culprit" in damaging the stability of the regional situation and as a "dangerous state."

The United States, while describing all the usual actions of our armed forces as "provocations" and "threats," is openly waging large-scale joint war games, which gravely threaten the security of our state. Such a double-dealing behaviour is just that of a gangster, and this is driving the DPRK-US relations to a limiting point, a point of fierce collision, which cannot be reversed any further.

The US imperialists are obsessed with making a "devil" of our state by manipulating the international understanding and opinion of it. This is nothing but a stereotyped method of camouflaging their aggressive nature as a world peace breaker and justifying their illegal hostile policy.

I have already made it clear that we should be ready both for talks and confrontation and more fully for confrontation in particular in order to reliably guarantee the security of our state.

The arrogant nature of the US imperialists has remained unchanged as ever.

We must confront the US imperialists to the end on the strength of ideology and arms.

I reaffirm that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is thoroughly prepared to cope with any kind of military clashes with the United States.

If the United States continuously attempts to impair the image of our state and make a serious infringement of our security and fundamental interests, it will only compel itself to put up with greater uneasiness and crises.

The government of our Republic would like to take this opportunity to send a serious warning to the south Korean conservative regime and its hawks that run amuck, indulged in abnormal excessive covetousness and confidence in strength, and stand in the van of implementing the US's hostile policy towards the DPRK.

Even tonight, nay, at this moment, when the fireworks light up the nocturnal sky in celebration of the V-day, the hideous warmongers and rogues on the land south of the 250km-long front line, in a high fever of military craziness, are resorting to various military manoeuvrings, which are threatening our state.

The south Korean conservative regime which took office this year is resorting to the extremely atrocious confrontation policies towards their fellow countrymen and acts of worshipping big countries and selling the country. These policies and acts surpass those of any of the previous conservative regimes and driving the situation on the Korean peninsula into the brink of war.

The new south Korean regime has designated our government and army as their "archenemy" and, obsessed with useless fear that they must prepare themselves to confront their fellow countrymen, are raising the pitch of their malicious voices and resorting to all sorts of evil and inappropriate acts.

They are brazen-faced enough to advocate "peace based on strength" and "security based on strength," and have put up a bold front, claiming that they would not hesitate in launching a "preemptive strike" to neutralize the war deterrent of our state.

At this very moment, south Korea is growing more frantic to develop weapons and strengthen its defence industry in a bid to recover, even a little, its military inferiority as compared with ours, and it is planning to bring in nuclear strategic weapons of the United States in large numbers and expanding war drills under various pretexts.

However, we should see that the more frequent vainglorious remarks and various hues of shameful conducts recently made by the south Korean authorities with regard to their security come from their inevitable sense of uneasiness that they have to live under the very nose of a nuclear state.

This and that vainglorious remark by the south Korean authorities may be understood as reliable and steel-strong security and advanced military strength to the relief of their people, but to me, they are seen only as being so frightened and at their wits' end.

Having established the concept of what they call the "three military systems of the south Korean style," the south Korean authorities are making frantic efforts to promote their core fighting capacity. But south Korea cannot help but accept their military inferiority to us as their fate and it can never retrieve the inferiority at any time.

It is unreasonable and very dangerous self-destructive action to talk about military actions against our state which possesses absolute weapons that they are actually most fearful of.

If the south Korean regime and military ruffians think about confronting us militarily and that they can neutralize or destroy some parts of our military forces preemptively by resorting to some special military means and methods, they are grossly mistaken!

Such a dangerous attempt will be punished at once by a powerful force and Yoon Suk Yeol regime and its army will be annihilated.

The conservative regime of south Korea must admit before too late that it has already gone too far from its beginning, and that it should think seriously upon the actions that may invite danger to itself.

We correctly remember what Yoon Suk Yeol said and did on several occasions before and after taking office.

We have also listened to the recent imprudent remarks made by the military ruffians of south Korea, and are watching all the noteworthy military actions they conduct with the United States.

We can no longer sit around seeing Yoon Suk Yeol and his military gangsters' misdemeanours and blind bravery.

If they continue to commit the acts of today like aggravating military tension by carrying on picking a quarrel with our exercising of the right to self-defence and threatening our security by invoking the robber's logic, they will pay dearly for it.

If they are to get rid of the stigmas as a president on a chopping board and a regime exposed to the gravest peril, they should be more prudent and use their brains more than their mouths. And they are well advised to refrain from finding fault with us now and then; or not to deal with us at all may be a better way for them.

Comrades,

Our armed forces are now fully prepared to cope with any sort of crisis, and our state's nuclear war deterrent is also fully ready to demonstrate its absolute power accurately and promptly true to its mission.

I affirm that the safety of this land and the system and sovereignty of this country you, war veterans, defended at the cost of your blood are thoroughly guaranteed by more powerful self-defence capabilities and stout spirit.

We will grow stronger.

The government of our Republic will safeguard our state, people and sovereignty by dint of ever-growing, out-and-out military capabilities and a resolute anti-imperialist and anti-US spirit and approach to the south and the enemy.

The situation of our revolution, in which we should overpower and crush more thoroughly the enemy's desperate manoeuvres for arms race and dangerous military attempts, demands a more rapid change in our military capabilities. In order to carry out this responsible historic task, our Party Central Committee has recently decided on the tasks related to the strategy for developing the national self-defence capabilities, and is leading the effort for their accurate implementation.

War is a merciless conflict between forces. Its victory, however, always is in store for the side that is possessed of fervent love and strong faith. This truth can never be changed even in today's warfare, in which state-of-the-art military techniques are mobilized in full force.

Our People's Army will keep channelling its main efforts into fully displaying its political and ideological superiority, the source of its mightiness and invincibility. By doing so, it will grow into the world's strongest army that demonstrates its formidable striking power with a steadfast revolutionary spirit, unparalleled bravery and indefatigable fighting spirit.

As the victorious wartime generation did, so should all the people associate all their personal joys and sorrows with the destiny of the country, brave all hardships in the way of advance with the spirit of devoting sincerity on the patriotic road and strive for socialist construction with unyielding will.

When we achieve innovative successes at our posts and workplaces with thoroughgoing class consciousness, always mindful of the fact that the anti-imperialist class struggle is a struggle for defending not only our destiny but also our country, this will accelerate our creation and construction and deal heavier blows at the hostile forces.

Those who have to inherit the heroic spirit of the victorious wartime generation splendidly and adorn the future of the country with great victory are none other than our rising generations.

Our Party and government will always give priority to preparing the millions of young people to be ardent revolutionaries and patriotic fighters who will stoutly carry forward the spiritual baton bequeathed to them by the war veterans.

Like the war veterans who demonstrated how one should be brave in the theatres of war and defend their national flag, young people should all devote their burning hearts to the sacred road of national defence; they should also glorify theirs as another new heroic era by performing miracles and labour feats with youthful passion and mass heroism on all fronts of socialist construction.

The lecturers and officials across the country in the sector of administration of revolutionary relics associated with the victorious war must fulfil their responsibility and duties as powerful disseminators and educators in deeply implanting the outstanding exploits of Comrade Kim Il Sung and our Party that led the war to victory and the heroic fighting spirit of the defenders of the country in the 1950s in all the people, service personnel and rising generations.

Comrades,

Although time passes and rivers and mountains change, one generation is replaced by another, forming a single living organism with inexhaustible vitality connected with the heroic fighting spirit – this is the source of indomitable strength peculiar to our state and our people.

Our Republic that invariably carries forward the history and tradition of the great victory in the war will be ever-victorious.

The exploits of the war veterans, who saved our state and nation and defended their future in the grimmest years, will remain forever along with our Republic that will be ever prosperous.

Esteemed comrade war veterans,

By carrying forward the souls and spirit of the heroic wartime generation and struggling more powerfully and bravely, we will build without fail a powerful and prosperous socialist paradise on this land which you defended.

I say once again: Even if you do nothing more than remain healthy, that will be a great encouragement to us.

Asking you once again to be careful with your health, I sincerely wish every one of you a long life.

Comrades,

Long live our great July 27!

Long live the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, our glorious motherland!