August 25, Significant Day of DPR Korea

-August 25, a Day That Will Go Down Forever in History

 August 25 is a day which has a significant bearing on the history and development of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and on the destiny of its people.

 On this day in 1960, Chairman Kim Jong Il (1942-2011) visited the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105^th Tank Division of the Korean People’s Army. Looking round the division, he referred to the character, mission and traditions of struggle of the KPA and to the tasks for further strengthening the KPA politically and ideologically, militarily and technically.

 While having a lunch with officials accompanying him and commanding officers of the division on a flat rock in the vicinity of the division headquarters, he said to them: I intend to pay close attention to perfecting the combat preparations of the KPA. If a country is to remain strong, its army must be strong. It is my determination to make ours a military power which no enemy would dare to provoke.

 Scores of years have passed since then, but the day is still etched in the DPRK’s history as a significant day, when a new turn was made in the country’s effort to achieve the cherished national desire and make itself a power.

 Earlier, as it had been getting weaker and weaker under the long-drawn-out feudal rule, Korea had suffered from constant aggression and threat from foreign countries. Because of the feudal rulers who, given to worship of big powers, had not even bothered to build up the country’s might, the Korean nation ended up losing its sovereignty to the Japanese imperialists in the early 20^th century and having to live as slaves for over 40 years. While suffering from bitter colonial slavery, the Korean people had come to cherish a desire of possessing powerful national might which would permit no one to look down on them

By having led the country’s overall military affairs for scores of years since the historic day, Kim Jong Il put his solemn declaration that day into reality.

 In his effort to turn the country into a military power, he directed primary attention to perfecting the political and ideological preparedness of the KPA. A rifle that is held by an army devoid of staunch ideology is even more useless than a stick–this was his theory on the might of ideology.

 He ensured that a well-knit ideological education system was established across the KPA and led its political organs to train all the service personnel into persons with great spiritual strength who were ready to risk their lives in fighting for their country, their fellow people and their socialist system. On several occasions after the mid-1990s the world witnessed in wonder how strong the KPA soldiers were in loyalty to their leader and country and in the spirit of serving the people.

 Kim Jong Il energetically led the effort to consolidate the country’s self-reliant defence capabilities, thus developing the KPA into an invincible army equipped with modern military hardware. He saw to it that the KPA possessed original tactics and art of war and conducted combat training in the atmosphere of a real battle so as to train all the service personnel to be versatile combatants well prepared militarily and technically. The KPA has won one victory after another in the fierce military confrontation with the United States over the past dozens of years. The fundamental factor for this is that Kim Jong Il consistently led the effort for building up formidable national might.

 August 25 is also significant in that it was a day, which led the DPRK to hold fast to self-reliant defence as a keynote of policy and channel steady efforts into cementing its military strength, thereby laying a firm foundation for building a powerful socialist nation. 

 Even in the latter half of the 1990s, which was known as the most arduous period for the DPRK, Kim Jong Il invariably held up the banner of building up the military strength so as to safeguard the dignity of the country and nation and socialism. Thanks to his wise leadership, the country could possess a powerful war deterrent and defend the peace and security of the region.

Professing to be the “military police” of the world, the United States, the world’s largest nuclear-armed country, has, up until now, coerced other countries into serving its own selfish interests and sought military hegemony. It has also wilfully resorted to military intervention across the world.

 But, as the DPRK possessed a formidable war deterrent under the leadership of Kim Jong Il, the United States had to reconsider its favourite option on the Korean peninsula. The DPRK’s possession of huge military might has served as a main factor enabling peaceful environment to be defended and maintained on the Korean peninsula which is the hottest spot in the world.  

 With the environment for independent and peaceful development created on the strength of tremendous military might, the country could further consolidate its self-sufficient economy and finally open up a wide avenue for building a powerful socialist nation.

 Under the guidance of Kim Jong Un, President of the State Affairs of the DPRK, who carries forward the ideas and leadership of Kim Jong Il, the country has raised its national might and prestige to the highest possible level and brought about epochal changes in all fields of state building. The military parade held on July 27 this year to celebrate the 70^th anniversary of victory in the Korean war was another occasion that provided a glimpse into what level the DPRK’s military might had been raised to. 

 As long as it celebrates August 25 as a significant day in its history, the DPRK is sure to continue to win victory after victory.

-August 25 and the Meaning of the Day for the DPRK

 August 25, 1960 is the day when Chairman Kim Jong Il (1942-2011) commenced his leadership over the revolutionary armed forces of his country, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The DPRK celebrates this day as a meaningful one.

 By leading the Korean People’s Army for several decades since then, Kim Jong Il safeguarded the security of the country and regional peace and turned the DPRK into a world-class military power.

 One of the important meanings of August 25 is that the day was a watershed in the effort to make the KPA an army loyal to the Workers’ Party of Korea and the leader. As is acknowledged by many military experts of the world, the spirits unique to the KPA including the thoroughgoing spirit of defending the country and the spirit of devotedly serving the people were formed and consolidated under the leadership of the WPK and Chairman Kim Jong Il.

 When he inspected Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105^th Tank Division of the KPA on August 25, 1960, he attached the greatest importance to making the KPA an army absolutely faithful to the leadership of the WPK.

After his inspection of the tank division, he directed special attention to consolidating the WPK organs and other political bodies in the KPA and intensifying the ideological education of the service personnel. In the course of this the WPK’s command system, Kim Jong Il’s command system, was thoroughly established in the KPA.

 Since the mid-1990s when the imperialists’ aggressive manoeuvres grew ever more undisguised and the country’s economic situation was difficult, Chairman Kim Jong Il firmly safeguarded socialism by placing the KPA in the vanguard. He continually visited KPA units, leading the service personnel to reliably defend the foremost posts of the country, and on the other hand, he dispatched them to major sites of economic construction so as to ensure that the KPA played a great role in laying a firm foundation for building the country into a socialist power.

 Another meaning of August 25 is that the day made it possible to remarkably consolidate the fighting efficiency of the KPA and the nation’s defence capability, to creditably defend the sovereignty and dignity of the country.

 Kim Jong Il energetically led the work for strengthening the fighting efficiency of the KPA with extraordinary strategic wisdom and outstanding art of command.

 The DPRK always emerged victorious whenever the US made provocative manoeuvres including the incident of Pueblo, a US armed spy ship, and the incident of EC-121, a US large espionage plane, in the 1960s. The country owed these victories to his wise leadership.

There is another example.

 In 1983 the US conducted the Team Spirit 83 joint military exercise which was planned to be climaxed with the landing of air-borne troops on an imaginary point in north Korea and gave wide publicity to the landing drill. Later the US, to its utter surprise, came to know that their dropping point was identical with the point Kim Jong Il had selected for the KPA to conduct an anti-air-borne troops drill.

 Kim Jong Il directed great efforts to developing the national defence industry and thereby provided a guarantee that the KPA can win victory in confrontation with any enemy. With a noble sense of duty to defend the destiny of the country and people to the end, he channelled primary efforts into developing the national defence industry even in the period when the imperialists’ manoeuvres to isolate and stifle the DPRK went to extreme. Under his leadership the national defence industry of the DPRK developed into a modern and self-sufficient industry which can make necessary military equipment by its own efforts. In addition, the DPRK became a nuclear power. This ensured the strategic balance in the region and consolidated peace and security of the Korean peninsula.

 In those days the US media organs commented that if a war broke out, over 70 percent of the population of south Korea would be killed and the total amount of loss would be worth 21 020 440 million dollars. The world media unanimously voiced that the formidable war deterrent of the DPRK improved the situation and safeguarded peace on the Korean peninsula.