Ever-victorious under the banner of Songun

This year marks the 74^th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army.

The KPA’s history is that of a strong army that has been ever-victorious under the leadership of its brilliant commanders of Songun.

A strong army is symbolic of the dignity of an independent nation, and the banner under which the state and people are invincible. For a country and people to shape their destinies by themselves they must have a strong army.

It can be said that the revolutionary history of President Kim Il Sung, the founder and the first supreme commander of the KPA, is a history of Songun revolutionary leadership whereby the President founded the army first and led the revolution relying on the might of the army.

Political power stems from arms and is maintained by arms. Revolution presupposes arms, and the army decides the destiny of a nation. This is the core of the President’s Songun idea, and the basic principle of revolution. With the resolute idea and faith of Songun revolution by which priority is given to arms the President decided to found a genuine army of Korea at a time when Korea was deprived of its sovereignty and land. Even without foundation of a national army or state backing, he, on April 25, 1932, founded the Anti-Japanese People’s Guerilla Army, the predecessor of the KPA. Later he developed and expanded the AJPGA into the Korean Revolutionary Army. Relying on the army he waged the arduous anti-Japanese armed struggle and finally defeated the Japanese army, the so-called leader of Asia, thus accomplishing the historic cause of national liberation.

The President led the army to become not only the means for fighting the imperialists and winning state power but also the hard-core in advancing the socialist cause as a whole. This foresightedness and wise leadership of his was the fundamental guarantee for the KPA to have played a decisive role as the most powerful political and military force in the whole course of the Korean revolution. The KPA could work such a military miracle as itself winning the Fatherland Liberation War against the US invasion of young north Korea founded immediately after Korea’s liberation from the Japanese colonial rule (August 1945) by defeating the allied force led by the US army that boasted of being “the strongest” in the world, and become the mighty defender of the revolutionary achievements in the forefront of the socialist construction. Credit for this, it can be said, must go to President Kim Il Sung’s line of giving prominence to the military affairs.

The President’s history of leadership to the military affairs is being steadily carried on by Supreme commander Kim Jong Il.

Kim Jong Il’s leadership to revolution is the Songun revolutionary leadership under which all the political, economic, ideological and cultural affairs are dealt with on the principle of giving priority to the military affairs and al problems arising in national defense and socialist construction are solved relying on the political and military might of the People’s Army.

The “Arduous March” the north Korean people had to undergo at the end of last century opened an outstanding chapter in the history of Kim Jong Il’s leadership to the military affairs. At that time when the north Koreans faced the worst ordeals, Kim Jong Il, with a firm resolution, put forward the Songun politics as the main mode of politics in the current age and set out on a long journey of Songun. He made sure that the motive force of the revolution was remarkably strengthened after the model of the People’s Army and that the national military power grew strong enough to check and shatter the US policy of strength and military threats. This made it possible to demonstrate the national power of north Korea on the highest level. As a result the north Korean people who had been at the crossroads of life and death emerged victorious in the anti-imperialist struggle to defend socialism and entered a new era for the building of a great prosperous powerful nation. This historic miracle was the result of Kim Jong Il’s Songun politics.

The seventy-odd-year-long history of the KPA is a glorious one in which it won two revolutionary wars---the anti-Japanese revolutionary war and the three-year-long Fatherland Liberation War---and defended the national sovereignty and socialism by winning the acute anti-US showdown without gunfire at the end of last century. The People’s Army, with ardent patriotism, took the lead in laying the foundation of Korean socialism and played role of the vanguard in defending the achievements of revolution during the acute anti-US showdown that has lasted for more than half a century.

Today when the Songun politics is in force in all respects, the Korean people’s Army that has won victory after victory under the leadership of the brilliant commanders is fully displaying its might as the powerful main force of the revolution fully prepared politico-ideologically, militarily and technically.

North Korea’s single-hearted unity is being markedly strengthened by the KPA’s hard-core role. The People’s Army is the bodyguards that stand in the van of society in supporting the leadership of the revolution with ideas, with faith and with arms. The people’s Army fosters the resolute revolutionary spirit of the age and an unbreakable fighting spirit. The army is so strong that it has unswervingly protected the center of the unity while making it possible to hold fast to the tradition of the unity.

At present north Korea is pervaded with the spirit of army-people unity whereby the people support the army and vice versa. All the army and people have become comrades united with one mind and one will in supporting the leader. Herein lies the invincibility of the north Korean-style socialism.

The People’s Army is playing the role of vanguard in bringing about a great upsurge in the building of a great prosperous powerful nation.

The People’s Army soldiers have built monumental structures that add luster to the age, and set ceaseless examples in implementing the economic policies of the Workers’ Party of Korea. This is stimulating the people to further efforts for the building of a great prosperous powerful nation. The revolutionary ideology, culture and morality prevailing in the army have become the thoughts and feelings of all the people and their way of life. As a result all the society is pervaded with revolutionary optimism and fighting spirit, and all sectors and units are making rapid progress for the building of a great prosperous powerful nation.