ON STRENGTHENING THE PEOPLE’S ARMY AND
CREATING A SOCIAL CLIMATE IN WHICH PROMINENCE
IS GIVEN TO MILITARY AFFAIRS
Talk to the Senior Officials of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea February 4, 1992
Before
long we will be marking, in the presence of the great leader, the 60
anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army. There are many
countries and armies in the world, but no army other than ours is to
celebrate its 60 anniversary in the presence of its founder and leader.
The 60 years travelled by our People’s Army under the leadership of the
great leader are adorned with only victory and glory. Having announced
its birth in the forests of Mt. Paektu, the Korean People’s
Revolutionary Army defeated the heavily-armed Japanese imperialists and
achieved the historic cause of national liberation under the command of
the great leader, when he was in his twenties. After liberation it
developed rapidly into a regular, revolutionary army, defending the
homeland by force of arms.
During
the grim Fatherland Liberation War, which would be decisive to the
destiny of the country, our People’s Army defeated the US imperialists,
who had boasted of being the “strongest” in the world, by displaying
mass heroism and a unrivalled spirit of self-sacrifice for the sake of
the Party and the leader, the country and the people, and thus
safeguarded with honour the achievements of the revolution. After the
war, it thwarted at each step the ceaseless manoeuvres by the US
imperialists and their south Korean stooges to unleash a new war, at the
same time as making a major contribution to the struggle for restoring
the devastated economy and building a strong socialist country that was
independent, self-sufficient and self-reliant in national defence. And
today, while defending the country, it is performing heroic exploits in
grand socialist construction, aimed at achieving the prosperity of the
country and the happiness of the people. The mass heroism and exploits
displayed and achieved by the men and officers of the People’s Army will
shine forever in our Party’s history. For our Party and people, having
the ever-victorious People’s Army, which is infinitely loyal to the
Party and the leader, to the country and the people, is a source of
great honour and pride. It is with these feelings that we must celebrate
the 60 anniversary of the Korean People’s Army in grand style.
On
this occasion, I am planning a grand military parade that is novel in
its form and has a unique style of our own. I want the form and style to
be original and unique, since this will be the first parade of its kind
to be held following my appointment as Supreme Commander of the Korean
People’s Army. Until now, it has been the convention to organize parades
in such a way that the infantry columns march first, followed by the
mechanized ones. We should, however, free ourselves from this
established practice and arrange the parade in keeping with the nature
of the People’s Army and in a style of our own. The People’s Army is the
army of our Party, a revolutionary army that has inherited the
traditions of the anti-Japanese revolution. In this army today there are
anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters who fought bloody battles under
the command of the great leader ever since the days of the war against
Japan, veterans who braved the fierce flames of the Fatherland
Liberation War, and the new generations, their descendants. In order to
sustain the nature of the People’s Army, we should form the parade of
columns of anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters, Fatherland Liberation
War veterans, Mangyongdae Revolutionary School students, serving
soldiers, Worker-Peasant Red Guards, and Young Red Guards.
The
parade should be led by the column of anti-Japanese revolutionary
veterans. They are the first generation of our revolution who, looking
up to the great leader as the lodestar of the Korean revolution,
followed him through bloody battles. It is an obligation incumbent on
revolutionaries to value and pay tribute to the first generation of the
revolution. Placing the column of anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters
at the head of the parade will have a positive influence not only on
them, but also on the second and third generations.
After
that, the column of veterans from the Fatherland Liberation War should
parade. We should see to it that not only generals on active service but
also reserve generals and officers, are included in this column. This
will please the reserve soldiers working in various sectors of the
national economy, who will think that the Party continues to trust and
give prominence to them as servicemen of the People’s Army, even though
they are discharged from active service. We should provide them with new
uniforms and confer on them higher military ranks so that they can
parade in their new uniforms with new epaulettes.
Reserve generals from the provinces should also be enlisted in this column.
Behind
the war veterans, students from Mangyongdae Revolutionary School should
parade. This is a military school that trains the bereaved children of
revolutionaries to become the backbone of national defence, inheriting
the revolutionary cause of Juche pioneered by the leader. Busy as he was
with the work of building the Party, the state and the army after
liberation, the leader, ever mindful of his fallen comrades-in-arms,
dispatched officials to various places to trace the whereabouts of their
children, and had them brought to study at Mangyongdae Revolutionary
School, where they were brought up to become reliable workers for the
country. At this school today, the bereaved children of revolutionary
comrades who worked faithfully for the Party and the leader, for the
country and the people in their lifetime, are growing up as trustworthy
successors to our revolution. The Mangyongdae Revolutionary School
column, by parading behind the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters and
war veterans, will show that the revolutionary cause of Juche is being
inherited creditably, and that fine successors to the revolution are
being nurtured.
This
column should be followed by those of serving soldiers. They will
present a grand spectacle of the a-match-for-a-hundred-foe ranks of the
People’s Army, which, by inheriting the loyalty to the Party and the
leader and the indomitable revolutionary spirit cherished by the
anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters and heroes of the Fatherland
Liberation War, instils in our people confidence in certain victory.
The
columns of Worker-Peasant Red Guards and Young Red Guards should follow
the columns of serving soldiers. The Worker-Peasant Red Guards and
Young Red Guards are paramilitary forces organized in line with our
Party’s policy of arming the entire population. It will be good to
include these columns in the parade so that we can demonstrate what our
paramilitary forces, as well as our regular army, look like. Only in our
country would these forces take part in such a parade. We must do
everything in our own way. And we must make it a tradition to organize
the parade of the People’s Army in our way.
We must strengthen the People’s Army and create a social climate in which prominence is given to military affairs.
As
I have been emphasizing for a long time, state power is defended by
force of arms. This truth has been proved in the course of history. The
party is also defended and developed by the army’s strength. The leader
has said that he strengthened and developed our Party by relying on
revolutionary force of arms, adding that we should continue to exert
great efforts to strengthen the People’s Army. We must consolidate the
People’s Army and accomplish the revolutionary cause of Juche, which was
pioneered on Mt. Paektu.
The
path of revolution is arduous and beset with trials. The theme song,
Song of Comradeship, from the revolutionary film, Star of Korea,
contains the lines: We must take the road of revolution rain or snow/Let
us be true to our oath. These highlights the philosophical truth that
the road of revolution is not smooth but littered with severe trials,
and that we must brave them at any cost, however hard they may be. The
road of revolution is not smooth, so we must never think of following it
in comfort, putting up an umbrella when it rains and wearing an
overcoat when it snows. The completion of the revolutionary cause of
Juche, which originated on Mt. Paektu, requires us, at all times and in
all conditions, to channel great efforts into strengthening the People’s
Army.
Strengthening
the People’s Army means making it the army of the leader, the army of
the Party and the army of the people. To this end, we must consolidate
the Party’s leadership of the People’s Army and train all soldiers into
revolutionary soldiers of the Juche type who are infinitely loyal to the
Party and the leader. If we firmly establish the system of Party’s
leadership of the People’s Army and prepare all its members to be
soldiers who are each a match for a hundred foes, we have nothing to be
afraid of.
It
is essential in strengthening the People’s Army to build up the ranks
of its cadres with officers for whom loyalty to the Party and the leader
is a matter of faith, conscience, moral obligation and everyday
concern. Such officers will never betray themselves, whatever the
adversity, and will dedicate their lives without hesitation to the Party
and the leader, the country and the people. The cadre ranks of the
People’s Army must be built up with young and able people. Modern
warfare is three-dimensional and employs high-tech weaponry. So, we will
emerge victorious from a war against the enemy only when the ranks of
cadres of the People’s Army are reinforce with young and able people who
can deal skilfully with various situations, however complex.
The
Party training course for commanding officers of the People’s Army must
be organized well. With its aim of improving their ability to command
and administer their units by placing the main emphasis on training
their Party spirit, it is an advantageous system the like of which is
found only in our country. So far, this short course has achieved the
expected results. We must organize it more effectively to ensure that
all commanding officers regard loyalty to the Party and the leader as a
matter of faith, conscience, moral obligation and everyday concern,
acquire a revolutionary approach to organization, and cultivate the
skills of command and administration of their units.
The
General Political Bureau of the People’s Army must conduct effective
political and ideological education among the soldiers, so that they all
discharge their duties as soldiers of the army of the leader, the Party
and the people. The superiority of our People’s Army over the armed
forces of other countries lies in its political and ideological
superiority. During the Fatherland Liberation War our People’s Army,
though young, was able to defeat the militarily and technically superior
US imperialists and humble them, because its soldiers fought with a
political and ideological determination to devote their lives to the
Party and the leader, to the country and the people. The General
Political Bureau of the People’s Army must further strengthen the
soldiers’ education in the Juche idea so as to instil in them loyalty,
Party policy, revolutionary traditions, class awareness and an
understanding of communism.
The
role of the political departments of the Ministry of Public Security
and other military organs must be enhanced, too. These political
departments must conduct efficient political and ideological education
among the soldiers so that, in the face of the prevailing situation,
they all fulfil their duties as defenders of the Party.
We must create a social climate in which prominence is given to military affairs.
Recently
the people’s attitude towards the People’s Army has been enhanced and
more and more examples of fine conduct in assisting the army have been
witnessed. It is said that when soldiers leave for and return from their
military training, the people living in their neighbourhood come out to
cheer them. The relationship between the soldiers and the people is,
needless to say, good, and the soldiers’ morale is high. Nowadays, many
people, happy with my appointment as Supreme Commander, wish to send
their sons and daughters to join the People’s Army.
From this fact alone, we can see how excellent our people are.
Party
organizations must praise such examples of good conduct as giving
active assistance to the People’s Army and make them public, so that
this becomes a climate in society.
In
order to create a social climate in which prominence is given to
military affairs, it is also necessary to raise the military ranks of
members of the reserve. Then, the people will appreciate better the
great importance attached by the Party to military affairs. At the
moment, there are a large number of reserve soldiers in our country. If
they are awarded higher military ranks they will strengthen their
determination to devote themselves to the Party and the people. This
measure will also ensure greater success in the work with the masses. It
is an expression of the Supreme Commander’s great trust in and
affection for the reserve soldiers. If higher military ranks are
conferred on them, their children, to say nothing of the persons
concerned, will be very pleased, and this will also be conducive to
creating throughout society a climate in which prominence is given to
military affairs.
As this work is of great significance in every aspect, we must do it in a responsible manner.
We
must continue to give full play to the traditional trait of unity
between the army and the people. As fish cannot live without water, so
the army cannot maintain its existence apart from the people, and the
people cannot conceive of their security apart from the army. Therefore,
the people must take loving care of the army, as they would their own
children, and give active support to it.
Whenever
I am told of examples of beautiful conduct by the People’s Army
soldiers, I have the urge to give them wide publicity; whenever I have
something available to give, I also have the urge to send it first to
the soldiers. On the occasion of February 16 this year, I am going to
ensure that most of my gifts are sent to the army.
I
am going to send high-quality fur coats to the People’s Army soldiers.
If soldiers whose duties involve lying flat even on frozen ground are
supplied with them, they will be very pleased. All departments of the
Party Central Committee must turn out and give assistance to this work.
Some time ago, the director of the Light Industry Department of the
Party Central Committee suggested to me that she would have the People’s
Army soldiers supplied with fur coats. I told her the idea was laudable
and I would make sure she received active assistance. The departments
of the Party Central Committee must help her well so that good-quality
fur coats can be produced quickly.
We must create a model county in the aspect of unity between the army and the people and generalize it.
At
the moment, various model county movements, such as the model
law-abiding county movement, model sports county movement and model
county movement for August 3 consumer goods production, are being
conducted in society. Conducting a model county movement of unity
between the army and the people would be a good idea. I think it best to
organize the movement in such a way as to create one or two model
counties among such frontline counties as Phyonggang and Kosong, which
are in direct confrontation with the enemy, and border counties where
soldiers are stationed, and generalize the experience. The relevant
department of the Party Central Committee, in cooperation with the
General Political Bureau of the People’s Army, should select a county
that deserves to be a model county and give focused guidance to it, so
as to create an example.
Secretaries
and department heads of the Party Central Committee should read the
newspaper Joson Inmingun. It is now being edited to make it a worthy
army newspaper. When I read the paper, I feel as if the singing of Go
forward, brave soldiers of the People’s Arm is ringing in my ears. The
leader also appreciates the newspaper highly.
Every
morning I read Joson Inmingun before I read Rodong Sinmun. The former
carries many articles that are not found in the latter. It can be said
that this newspaper is fully imbued with the idea of the Supreme
Commander. When one reads the newspaper, one can fully appreciate the
political and ideological preparedness of the People’s Army. At the
moment, the political and ideological preparedness of the People’s Army
soldiers is very good. It is their unshakable faith to remain loyal to
the leadership of the Supreme Commander and bring the revolutionary
cause of Juche to completion. The General Political Bureau of the
People’s Army must send Joson Inmingun to the secretaries and department
heads of the Party Central Committee and to the Ministry of Public
Security.
Rodong
Chongnyon must be edited well to suit the characteristics of young
people. Currently, it is not edited in such a way as to appeal to young
people who are filled with vigour and enthusiasm. It can be called an
imitation of Rodong Sinmun. Since it is important to give good education
to young people, Rodong Chongnyon must be edited in such a way as to
provide them with political sustenance.
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