Rodong Sinmun Praises Chairman Kim Jong Il's Exploits in Army-Building

Pyongyang, December 24 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun says in an editorial on Monday that Chairman Kim Jong Il's assumption of supreme commandership of the Korean People's Army (KPA) on Dec. 24, Juche 80 (1991) was a historic event of great significance for our country and revolution.

Thanks to his assumption, steady continuity was given to the lifeline of Juche revolution started in Mt. Paektu, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea proudly emerged as a world military power and the history of the invincibility of socialist Korea vigorously continues century after century, the editorial says, and goes on:

Kim Jong Il is an invincible and iron-willed commander who had performed the undying feats in building the Juche-oriented army with his outstanding military wisdom and rare commanding art.

Under his Songun revolutionary leadership, the people's army was developed into a reliable main force of the revolution and construction, the national power with the military muscle as its core signally boosted and the firm springboard for building a socialist power provided.

It is his exploits to be specially recorded in the history of building the Juche-oriented army that he developed the KPA into the revolutionary army of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Kim Jong Il opened a new chapter in building the Juche-oriented revolutionary armed forces by setting forth the line of modeling the whole army on Kimilsungism and setting it as the general task for army-building to turn the KPA into the army of the leader and the Party both in name and in reality.

It is his exploits to remain long in the national history that he built the self-defensive power capable of reliably defending the independent dignity and safety of the country and people.

It is entirely attributable to the powerful self-defensive military capabilities provided under the care of Kim Jong Il that the Korean people have courageously made a dynamic advance along the road of independence, the road of socialism chosen by them while enjoying the stable life without a war for several decades.

The great exploit he performed for the cause of building the Juche-oriented revolutionary armed forces is that he successfully settled the issue of succession to the leadership over the army-building.

The editorial calls for eternally glorifying the exploits Kim Jong Il performed in building the revolutionary armed forces, and striving to bring earlier the final victory in building a socialist power, closely rallied around the Central Committee of the Party. -0-