The Birth of a new revolutionary armed force -special article for the 93rd anniversary of the foundation of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army-Anti-Japanese People's Guerrilla Army

 93 years ago in the deep forests of Manchuria , President KIM IL SUNG founded the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army , the forerunner of today’s Korean People’s Army (KPA), on the 25th of April 1932. In those days it was known as the Anti-Japanese People’s Guerrilla Army or  AJPGA but in March 1934 it became the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army. In his speech to the ceremony for founding the AJPGA  President KIM IL SUNG said 

“The AJPGA is made up of the workers, peasants and young patriots who oppose the Japanese imperialists and their stooges and love their country and people; it is a revolutionary armed force which will dedicate itself to protecting the interests of the people.

The aim and mission of the people’s guerrilla army is to overthrow the colonial rule of Japanese imperialism in Korea and bring national independence and social emancipation to the Korean people”

This was an important clarification of  the  fundamental nature , role and mission of the Anti-Japanese People’s Guerrilla Army . It was an army of the workers , peasants and patriotic young people dedicated to achieving independence and also for the liberation of the working people from capitalist oppression and exploitation. Under the command of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG, an ever-victorious iron-willed brilliant commander the guerrillas of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army (KPRA) fought in the spirit of self-reliance against not only the oppression of the colonialism of the Japanese imperialists but also against the exploitation and oppression by capitalists and landlords . It was a true army of the people and an army for the people . President KIM IL SUNG once said “As fish cannot live without water, so guerrillas cannot live without the people”’ . President KIM IL SUNG strictly forbade the Anti-Japanese guerrilla fighters of the KPRA from violating the interests of the people even in the slightest . Once some guerrillas came back to the guerilla base with an ox that villagers had donated to the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army. Although life was not easy for the guerrillas and they were short of food and provisions President KIM IL SUNG actually ordered the guerrillas to return the ox to its owners as without the ox their lives may have become hard and inconvenient .

After the liberation of Korea from Japanese imperialist colonial rule in 1945 the KPRA , a guerrilla based force , was transformed into the Korean People’s Army(KPA ), a standing and regular revolutionary armed force .The  KPA  completely inherited the traditions and idea of the KPRA and carried them forward .  The KPA was  and is an anti-imperialist revolutionary army defending the socialist gains of the Korean people . President KIM IL SUNG declared that “To strengthen the People’s Army, therefore, it is necessary, first of all, to thoroughly equip all soldiers with the revolutionary spirit of our Party so that it becomes a genuine army of the revolution, of the Party and of the working class. It is important for you to ensure military training and build up defences, but most important of all is the intensification of political work among the soldiers”

Later comrade KIM JONG IL stated that “Our rifle is the rifle of class, the rifle of revolution, and it is the most powerful weapon for anti-imperialist class struggle” and respected comrade KIM JONG UN said that “The Korean People's Army is the army of our Party which was born and built up in the embrace of the Party; the source of its mightiness lies in the Party's revolutionary ideas and leadership”

The KPA upholding the slogan of  “Rifle in one hand and hammer or sickle in the other” as well as the spirit of army -people unity and the fine traditions of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army , not only defends the independence of the proud socialist country of Juche but takes part in socialist construction . The Anbyon Power station ,which was constructed in the 1990s is a proud creation of the hard work and sacrifice of the soldier constructors of the KPA . In recent years the KPA has assisted in the building of many of the new streets in Pyongyang which are capturing the world’s attention. It should never be forgotten that when the DPRK faced an emergency situation in the spring and early summer of 2022 caused by the inroad of a malignant virus from south Korea , it was the medics of the KPA who saved the day and took care of the people.

The KPA is truly a people’s army which exists only for the people and serves them .April 25 1932 was a day that saw the birth of a truly new revolutionary armed force , an armed force of the people and for the people.

Dr Dermot Hudson

Chairman Korean Friendship Association UK

Chairman British Group For the Study of the Juche Idea

Hon Secretary General Global Farmy for the Study of KIM JONG UN People’s First Policies.