Comrades,
Generals, officers and soldiers,
My beloved comrades-in-arms,
The moment has come, for which our Party and government, together with the numerous families in this country that sent their dear sons to the battlefields, have waited so eagerly.
The whole country has waited for it.
It is also a moment, for which I have waited counting on my fingers.
As I see again at this meaningful ceremony the proud sons, the heroes of the country, who are a source of great pride for our state and for whom all the people have waited, I can hardly describe my feelings.
I extend heartfelt thanks and warm militant greetings to the commanding officers and combatants of the overseas military operations units, who fought bravely as befits Koreans and the Korean People’s Army under a hail of bullets and bombs in the do-or-die battles in the alien land and have returned home with dignity.
Comrades,
At the proposal of the Central Committee and Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea adopted a decree on awarding the title of Hero of the DPRK and other high commendations to the generals, officers and soldiers of our army who performed immortal feats in the overseas operations. I feel pleased to make the decree public here today.
These are the first commendations conferred on the combatants in the overseas operations, who are excellent sons of the Korean people and representatives of the great honour of their country.
Out of the desire to put forward in front of their country and fellow people the laudable heroes who have performed feats on the battlefields in the alien country in defence of the sacred prestige and dignity of their motherland and to make the whole country hold them in respect and esteem, the Central Committee of our Party has arranged a grand ceremony of awarding state commendations to them at its headquarters building.
These are special and valuable commendations the country and people confer on the honourable victors for their great feats that can be performed only in a bloody struggle.
You are entitled to enjoy this glory and the highest respect.
Since the day when I dispatched our special operations units overseas, I have frequently received reports on the course of their battles and have been deeply moved by the ennobling spirit, matchless bravery and invaluable sacrifice of our officers and soldiers. And I have been eager to award high commendations to all of them when they return home after fulfilling the missions entrusted to them.
As we are holding the first awarding ceremony today, I am reminded of the combatants who must be totally engaged in their tasks, even at this moment, true to the order of their motherland, as well as of the martyrs; and I am sorely sorry for failing to share this place of honour with all of them.
My heart aches and breaks as I am facing the reality in which I have no other alternative but to meet those, who dedicated their dear lives for the great victory and glory, by only seeing their photos on the memorial wall.
At the last moments of their lives of their own choice, they earned the most glorious eternity, leaving behind such feats and combat records as to be handed down through generations. My only thought is that how happy I would be if they shared this moment with me.
I have looked forward to hugging them warmly while every minute and every day wishing them safe and secure; I have been anxious to pin the Hero medal on their chests myself as they went through thick and thin with our glorious national flag in their bosoms. Now that all this is impossible, I feel really regretful.
As I am seeing the families of the fallen soldiers, I feel unspeakably sorry and chagrined for my failure to save the young lives, the invaluable sons they entrusted to us.
Availing myself of this opportunity, I express deep condolences to the families of the martyrs who laid down their precious lives in the overseas military operations, and propose a moment of silence praying for their eternity.
Our combatants in the war are all great men, great heroes and great patriots.
Through a staunch struggle and ennobling self-sacrifice, they performed great exploits to be etched in history for all eternity to bring lasting prosperity and strength to our country.
Kim Jong Un proudly said that the victory won by the combatants constitutes a great exploit that firmly defended the great honour of the Korean People’s Army, which must never be allowed to be stained, and provided a sure guarantee for the existence of our state and its development, a victory worth being recorded as a miracle in the history of our army building and in the chronicles of anti-imperialist revolutionary struggle, and at the same time, an epochal event in the world history of wars, which reformulated the thousands-of-years-old logic of the strong.
Stressing that the combat actions, which the overseas operations units, representing the armed forces of our Republic, carried out on the battlefields in the limelight of the world, fully demonstrated the mightiness of the heroic Korean People’s Army whose invincibility is based on the definite superiority of the ideological and spiritual preparedness and the Juche-oriented strategy and tactics, he continued:
What I prioritize and appreciate with satisfaction before anything else is the fact that the prestige of the ever-victorious Korean People’s Army has been verified most rigorously in its history of over 70 years, and that the true picture of our army fully prepared for war has been clearly confirmed.
The key to effectively coping with possible war and guaranteeing victory in it is to break the enemy’s will to fight it.
Now it has become an established theory that the army of any country will be doomed to death and ruin if they fight against our army.
It can be said that though you fought on the alien land and held trenches outside our territory, you have built high walls for the defence of your country.
In this sense, you have performed feats more precious and priceless than the victory in a war we might have fought on this land.
Today’s ceremony is an expression of gratitude and high praise of our Party, state and people for your historic feats of having carried out perfectly the political decision of the Party and the government for the destiny and future of the country and safeguarded the great honour maintained by all the generations of the Republic for decades.
Comrades,
The traces of fierce battles in the liberated region of the alien land where bullets and bombs showered will disappear and everything will change in the near future, but the memories of the outstanding valour and noble self-sacrificing spirit displayed by our service personnel will be neither erased nor buried in oblivion.
Their greatness and immortality are vividly enshrined on this land thousands of miles away from the hard-fought battlefields.
I greatly revere the spiritual world of you comrades who contributed to liberating the Kursk region, because the ennobling fighting spirit of heroes, which we have put forward so far, has become that of all the service personnel of the overseas operations units.
The heroism displayed by the service personnel of our overseas operations units gave rise to the feelings of both admiration and apprehension in many countries, and it was not confined to some specific performers of feats.
The overseas military operations produced a great number of heroes, all surpassing Ri Su Bok, Kang Ho Yong and Jo Kun Sil.
To be frank, the number took me by surprise, before anybody elsewhere in the world.
Our service personnel, be they military, political and medical officers, interpreters and even supply service soldiers, fought bravely, and all of them shared mind and purpose with one another under whatever circumstances.
They fought heroically and self-sacrificingly, irrespective of rank, age, career or exploit.
It was around the age of 18 that soldiers blocked the enemy’s gun muzzles with their chests. Contrary to this general belief, it was the officers in their thirties and forties who did so in the battles. Some, though aware that no remains of themselves would be left, unhesitatingly chose to blow themselves up, and some others shielded their superior officers with their bodies to protect them from bullets. I was strongly impressed by these facts.
Please look at that memorial wall in this hall of the Party Central Committee building.
These numerous officers, so stout and good-looking, stood in the vanguard and died a heroic death.
They deserve to be called model heroes, and the overseas operations units, heroic units.
The deeds of the individual heroes, which we put forward as paragons in the past, have now developed into a mass-based movement.
Countrywide, 600 or so holders of the title of Hero were produced during the three-year-long war of over seven decades ago, whereas, during the overseas military operations launched by the armed forces of our Republic, all the service personnel of an entire army group performed heroic exploits in a little more than six months.
The secret to victory in the recent overseas military operations lies not in the exploits performed by some outstanding military commanders or heroes, but entirely in the mass character of heroism and the spiritual and moral traits, both ennobling and beautiful, which definitely dominated the thoughts and feelings of all the service personnel of the overseas operations units.
They were thoroughgoing in implementing the orders from their superiors, as they ought to be as soldiers, and every one of them cherished a high sense of patriotism, loved their comrades-in-arms so ardently and was strong in the spirit of devotion. They were all excellent in terms of morality, performing their duties with credit and choosing to act honourably as dictated by their conscience, even when they were facing death.
Witnessing such exceptional, unique traits of yours, the world has come to realize why our army is so powerful and what the key factor is in guaranteeing its victory in whatever battle it engages in.
This is a landmark event in which the concept of a powerful army and the law of war victory have been clearly inscribed in the annals of the times and history.
I say this with certainty.
Whichever unit of our Army was to fight in the recent war and whichever arm it might belong to, its service personnel would have fought as bravely as you did and performed feats on a par with your heroic exploits.
I am most pleased and satisfied that, through you, I have reconfirmed the degree our service personnel’s spiritual and moral qualities have reached. Having such an army as the pioneer and defender of their revolutionary cause is a source of pride and honour for the Workers’ Party of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
As it has always done, in the present era, too, our army is adding lustre to its honourable appellation as a symbol of the heroic Korean people, as a representative of the great Korean people.
The country defended by this heroic army will remain powerful forever, and the cause advancing forward with such an army standing in the vanguard will be ever-victorious.
As it hardens such conviction, today’s ceremony is particularly significant and weighty.
At this meaningful ceremony, I, on behalf of the Party and the government, once again extend heartfelt thanks and militant salute to the officers and soldiers of the overseas operations units, who have demonstrated the great honour of the Korean People’s Army by living up to the Party’s and motherland’s trust in it, displaying unprecedentedly heroic fighting spirit and performing undying feats in the fierce flames of battles.
And availing myself of this opportunity, I would like to tell our brave combatants what I have repeated hundreds of times in my mind.
As it is defended by you and other heroic soldiers, this country is formidable.
Comrades,
Our Party will surely find out all the feats the combatants of the overseas operations units performed at the cost of their blood in every decisive battlefield in the alien land and proudly show them to their parents, wives and children and to the country, people and posterity.
We will tell the people, the KPA officers and soldiers, their sons and daughters and other children all those precious combat experiences you gained in the bloody struggle, your genuine camaraderie and absolute love for your motherland, the heartbreaking sacrifices you had to endure shedding tears of blood, your delight in winning invaluable victory at such a cost, and your beautiful life filled with optimism about a bright future.
In a prominent part of the capital city, a combat feats memorial museum and a monument to combat feats will be erected to hand down the great feats performed by the combatants, and the whole country will respect and learn from the heroes’ noble soul and mettle for all eternity.
The motherland will confer the highest and most brilliant honour on all the officers and soldiers of the overseas operations units and at the same time bring all the glory to their parents who raised their children well and readily sent them to the scared war for the country.
Today’s ceremony is the beginning of these all.
The glorious path pioneered by the combatants at the cost of their blood on the battlefields in the alien land and the ennobling lives of the martyrs will not come to an end. The blood-stained combat records inscribed with their names will shine their eternal brilliance in the most precious pages of the history of the country.
Comrades,
Frustrating all challenges that threaten the sovereignty and security of the state and providing a firm military guarantee for its peace and development is the invariable mission of our revolutionary armed forces.
Now in the international arena, very serious and unpredictable security crises are being created by excessive use of military force by the fanatical forces buoyed by war fever, and our enemy states are becoming ever more undisguised in their dangerous attempt to undermine the prestige and superiority of our state which is maintaining the balance of the security situation in and around the Korean peninsula.
This environment leaves us no room for feeling at ease, and it demands that our army maintain a higher level of perfect and overwhelming preparedness.
Kim Jong Un advanced important tasks for developing the armed forces of the Republic into an elite and strong army and winding up its war preparedness to cope with the prevailing situation and the military provocations by the enemy states.
He said that officers and soldiers of the overseas operations units who are still performing their honourable combat missions in the alien land should keep in mind that their beloved parents, wives and children and their motherland are waiting for the day when they will come back in good health, and continued:
Our state will remain dignified, powerful and strong forever as it has such great heroes as you.
Our army will carry forward the great history of war victory for all ages by displaying its unique loyalty and heroic mettle.
I wish immortal glory to the heroic officers and soldiers of the overseas operations units who have elevated our people’s long history of victory and the absolute strength of our revolutionary armed forces to the highest and most glorious plane.
Long live the heroic Korean People’s Army!
