Kim Jong Un (3rd L) issues instructions during a field inspection of a newly commissioned KPA Navy warship (Photo: Rodong Sinmun).
DPRK state media reported on 24 August (Saturday) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) commanded the maneuvers of a recently commissioned Korean People’s Army [KPA] warship. He was accompanied by Korean Workers’ Party [KWP] Organization Guidance Department Senior Deputy [1st Vice] Director Yun Tong Hyon, KPA Supreme Command staff member Lt. Gen. Pak Jong Chon, KPA Navy Commander Vice Admiral Kim Myong Sik, KPA Air and anti-Air Commander Gen. Ri Pyong Chol, KWP Organization Guidance Department Deputy Director Hwang Pyong So and KWP Deputy Department Directors Hong Yong Chil and Kim Pyong Ho. Kim Jong Un’s last observed appearance was his visit to the KPA Science and Technology Exhibition Hall.
Kim Jong Un toured the new warship and was briefed about its combat equipment, its speed and displacement. According to KCNA he “highly praised the KPA and relevant field for successfully building the vessel by their own efforts on the basis of latest military science and technology” and said that “the vessel is one of the warships in the 21st century as it is able to automatically control all the combat activities including navigation and firing and simultaneously strike different targets.” Kim Jong Un then commanded the warship’s maneuvers and “was greatly satisfied to see the high maneuverability and striking capability of the warship.” According to KCNA he underscored “ the need to make many multi-functional, well-equipped warships and steadily improve the combat capability of the navy” and “set forth important tasks to further strengthen the navy as required by the modern war in the 21st century.”
An image of current DPRK leader Kim Jong Un (L) and his father late leader Kim Jong Il (R) inspected Kaeso’n Fun Fair in central Pyongyang in December 2011. The image appeared in DPRK state media on 25 August 2013, 53rd anniversary of the beginning of So’ngun (military-first) Revolutionary Leadership (Photo: Rodong Sinmun).
On 25 August (Sunday) Kim Jong Un published a lecture in the KWP daily newspaper Rodong Sinmun and in the KPA’s newspaper Joson Inmingun.
“Let Us Add Eternal Brilliance to Comrade Kim Jong Il’s Great Idea and Achievement of the Military-First (So’ngun) Revoluton”
by Kim Jong Un, 25 August 2013
With deep respect for the great Comrade Kim Jong Il and firm confidence in the victory of the revolution, our service personnel and people greet the 53rd anniversary of the start of his leadership of the So’ngun revolution.
The Day of So’ngun, when General Kim Jong Il started his leadership of the So’ngun revolution, is, together with the day of the founding of the KPA (Korean People’s Army), a historic day when an important milestone was set up for the history of building up our revolutionary armed forces and the history of our country. As there was this significant day, a historic turn could be brought about in developing our revolutionary armed forces and implementing the cause of the Juche revolution, and the history and traditions of our sacred So’ngun revolution that had been pioneered and developed by force of arms, achieving victory, could be carried forward continuously.
So’ngun is a proud tradition of the Korean revolution which was pioneered by Comrade Kim Il Sung (Kim Il-so’ng) and led by him and Comrade Kim Jong Il and the banner of victory and glory.
The great Generalissimos blazed the trail of the So’ngun revolution for the first time in history, thus creating a new history of So’ngun and ushering in the era of So’ngun.
Having clarified in his early days the truth of the revolutionary struggle that one can emerge victorious against an armed enemy only when one fights him with arms and advanced the idea and line of attaching importance to arms, to military affairs, the great Comrade Kim Il Sung regarded building armed forces as a fundamental problem in the revolution, directed primary efforts to organizing and developing the armed ranks and achieved the historic cause of national liberation with the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army as the main force.
By relying on the arms of the revolution, he wisely led two revolutionary wars, two stages of social revolution and socialist construction, and thus built on this land socialism of our style centred on the masses of the people and demonstrated the dignity and honor of the country.
Comrade Kim Jong Il, who was faithful to Comrade Kim Il Sung’s ideas and cause, led our revolution along the glorious road of victory, braving the severe trials and adversities of history by dint of his unique leadership of the So’ngun revolution.
His visit to Seoul Ryu Kyong Su (Yu Kyo’ng-su) Guards 105th Tank Division of the KPA on August 25, 1960 was a historic event that proclaimed his succession of the cause of the So’ngun revolution and the start of his So’ngun-based leadership.
Songun was the General’s revolutionary idea, his practice in the revolution, his political ideal and his political mode.
During the long period spanning more than half a century from the day when he started his leadership of the So’ngun revolution, the great General visited one KPA unit after another, strengthening the army to be an invincible revolutionary army, and victoriously led the revolution and construction by force of So’ngun.
Regarding the strengthening of the KPA as the most important of affairs in the So’ngun revolution, he raised the KPA as the buttress, the main force, of our revolution and achieved the historic victory in the grim anti-imperialist, anti-US showdown in defence of the country’s security and socialism by training the KPA to be the army of the leader boundlessly faithful to the cause of the WPK (Workers’ Party of Korea; KWP), to be an invincible revolutionary army. He defined the spirit of defending the leader unto death, the spirit of implementing his instructions at any cost and the self-sacrificing spirit displayed by the service personnel as a revolutionary spirit symbolic and representative of the So’ngun era, as the revolutionary soldier spirit, and led all the service personnel and people to live and struggle in that spirit, thus ensuring that a great turn and changes were brought about in all sectors of the revolution and construction.
In order to consolidate the successes of his So’ngun-based leadership and administer Songun politics in a comprehensive way, he saw to it that the First Session of the Tenth Supreme People’s Assembly [held on 5 September 1998] of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea adopted the Socialist Constitution that embodies the idea and principles of the So’ngun revolution and established a new state administration structure, whose backbone is the National Defence Commission, and led all state affairs to be conducted on the principle of giving precedence to military affairs.
The history of his leadership of the So’ngun revolution is an unprecedented history of thoroughgoing anti-imperialist independence, a history of infinite patriotic devotion; it is also a history of ennobling trust and affection, filled with absolute trust in and maternal affection for the service personnel and people.
As there was the General’s leadership of the So’ngun revolution, our revolution could win victory after victory surmounting all manner of vicissitudes of history; as there was the General’s super-intense forced march of patriotic devotion, our service personnel and people could work historic miracles unknown to mankind.
So’ngun was, indeed, our General’s immutable revolutionary creed, which he cherished and applied all his life, and a great revolutionary practice, during which he adorned the history of the country with brilliant victories and imperishable achievements.
In the course of leading the unprecedented So’ngun revolution, the General formulated and developed the idea of the So’ngun revolution, and thus created a guiding principle and ever-victorious banner our people and the revolutionary peoples of the world should adhere to in accomplishing the cause of independence.
The idea of the So’ngun revolution is an idea of giving importance and precedence to military affairs in implementing the masses’ cause of independence, the socialist cause, and pushing ahead with the overall revolution and construction with the revolutionary army as the core force.
With its starting point being the Chuch’e-based revolutionary principle that the victory of the revolutionary cause is decided by arms of the revolution, the idea gives scientific and practical answers to the key questions arising in winning victory in the revolution.
It clarifies the revolutionary theory on building up the arms of the revolution, the revolutionary army, strengthening the driving force of the revolution with the revolutionary army as the core and, by relying on it, advancing the revolution and construction victoriously.
Its most important requirement is that the army should be developed into the army of the Party and the leader, into an invincible revolutionary army capable of defeating any formidable enemy, with importance being attached to military affairs and primary efforts directed to building up the army.
In order for the masses to carve out their destiny and accomplish the cause of socialism amid sharp confrontation with the imperialists and constant danger of war, they must, before anything else, firmly hold up and strengthen the arms of the revolution. It is a serious lesson taught by the history of the world socialist movement that when the arms of the revolution are weak or waver, they can defend neither the destiny of the masses nor socialism.
That one must consolidate the driving force of the revolution with the revolutionary army as the main force and propel the revolutionary struggle and construction work by relying on its leading role is a new revolutionary theory elucidated by the So’ngun idea.
The revolution is a do-or-die struggle of deciding who prevails over whom between the revolutionary forces and the counterrevolutionary forces, so the destiny of the revolution depends on how the driving force of the revolution is strengthened and how its role is enhanced.
Among the social groups that form the revolutionary forces in a socialist society, whose masters are the masses, the group that is the strongest in the revolutionary sense, organized aspect, discipline and fighting capabilities is the revolutionary army under the guidance of the leader. The revolutionary army, for its revolutionary idea, great spiritual strength and revolutionary temperament, is capable of leading the overall society and propelling the revolutionary struggle and construction work. If the revolutionary army stands in the van and all the people struggle with the revolutionary spirit and temperament of the army by forming an integrated whole with the service personnel, their power is incomparably great.
By the idea of the So’ngun revolution, a new road, a road to victory, was opened for successfully advancing the masses’ cause of independence, the socialist cause, by consolidating the driving force of the revolution and enhancing its role.
The General’s idea of the So’ngun revolution throws a fresh light on the political theory that So’ngun politics is the most powerful mode of politics and the basic mode of socialist politics.
Ideas and ideals are translated into practice by politics, which is a factor that decides the destiny of the masses and the rise and fall of a country and nation.
The great General elucidated for the first time in history that socialist politics for fully realizing the independent demands and interests of the masses should be So’ngun politics that gives importance and precedence to military affairs, and formulated So’ngun politics as the basic mode of socialist politics.
As he said, So’ngun politics is a mode of socialist politics that raises military affairs as the most important of all state affairs and defends the country, revolution and socialism and accelerates the overall socialist construction with the KPA as the core, as the main force. It is a mode of independent politics that fully embodies the fundamentals and principles of the So’ngun idea.
Formulation of So’ngun politics as the basic mode of socialist politics has brought about a fundamental change in the history of mankind’s politics and the history of socialist politics and presented a treasured sword with which to successfully realize the ideals and principles of socialism.
The General’s So’ngun idea is a revolutionary idea and theory which embodies a thoroughgoing anti-imperialist, independent stand and the spirit of ennobling love of the country, nation and people and which is based on an iron faith and willpower.
So’ngun, a new term in our era, was coined reflecting the unshakeable faith, willpower and great pluck of Comrade Kim Jong Il who, taking full responsibility for the destiny and future of the country and people amid long-drawn-out, sharp confrontation with an imperialist power, solved all problems in our own way and in conformity with the demands and interests of our people and nation. As we have the idea of the So’ngun revolution, a great idea of Comrade Kim Jong Il, we have been able to defend the dignity of the country, independence of the people and gains of socialism with credit and open the way for the prosperity of the country and rosy future of the nation by our own strength, that is, by force of arms.
As an idea enriched and developed in the course of the practical struggle to apply the Chuch’e idea, the So’ngun idea is a scientific revolutionary theory which makes it possible to satisfy the requirements of the Chuch’e idea in a perfect and comprehensive way.
The formulation and development of the idea and theory of the So’ngun revolution by the great Comrade Kim Jong Il further enriched the ideological and theoretical treasure-house of our revolution and greatly increased the appeal and vitality of the Chuch’e idea.
The Juche idea is the roots of the So’ngun idea and the latter is a brilliant embodiment of the former.
Thanks to the So’ngun idea, the Chuch’e idea could be splendidly applied to the revolutionary practice, shining more brightly as a great guiding ideology which guarantees the victorious advance and accomplishment of the masses’ cause of independence.
The General performed undying exploits for the country and revolution, for the times and history with his outstanding leadership of the So’ngun revolution.
He safeguarded with honor the Chuch’e-oriented socialism, which Comrade Kim Il Sung established, and assured the solid continuity of the revolutionary cause of Chuch’e, the revolutionary cause of Songun, by dint of his leadership of the So’ngun revolution.
The Chuch’e-oriented socialism is a precious gain of our revolution Comrade Kim Il Sung achieved devoting his life, and it is our people’s lifeblood and the cradle of their true life and happiness. The 90s of the last century, when the reckless anti-DPRK moves of the allied forces of the US and other imperialists to check the victorious advance of our revolution and stamp out our socialism went to extremes, was a period of the severest ordeals for our revolution. When our army and people were at the crossroads whether they would remain an independent people and guards to become victors or be reduced to the imperialists’ colonial slaves again, Comrade Kim Jong Il determinedly held up the banner of So’ngun, and defended the Chuch’e-oriented socialism with honor and achieved brilliant victories. This was a miracle of history which only our General could bring about.
By dint of his leadership of the So’ngun revolution he laid a firm foundation for the prosperity of the country and the accomplishment of the revolutionary cause of Chuch’e and provided a sure guarantee for victory.
The most important guarantee for victory in the revolution is to strengthen the party, the General Staff of the revolution, and solidify the driving force of the revolution by uniting the service personnel and people around it.
A fundamental principle which the great General consistently adhered to in the building of our Party was to build it into the party of the leader. He defined imbuing the entire Party with Kimilsungism as the ultimate objective of its building and wisely led the effort for firmly establishing a monolithic ideological system and a monolithic leadership system across the Party. As a result, our Party could be developed into a revolutionary party which is unfailingly faithful to the ideology and guidance of its leader and possessed of a strong sense of organization and discipline and into an ever-victorious party with solid mass and military bases, and could discharge its mission and role as the guiding force in implementing the cause of the So’ngun revolution. The General held up single-hearted unity as the greatest foundation of the revolution and perfectly realized the single-hearted unity of the Party, army and people centred on the leader, thus strengthening the driving force of the So’ngun revolution remarkably.
By strengthening the KPA to be an invincible army and consolidating the military capabilities of the country to the maximum with the KPA as the core, he provided a sure military guarantee for the victory of the cause of the Chuch’e revolution.
Under his energetic guidance, the KPA developed into a vanguard detachment which regards defending the leader unto death as its lifeblood and takes the lead in implementing the orders of its Supreme Commander at all costs, and into a trailblazer in the struggle to accomplish the cause of the So’ngun revolution. A forceful drive was waged to make the defence industry Juche-oriented, modern and informatized, enabling us to produce any sophisticated military equipment as we wish by relying on our own effort and technology. Thanks to the General’s outstanding leadership of the So’ngun revolution, the KPA could be developed into an invincible revolutionary army, ours could become a country which can make and launch artificial satellites and a nuclear state, fully demonstrating its dignity as the powerful Mt. Paektu (Paektusan) nation, and we could reliably defend the dignity of the country and the sovereignty of the nation, frustrating the imperialist moves of aggression and challenges at every step.
The great General laid firm material and technological foundations for the building of a thriving socialist country.
Under his leadership a grand plan for building a prosperous country was unfolded during the days of the Arduous March and forced march, when our revolution was undergoing grim trials, and a hot wind of creating fresh miracles and innovations swept across the country. Fierce flames of the industrial revolution in the new century flared up ushering in the era of the knowledge economy, monumental structures symbolic of the era were built in all parts of the country and model works representative of So’ngun culture were created in large numbers. What our service personnel and people created in the So’ngun era under his guidance constitutes a valuable asset for the prosperity of Kim Il Sung’s nation and Kim Jong Il’s Korea.
The great General effected a fresh turn in the struggle for the independent reunification of the country and firmly defended global peace and security on the strength of his leadership of the So’ngun revolution. He ushered in the June 15 era of reunification by our nation itself, provided a precious asset for the reunification of the country and the common prosperity of the nation and safeguarded peace in Asia and the rest of the world by smashing the imperialists’ uninterrupted schemes to unleash a war.
The great exploits Comrade Kim Jong Il performed for the country and revolution, for the times and history for more than half a century by dint of his tireless leadership of the So’ngun revolution will shine for ever along with the triumphant advance of our revolutionary cause.
We should faithfully carry forward his great idea and achievements of the So’ngun revolution and add eternal brilliance to them.
The idea of the So’ngun revolution is a great guideline of our revolution and his So’ngun-based leadership exploits are a motive force for victory.
It is the unshakeable faith and unbreakable will of our Party, army and people to carry forward and accomplish the revolutionary cause of Chuch’e, invariably holding aloft the banner of So’ngun.
We should follow to the end the road of So’ngun, the road of independence and the road of socialism that the great General traversed throughout his life, translate his instructions into brilliant realities and accomplish the revolutionary cause of Chuch’e, the revolutionary cause of So’ngun, with credit.
All officials, Party members and other working people should firmly arm themselves with the General’s idea of the So’ngun revolution, deeply study his great So’ngun leadership achievements and thoroughly apply and add luster to them in the revolutionary struggle and construction work.
The line of giving importance to arms, to military affairs, should be implemented to the letter for the strengthening of the defence capabilities of the country to be steel-strong.
The KPA should be prepared more firmly into an army strong in ideology and faith, a powerful Mt. Paektu (Paektusan) revolutionary army.
Leadership of the Party is the lifeline of the KPA, and its might is inconceivable separated from the leadership of the Party. The general direction ahead of the KPA is one, that is, to advance straight forward with guns levelled in the very direction our Party indicates. Our arms must serve as an ever-lasting cornerstone that ensures a sure guarantee for the Party and its cause.
The officers and men of the KPA should burn their hearts with a single idea, a single determination, to support only the Party and the leader and safeguard them unto death, whatever ordeals may crop up and however the situation may change. They should equip themselves firmly with the revolutionary ideas of our Party and cherish a steadfast faith that they will defend to the end the red flag of the revolution, the Chuch’e flag of the Party, at the cost of their lives.
They should make their training more intensive, as the anti-Japanese guerrillas did on Mt. Paektu, so as to prepare themselves into a-match-for-a-hundred combatants possessed of Kim Il Sung’s and Kim Jong Il’s military strategy and tactics, heroic combat spirit and actual war capability, establish rigid discipline in their units and assume the perfect appearance of a regular army.
Military posts and barracks should be laid out as if they were the service personnel’s native houses, and satisfactory material and cultural living conditions provided so that they can lead a good service life.
While discharging their basic duty of defending the country, the service personnel should make breakthroughs in several sectors and major projects of socialist construction, and never feel contented in doing things for the people but always take the lead in this regard.
A great effort should be channeled into developing the defence industry. The sector of the defence industry should concentrate its efforts on making a bigger stride in building our country into an invincible military power, and thus produce more and better-quality military hardware of our own style that are precise, light, unmanned and intelligent.
The Worker-Peasant Red Guards should enhance their combat capabilities through intensive combat and political training and reliably defend their respective provinces, counties and villages in time of emergency.
All the sectors of socialist construction should bring about a great leap forward and great innovations.
We should radically improve the people’s standard of living by giving a spur to the building of an economic giant, holding aloft our Party’s line of simultaneously promoting the two fronts (economic development and the upbuilding of nuclear forces).
We should make innovations in the sectors of agriculture and light industry, major thrust areas in building an economic giant, and promote construction of dwelling houses, so as to ensure that the people lead an affluent and happy life.
We should concentrate our efforts on the priority sectors of the national economy, the basic industry sectors, to ensure that the existing self-supporting foundations pay off, and vigorously push ahead with the effort for modernizing them and normalizing their production. We should direct a strenuous effort to the electric-power and coal-mining industries in particular, and develop all sectors of the national economy with metallurgical and chemical industries as twin pillars.
By rapidly developing science and technology and educating all the people to be well versed in science and technology, we should raise the level of putting the national economy on a modern and CNC (computer numerical control) basis and perfect the economic structure of the country in keeping with the requirements of the era of the knowledge economy.
We should accelerate the construction of a cultured socialist nation. It is important to make all the members of society become artists and enjoyers of socialist culture and bring about a fresh turn in all the sectors of cultural construction. By doing so, we should translate into reality the people’s desire for a wholesome and cultured way of life.
In order to bring about a decisive turn in the construction of a thriving socialist country, the militant functions and role of Party organizations should be further heightened.
Party organizations are the vanguard organizations of the So’ngun revolution, and the Party’s ideology and leadership are implemented through them. They should regard it as the main line of Party work to establish the monolithic leadership system of the Party, and ensure that all officials, Party members and other working people support the leader’s ideas and leadership with loyalty and conduct all types of work in line with the Party’s ideas and intentions.
In the current general offensive, Party organizations should give fullest play to the spiritual strength of officials, Party members and other working people. The mother of miracle is the spiritual strength of the masses, and the key to ushering in a new heyday in the building of a thriving nation is to motivate their hearts.
Party organizations should scrupulously educate officials, Party members and other working people to learn the greatness of the General’s idea and achievements of the So’ngun revolution and exalt their brilliance. They should intensify the frontline-style political work among the masses so that officials, Party members and other working people make it an element of their living to learn from the spirit of the service personnel of defending the leader and carrying out his instructions unto death and their fighting spirit, and make strenuous efforts to create the Masik Pass (Masikryo’ng) speed by displaying Kim Jong Il’s patriotism.
The service personnel and people should propel the grand socialist construction on the strength of joint operation.
Joint operation between them is a powerful struggling mode of the service personnel and people in waging an unyielding offensive with one mind and purpose. The commanding personnel of the KPA and leading civilian officials should scrupulously organize and command the joint operations and enlist their spiritual strength and all means to perform unfailingly and in time the revolutionary tasks assigned to their respective units.
True to the instructions and lofty will of the great Generalissimos, we should make proactive efforts to open a new phase of national reunification, prevent aggression and war and defend global peace and security.
The idea and cause of our So’ngun revolution are invincible.
As the great Chuch’e idea and the So’ngun revolutionary idea illuminate the road ahead of us and there are the wise leadership of the Party, the single-hearted unity of all the service personnel and people and the invincible KPA, the victory of the revolutionary cause of Juche and the revolutionary cause of So’ngun is definite.
As in the past, so in the future, we will achieve only victory for ever, upholding the great banner of So’ngun.
Filed under: 2013 Strategic Rhetoric, 2nd Academy of Natural Science, Central Committee, Central Military Committee, colonel general, corps command, corps commanders, DPRK Intelligence Community, Events Management Section, Gen. Ri Pyong Chol, Gen. Yun Tong Hyon, gsd, gsob, Guard Command, Hwang Pyong So, Kim Chong-un inspections, Kim Family, kim jong suk, Kim Jong Un Visits, Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un, Kim Pyong Ho (PAD), KJI Personal Secretariat, Korean People's Army (KPA), Korean People's Air Force, Korean People's Army Air Force, Korean People's Army Supreme Command, Korean People's Internal Security Forces, Korean Workers' Party (KWP), KPA General Logistics Department, KPA General Staff, KPA Large Combined Units, KPA supernumerary organizations, KPA Supreme Command, kpaf, kpif, Lt. Gen. Pak Jong Chon, Machine Building Industry Department, March 2013 KWP Central Committee Meeting (plenary session), Masikryo'ng (Masiknyo'ng) Speed Battle (2013), military economy, military security command [msc], ministry of people's security, Ministry of State Security, Ministry of the People's Armed Forces (MPAF), National Academy of Defense Sciences, National Defense Commission (NDC), Navy Command, NDC Administration Department, North Korean press, Organization and Guidance Department, party life, Political Bureau, primary party committees, Second Economic Committee, Second Economy Commission, Secretariat, State Security Department, VADM Kim Myong Sik (KPAN), worker peasant red guard