Following is the full text of the speech made by the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un on his congratulatory visit to the Academy of Defence Sciences on May 28:

All the scientists, technicians and officials of the Academy of Defence Sciences of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,

Comrades,

The Academy of Defence Sciences of the DPRK, a comprehensive scientific research base that has firmly guaranteed the steady development of the Juche-oriented defence industry by dint of science and technology, a base that has assumed an honourable mission to powerfully lead and propel the revolution in the defence industry in the new era, has recorded its 60th year in its history.

This parent base of patriotic talents is leading with science and technology our honourable defence industry, which has grown stronger with the revolutionary character of the Workers’ Party of Korea as its special features. I am pleased to visit on this significant 60th anniversary of its founding and meet the most precious comrades.

This day 60 years ago was a meaningful day, when the ever-victorious foundation of our Party’s line of defending the gains of the revolution by dint of self-reliance was laid; it marked a historic starting point signalling the eruption of the lofty ideals and self-respect of Korea, which aimed at becoming a world-class military power.

The pioneers, who opened up the way for our revolution, which had taken its first step with weapons as its asset, to make the treasured sword of self-defence for ever with our own efforts, blazed the trail for a weighty and sacred cause here, and also here for over half a century they have created Juche-oriented military hardware that gave the most powerful strength to our heroic army.

From the first half of the 1960s, when the efforts for simultaneously pushing forward economic construction and defence building started as an embodiment of the self-reliant national defence idea of our Party, till today the defence scientists have registered a great number of valuable research and development successes through painstaking efforts in support of the line and strategically and tactically important tasks set by the Party. Their patriotic devotion is mirrored in every corner of this scientific base.

On behalf of the Central Committee of the WPK and the government of the DPRK, I, on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Academy of Defence Sciences of the DPRK, extend warm congratulations to all the scientists, technicians, workers and officials of the Academy, who have made contributions by dint of science and technology to strengthening the might and prestige of our state in every way by giving full play to their boundless loyalty to the Party and the people and their extraordinary creative abilities.

At the same time, I convey the sincere thanks extended by the Party and the country to the wives and other family members, who, sharing patriotic will, must have endured all sorts of pains to support our defence scientists who have devoted their all to strengthening the national defence capabilities.

Comrades,

A state dignified with the character of independence is based on the powerful self-defence capability, and the defence assets that can actively cope with any threat are never conceivable without the forces of omnipotent talents who are capable of steadily creating and upgrading things.

Our state could win victory after victory for over 70 years because it has a reliable force and capability of the Juche-oriented munitions industry.

Thanks to the great role played by the talented red defence scientists who are engaged in their work only in the embrace of the WPK, the faithful and precious talents who present only eye-opening miracles to the Party and the country, our Party has always been confident in leading the revolution and has been able to win the high, ever-victorious prestige and honour at every step.

As they see such lofty heights of the defence capabilities reached by our Republic and our army’s Juche-oriented weapons that are growing more powerful with each passing day, and as they feel proud of them, it would be the unanimous will of all citizens of this country to pay the highest, heartfelt respect to the heroic contributions made by the sci-tech talents for each of them.

In the initial days of the founding of the munitions industry, the defence scientists of the preceding generation solidified their patriotic faith under the slogan “The motherland is dearer than life” and laid the groundwork for the development of the industry. And under the banner of unity raised by you, defence scientists, who inherited their ennobling traditions, our state has attained the position of a military power with strategic strength as planned by the Party.

Our defence scientists have devoted themselves to implementing the Party’s policies without fail and increasing the military strength of the state with their matchless abilities and the revolutionary spirit of working miracles in defiance of impossibility. I think they are all heroes of heroes and patriots of patriots.

Availing myself of this opportunity, I pay lofty tribute to you, who have served as solid cornerstones of the fighting capabilities of our army which is guaranteeing the ever-victorious history of our Republic with arms.

Our martyrs unsparingly dedicated their sincere devotion, staunch spirit, warm blood and precious lives to strengthening the defence capabilities for the cause of the glorious Party and for our great state and people. Our scientists, technicians and officials in the sector of national defence have become trailblazers and stepping-stones for a leap forward by following the road of sincere and painstaking research work throughout their lives. Their achievements will shine for ever in the history of the country.

Comrades,

The security environment of our state is getting instable day after day. This still presents manifold pressing tasks on the road of advance of our defence industry revolution which has rapidly developed while performing transformations and miracles.

The moves of the US imperialists and their most faithful stooges and puppets to usurp our sovereignty are growing more sinister and their frenzy is getting extremely serious as the days go by.

The US imperialists and their vassals have recently broken the highest record in demonstrating their military strength near the border of the DPRK and in the waters and air space adjacent to it.

The enemy’s daily-repeated aerial espionage, massive hurling of the US strategic assets into the Korean peninsula and indiscriminate aggressive war games are becoming unprecedentedly desperate in their size, contents and sinister purpose. This is adding fuel to the military tension in the region and seriously destroying the balance of military forces.

Notwithstanding this, the enemy is attempting to deceive the world public with sophistries that our natural self-defensive measures against their provocations are a serious challenge to international peace and security.

Such a distortion of facts by the enemy is the fundamental cause which further aggravates the regional military tension and breeds the danger of conflict, and a serious challenge to the regional peace and security.

At present our army has a real military strength capable of making the United States hesitate to launch military intervention in time of contingency on the Korean peninsula, and has an overwhelming strength capable of destroying the main strike forces, infrastructure and command system of the ROK puppet army in the early days of its operations.

As we possess destructive strike forces, which can scare the enemy, as defence capability, we are carrying out the mission of deterring war in a responsible manner. Yet, the changing military situation in the region does not give us time to rest on our laurels.

Our security situation demands that we build up our war deterrent in every way possible, and these contemporary tasks will be carried out by dint of your responsible awareness of the situation, political consciousness and perseverance.

Yesterday the National Aerospace Technology Administration of the DPRK launched another reconnaissance satellite as planned to attain the objectives for building up the country’s defence capabilities.

This mission failed with a destruct system being activated due to malfunctioning of the first-stage engine. Yet, whether success or failure, we have to make something clear.

Given the fact that the security environment for our state is undergoing drastic changes owing to the US military manoeuvres and provocations of all sorts, possessing military reconnaissance satellites presents itself as a prerequisite for our state to bolster up its self-defensive deterrent and safeguard its sovereignty and security from potential threats.

For the present, it would be practical and indispensable for us to have communications satellite, weather satellite or Earth resources satellite. However, we have defined our priority target as possessing reconnaissance satellites, and are stepping up efforts to this end. It is because this is a pressing task that has a direct bearing on our state’s security.

This time, too, as we did on previous occasions, we issued warnings in due observance of international laws in order to ensure transparency of our satellite launch and safety of all ships and aircraft in the relevant areas, and we did what was needed for putting the neighbouring countries out of harm’s way.

This notwithstanding, the ROK puppets went to absurd lengths, dubbing our reconnaissance satellite launch a provocative action, and clamouring for a demonstration of their strength and willpower, they staged a hysterical attack formation flight and strike drill as a direct military challenge to us.

Their daring attempts of militarily threatening the domains under our sovereignty, where even a slip of the tongue may be taken most seriously, constitute a very dangerous provocation that cannot be easily overlooked. We cannot help being enraged by such intolerable sabre-rattling, a blatant violation of our national sovereignty.

The ROK military gangsters were reckless enough to respond to the exercise of our legitimate sovereign rights with their military demonstration with frenzy, and we should resolutely react with absolutely overwhelming actions in a clear exercising of our right to self-defence.

As we have declared in strong terms time and again, setting in motion our retaliatory military capabilities for the protection of our national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the primary mission of our Republic’s armed forces, which is approved by our Constitution and other laws.

I reaffirm that any idea of aggression and provocation against our state is one of the targets we must annihilate without fail, to say nothing of all the military means and various types of manoeuvres aimed directly at our Republic.

The first step towards war is the will to fight it.

We should realize the permanency of our overwhelming will and capabilities for fighting a war lest the hostile forces dare to have recourse to arms.

To this end, we should steadily develop our armed forces into an entity with super and absolute might.

By raising our defence science and technology to a high level and developing cutting-edge weapons and combat and technical equipment one after another, we should sustain the overwhelmingness of the armed forces of the military giant, and by dint of this superiority, defend the sovereignty and security of our state.

Modern warfare is a confrontation of ideology and willpower, as well as that of science and technology; the might of the defence industry is precisely that of defence science.

The successful outcome of the second revolution in the defence industry, which our Party is leading with confidence, hinges mainly on how the intelligent sci-tech forces play their role.

The sector of national defence science should give full play to the revolutionary characteristics and creative abilities of the large contingent of talents who are absolutely faithful to the leadership of our Party, and continue to add brilliance to the history and traditions of having elevated the country’s defence capabilities to the highest plane in the world.

The Academy of Defence Sciences should concentrate its efforts on hastening the attainment of the core research goals, to which the Party Central Committee attaches importance, and charge forward to raise to the cutting-edge level various kinds of weapons badly needed for the completion of the preparations for war by the armed forces of the Republic.

Firmly based on the Juche-oriented stand, it should study and develop more weapon systems that not only conform to the country’s topographical conditions and physical constitution of our soldiers and meet the requirements of the Juche-oriented tactics and the style of modern warfare, but also have reached the world standard in terms of advanced technology and efficiency.

It should always be mindful of the truth that hoping for success by luck and chance in the work of developing arms and equipment is immediately an anti-Party act and that dogmatism, imitation and proclivity to import in the work are tantamount to counterrevolutionary acts. In this way, it can implement the plans and intentions of the Party Central Committee thoroughly and perfectly in pushing forward with all the development projects.

While giving top priority to enhancing the practical abilities of the research forces, its officials should steadily intensify scientific and technological administration in conformity with the requirements of Party policy and conduct brisk scientific and technological exchanges and information work. At the same time, they should keep directing great efforts to modernizing the material and technological foundations of the research bases and providing the scientists and technicians with good working conditions and living environment.

Party organizations in the academy should take it as its lifeline to establish the unified leadership system of the Party Central Committee more thoroughly, and conduct organizational and political work in a methodological and aggressive way to heighten the patriotic enthusiasm and collectivist spirit among the scientists and technicians, thus actively encouraging them in their brain war, their research work, to implement the Party decisions.

The five-year strategy for defence development put forward by the Party is an initiative for achieving the best efficiency and radical defence development.

You must make redoubled efforts to attain without fail the goals of the five-year strategy for defence development advanced by the Party Central Committee.

Although we failed to achieve the results we had hoped to get in the recent reconnaissance satellite launch, we must never feel scared or dispirited but make still greater efforts.

It is natural that one learns more and makes greater progress after experiencing failure.

For our defence scientists and technicians who are fighting death-defyingly for the state’s dignity and the people’s life, failure is always a prerequisite for success. It can never be a motive for their frustration and abandonment.

I stress once again: The effort to possess space reconnaissance capabilities necessary for operations means a struggle to defend our right to independence, which we can never renounce or barter for anything else, and an inevitable priority task for our sovereignty and legitimate self-defence.

I am sure that our fighting goals will surely be attained as long as there is a reliable group of defence scientists and technicians who are always faithful to the Party Central Committee in implementing its strategic plan with ardent patriotism and heroic fighting spirit.

We will never allow our advance to be stuck in stagnancy.

Comrades,

A new era of struggle is calling on you to make another leap forward in the sacred course of increasing our defence capabilities.

You should firmly guard the road of the revolutionary cause of Juche with the cutting-edge defence science and technology which has to be a prerequisite for the growth of our overwhelming military capabilities.

I firmly believe that all of you, scientists and officials of the Academy of Defence Sciences of the DPRK, will achieve more admirable innovative successes in research and development projects of cutting-edge military hardware, united more firmly on the basis of the intentions and will of the Party Central Committee, and thus continue to demonstrate the dignity and might of our powerful country and always remain faithful to the sacred responsibility and duty you have assumed before the revolution and the people.

Comrades,

Let us make a charge to a higher goal in the effort to bolster up our defence capabilities, the highest expression of patriotism, by dint of our inexhaustible strength of trust and single-hearted unity, the Party Central Committee believing in you and you believing only in the Party Central Committee.

I would like to offer congratulations to you once again on the founding anniversary of your academy.