2024.10.14.

Recorded in the history of development of our defence industry was a success of our people who built a munitions factory on the ruins and made the first submachine gun by their own efforts and technology during the period of building a new country after Korea’s liberation (August 15, 1945).

At that time there was no perfect ordnance factory, drawing and weapon maker in our country owing to the colonial rule of the Japanese imperialists.

The foundation of the munitions industry was literally nothing but zero.

President Kim Il Sung said to officials who were very perplexed by the difficult situation that we should found the Party, establish the people’s government and build powerful regular armed forces capable of defending the country and nation in order to build a prosperous, independent and sovereign state.

And he stressed the need to build and develop our own armament industry for firmly equipping the soldiers with modern weapons and military equipment.

The President walked round the Phyongchon plain in Pyongyang in October, 1945 to appoint a site for the munitions factory, saying that we should build new democratic Korea on the ruins, in which everything was destroyed, from now and establish our own ordnance industry as soon as possible, overcoming all the bottlenecks and difficulties.

When the factory was built, he assigned a task of manufacturing submachine guns to its workers and technicians.

True to his teaching that it was important to buckle down to work with a resolve to do it on their own, the employees of the factory made the submachine guns, which could be produced only in developed industrial countries at that time, in a short period by displaying the spirit of self-reliance.

The President visited the factory on December 12,1948 to conduct a test-fire of the first submachine gun produced in our country.

That day, he said with high appreciation that the production of submachine guns by its workers and technicians’ efforts and technology is the first victory of the country’s munitions industry as well as another proud achievement gained by the Korean people in building a new country.

The first submachine gun report instilled into the minds of our people the truth that there is nothing impossible to do when one struggles in the spirit of self-reliance.

Rodong Sinmun