Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, made a passionate speech at a banquet for celebrating the 75th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) on February 7.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said:

Comrade generals, commanding officers of the heroic Korean People’s Army present in this significant place,

Today is the 75th birthday of our army.

At this moment when I recollect the proud history of the People’s Army which has written an epic of glorious tradition, brilliant victory and honor in the long course of struggle spanning 27 395 days since the day when its birth was welcomed with cheers, I am haunted by the unforgettable names and images of the service personnel of the preceding generations who devoted themselves to defending the vigorous advance of the ever-victorious Korean revolution and boosting the invincibility and mightiness of our state.

I am also haunted by the images of all the servicepersons of the KPA firmly standing at frontline, border and other posts and socialist construction sites to defend the eternal prosperity of the motherland and the well-being and happiness of the people even this evening and at this moment of glory.

Upon authorization by our Party and government, I pay high tribute to the anti-Japanese revolutionary forerunners who provided the origin of the tradition of victory immortal in the history of the hard-fought struggle of the revolutionary armed forces, and to the fallen fighters of the People’s Army, the respected veterans and the army commanding officers of the preceding generations who passed away.

I also extend warm congratulations to all the officers and men of the KPA and the armed forces of the DPRK through you, commanding officers and generals at all levels present here.

My best wishes and heartfelt thanks also go to all the people and officers’ wives who have absolutely supported and encouraged our Party’s line of building a powerful army and its defence policy, put forward their beloved husbands and children to national defence and devoted themselves to strengthening the defence capabilities of the country.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said that there is no such a heroic and patriotic army remaining faithful to its cause as the KPA in the world and everybody knows its devotion to defending the Korean revolution without any vacillation despite the harsh challenges, hoping that the officers and men of the KPA who has always gone to the trouble of overcoming hardships will celebrate their holiday justly, proudly, honorably and significantly amid the blessings by all the people even today, the Day of Army Founding.

He further said:

Comrade generals and the officers and men of the People’s Army,

What kind of force drives the unprecedentedly arduous Korean revolution and what makes our state invincible and how is our ideal and future shaped.

The most veritable answer to this and the fairest appreciation by history are found in the 75-year-long history of our army.

The more we look back on how our revolutionary cause is defended, how our Party’s idea and lines are safeguarded and how our national flag has fluttered at the peak of honor, the more we value the noble blood shed by our army officers and men for victory and their endless feats.

In the initial period after its founding, our army clarified its original mission of sharing the same destiny with the Party and started a long bloody journey to remain faithful to it. This has become a fundamental factor in making our history of army building be one that can never be separated from the history of struggle of the Party, the revolution, the country and the people and in enabling the 75-year-long history of our army to be recorded in the grandest way.

A history of righteous strength was made on this land, proving through a hard-won victory the truth that the dignity and honor are only given to the strong and the validity of the revolutionary cause is verified only through victory, and independence and self-sufficiency are only guaranteed by self-reliance in defence.

The KPA is the army of the Party, the army of the people, the army of the government and the army of the class which defends and realizes everything the dearest and most urgent to our destiny and future, and the army that bears hardships before anyone else and is ready to make sacrifices. These are the precious names that our People’s Army has won at the cost of blood and lives and that should be maintained through centuries and generations.

What we value more than anything else and are fully proud of today is the fact that the baton of the revolutionary army of the Party, the history and tradition of loyalty, has been steadily carried forward.

Even under the harsh circumstances as now, our army is demonstrating its inexhaustible strength as the armed forces of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the vanguard of the class. This is from A to Z attributable to the fact that the red soul, the noble mission, the staunch revolutionary spirit and the fighting spirit of death-defying resistance possessed by the first generation of the revolutionary armed forces with arms have remained unchanged even today when its fifth and sixth generations have appeared.

The highest honor of the 75-year-long history of our People’s Army lies in the great succession which continues staunchly and vigorously despite the passage of time and the storms of history.

I am quite sure that though the commanding officers and soldiers of the new generation, comprising up the main force of our revolutionary armed forces, have experienced neither a grim revolutionary war nor a difficult period of the revolution, they inherited the absolute loyalty peculiar to our People’s Army and the characteristics of the preceding generations that shed blood and sweat and sacrifice themselves without hesitation, if the revolution calls for it.

Our servicepersons have fought vigorously not only in frontline combat positions where they confront with the enemy directly but also in all parts of the country where legendary victories and miracles are made, and the red military colors associated with their loyalty and patriotic traditions have been fluttered there.

Whenever I watch our servicepersons fighting like phoenix with the might of will surpassing their mental and physical limitations in the theaters of defending the national rights and the people and those of epoch-making creation, I take off my hat to their feature.

As our army takes a noble view of life that there is only the honor on the road of sharing the same destiny with the Party and carrying out its orders, I have thought of our army when the situation of the country is difficult and entrusted it with greater tasks of struggle, and our army has never hesitated to respond to the Party’s call.

When I am determined to share the same destiny with our army, feeling the greatest honor of being the supreme commander who leads such a fine army, I feel the greatest delight.

Lots of changes have been made and the appearance of our army has changed beyond recognition for a long period since its early days, but the look of our faithful army, which always stands firmly in the van of the revolution, come rain or shine, and shoulders the heavy burden that no one can dare, remains unchanged.

Its succeeding as well as its pioneering were so great that our army could be able to win the fulfilling call of the times and history as the strongest army in the world.

Kim Jong Un said that our army’s gallant, dignified, strong and tough look is a trait peculiar to it grounded in the special pride and strong self-respect that its life is devoted to the greatest sacred cause and its arms serve the most just cause in the world, and the display of an irresistible might unique to our army that comes from the extraordinary sense of responsibility and superhuman will that it can neither be broken nor collapse until it has fulfilled the duty entrusted by the Party Central Committee.

Noting that the appearance of our state growing tougher and stronger in the face of hardships and ordeals is a mirror of the fighting army and the names of heroic service personnel shine along with the peak dignity of our people, he said with pride that there are hundreds of countries and not a few armies boasting of their long history and traditions in the world, but it is only the KPA that shares life and death with the Party, the country and the people, adds to their prestige and greatness and defends their high honor and rosy future in the whole course of its development.

He declared that the DPRK has finally cultivated the great and absolute strength, getting over untold pain and suffering for the sake of eternal peace, genuine prosperity and development on this land and for the good of posterity.

He said that the KPA should brave trials as always, holding higher the slogans "Let the People’s Army take charge of both national defence and socialist construction!" and "When the Party is determined, we can do anything!"

He went on to say:

I never doubt that you will be as brave as always, dedicating your lives to the eternal prosperity of the country and the wellbeing of the people, true to the letters written on the glorious military colors.

Affirming that I will always share life and death, weal and woe with you, I entrust you and our People’s Army with the forefront of the revolution.

I wish all of you good health and hope that you will become commanding officers making selfless and devoted efforts for the good of our soldiers.

I entrust you with our service members.

Let us all redouble efforts and work harder to strengthen and develop our army and to achieve the prosperity and development of our socialist country.

I hope, with my hand on my heart, that the wellbeing of the people and the country’s peace will be promoted in proportion to the efforts made by the People’s Army.

I’d like to propose a toast to the health of army celebrities here and to the health of the officers and men of the entire army, to the glory of the People’s Army and to the eternity of its great honor.

Long Live the Korean People’s Army, the ever-victorious hero army!

Political News Team