Generalissimo Kim Il Sung

July 27 this year marks the 61^th anniversary of the victory of the Korean people in the Fatherland Liberation War or the Korean war (1950-1953). Greeting the day the world people remember with emotion the achievements Generalissimo Kim Il Sung (1912-1994) made in defeating two imperialisms in one generation.

Kim Il Sung defeated Japanese imperialism which militarily occupied Korea (1905-1945) and liberated his country.

In 1925 when he was in his teens he went to an alien land, firmly determined not to return before Korea became independent. On April 25, 1932 he founded the Anti-Japanese People’s Guerrilla Army, the predecessor of the present Korean People’s Army, in Antu County,Northeast China, thus, declaring the anti-Japanese war.

A showdown between the elite troops of Japan, which posed as “the leader” of Asia and one of the five military powers in the world, and the Korean guerrilla army which had neither the state rear nor the support from a regular army and was actually “a drop in the ocean” as was called by the Japanese, surpassed all established ideas.

Kim Il Sung, however, frustrated the enemy’s numerical and technical superiority by means of the political and ideological, strategic and tactical superiority. He put the one-million-strong Japanese Kwantung Army on the defensive by creating and applying skilfully his unique tactics, including rear-harassing operations, active operations of combination of large-unit activities with small-unit ones, attacking the west while sounding in the east, allurement, ambush and circular tactics.

Under his adroit command, the AJPGA dealt a heavy blow to the enemy in every battle. The Japanese army and police screamed that General Kim Il Sung employed the art of compressing space and Korea’s guerrilla army fought a war with tactics which could not be found in any books on military science.

At last the Japanese imperialists were defeated and the historical cause of Korea’s liberation was achieved on August 15, 1945.

Kim Il Sung displayed the national sovereignty and dignity to the world by defeating in the Korean war (1950-1953) the US imperialists who boasted of being “the strongest” in the world.

On June 25, 1950 the US provoked a war against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, which was less than two years since its founding. It hurled into it a huge armed force over two million strong, including its ground, naval and air forces, troops of 15 vassal states, the south Korean puppet army and the remnants of the former Japanese army, and enormous amounts of war supplies worth over 73 million tons. In those days the US generals bragged that the war would be finished within a few days. The world people worried over Korea’s destiny.

However, the war ended against everybody’s expectation. The young DPRK defeated the US-led imperialist allied forces.

The miraculous victory of the Korean people was attributable to Kim Il Sung’s outstanding strategies and tactics, unique military art and adroit command.

In his radio address Go All Out for Victory in the War delivered on June 26, 1950, the next day of the start of the US armed invasion, President Kim Il Sung inspired the entire army and people of Korea to wipe out the enemy, and ordered the KPA units to switch over to an immediate and all-out counteroffensive. True to his order the KPA units checked the enemy’s advance and went over to the counteroffensive several hours after the start of the war and liberated Seoul, the capital of south Korea, after three days. They liberated over 90 per cent of the territory and 92 per cent of the population in the south in a little over a month.

During the war he put forth various tactics as required by the situation, such as the formation of the second front by a regular army, the strengthening of the action of striking the enemy behind, night warfare, mountain warfare, actions of surprise attacks, snipers’ and separate heavy-machine-gun teams, movements of aircraft- and tank-hunting teams, and tactics of applying direct-firing guns and attacking by torpedo boats, thus constantly annihilating and weakening the enemy. Military and technical superiority of the US was smashed to smithereens by Kim Il Sung who applied diversified and flexible strategies and tactics suited to the situation, always taking the initiative. At last the US knelt down before the Korean people.

Mark Clark, UN forces commander, who signed the Korean Armistice Agreement similar to the documents of surrender of the US, on July 27, 1953, confessed that the success of the Korean army was attributable to the talented command of General Kim Il Sung.

After the war Kim Il Sung developed the DPRK into an invincible socialist country by leading the fierce confrontation with the US imperialists to victory.

He put forward the line of simultaneously carrying on the building of the economy and defence in the early years of the 1960s when the situation on the Korean peninsula became aggravated by the moves of the US imperialists to provoke another war. He also advanced the self-defensive military line whose main contents are to train the whole army into a cadre army and modernize it, to arm all the people and fortify the whole country. Thanks to those lines, the KPA was developed into the armed force whose every member is an equal to a hundred foes, and the whole country turned into an impregnable fortress

He wisely led the service personnel and people of the DPRK to crush the constant military provocations by the US. A typical example was the Pueblo incident in January 1968.

When its armed spy ship Pueblo was captured by the KPA navy after having intruded into the territorial waters of the DPRK, the US deployed a huge armed force including a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier on the coastal waters of Korea and drove the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of war, talking boisterously about “a powerful military countermeasure” and “retaliation” just like a thief crying “Stop thief!”

At that time Kim Il Sung declared that the Korean people and army would retaliate for the “retaliation” of the enemy and return an all-out war for an all-out war and saw to it that the KPA was fully prepared for combat.

Suppressed by his matchless courage and grit, the US solemnly apologized to the DPRK for the espionage and hostile acts the Pueblo had committed and signed a document on assuring no more violation of the territorial waters of the DPRK by any warship in the future. As the then US President Johnson deplored, it was the first letter of apology in the history of the US.

The immortal military achievements of Generalissimo Kim Il Sung will shine for ever in the world history of the anti-imperialist struggle.

Korea’s V-Day

July 27 is a significant day in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This day 61 years previously the United States, which had boasted of being “strongest” in the world, surrendered to the Korean people.

Day of Victory

Early in the morning of June 25, 1950, the United States started the Korean war by instigating the south Korean puppet army, in pursuit of its wild ambition of securing a bridgehead leading to its realization of world supremacy.

To this end, it hurled into the war a huge armed force two million strong, including its armed forces, troops of 15 vassal states, south Korean puppet army and even the remnants of the former Japanese army. It vouched that the destiny of Korea would be “finished within 72 hours” at the outset of the war.

However, the Korean war produced an event worthy of special mention in the war history of mankind.

The US suffered tremendous losses in the war: over 1 567 120 soldiers, including some 405 490 US soldiers, were killed or captured, and over 12 220 aircraft, 3 250 tanks and armoured vehicles, 13 350 vehicles, 560 warships and vessels of various types, 7 690 guns, 925 150 small arms and other war equipment were destroyed. The loss it suffered was nearly 2.3 times as much as that it had suffered in the four-year Pacific War during WWII. It had boasted of having won in more than 110 wars of aggression previously, but was defeated for the first time since its founding.

The DPRK, a small country in the East, wrought a miracle unprecedented in history of the world of repulsing the multinational force in disguise of the “United Nations Forces.”

The army and people of the DPRK defeated the enemy’s numerical and technical superiorities by means of their ideological, strategic and tactical ones. Such adroit strategies and tactics as immediate and decisive counteroffensive of the Korean People’s Army, strategic temporary retreat and the formation of the second front by the regular army, position and tunnel warfare, ambush, and movements of aircraft- and tank-hunting and snipers’ teams smashed to smithereens the military and technological superiorities much vaunted by the West.

The United States had no other option but to sign the Korean Armistice Agreement, similar to their surrender documents, on July 27, 1953. The then US President Dwight Eisenhower spoke through the radio 59 minutes after the AA was signed that it was tragically bitter.

July 27 was marked as the day of great victory for the Korean people who shattered the myth of “mightiness” of the US and reliably defended freedom and independence of the country.

History of Victory

The United States, instead of drawing due lesson from the past Korean war, has aggravated the tension on the Korean peninsula through ceaseless military provocations.

Typical is the incident of the US armed spy ship Pueblo that occurred in January 1968.

The armed spy ship of the US navy, having intruded into the territorial waters of the DPRK, was captured by the Korean People’s Army navy. When this happened, the United States made such a racket as to immediately start a war, deploying a large armed force in and around the Korean peninsula. US politicians demanded the DPRK should apologize and return the Pueblo. If the latter would refuse to do so, they threatened, nuclear weapons would be used.

In the face of the US blackmails the DPRK gave a resolute answer that it would “retaliate for the ‘retaliation’ of the enemy and return an all-out war for an all-out war” and became fully prepared for an all-out confrontation with the US. Overpowered, the US could not but sign a document on apologizing to the DPRK for the espionage and hostile acts the Pueblo had committed and assuring no more violation of the territorial waters of the DPRK by any warship in the future.

The then US President Johnson deplored that it was the first letter of apology in the history of the US.

Afterwards the US constantly committed provocations, such as the incident of its large espionage plane EC-121 in April, 1969, Panmunjom Incident in August, 1976, the first nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula between 1993 and 1994 and the recurrent nuclear crisis in the new century, driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to the verge of war. All the incidents, however, ended in its failure and in victory of the Korean people.

Recently the US has continuously conducted manoeuvres of war provocation jointly with south Korea by enlisting huge armed forces and military hardware, including nuclear-powered submarines, such as Key Resolve and Foal Eagle war rehearsals.

To cope with the ever more undisguised anti-DPRK policies and nuclear war games by the US, the DPRK has taken resolute measures. One of them was the missile launches taken place in the DPRK.

The Korean army and people hold it as their steadfast principle and firm will to answer the provocation with immediate counterattack and return a sacred war of national reunification for a war of aggression.

The DPRK knows no idle talk and is countering the nuclear threats by the hostile forces with nuclear weapons, and their missiles with the same ones.

July 27, V-day of the Korean people, will shine forever along with the DPRK’s ever-victorious showdowns with the US. 

KIM JONG UN GIVES FIELD GUIDANCE TO CONSTRUCTION SITE OF TERMINAL OF PYONGYANG INT'L AIRPORT

Pyongyang, July 11 (KCNA) -- Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Un, first secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and first chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, gave field guidance to the construction site of the Terminal of Pyongyang International Airport.

After being briefed on its construction in front of the maps showing its bird's eye view and development and ichnography, he went round the exterior and interior of Terminal No. 2 to learn about the progress made in it.

Noting that the soldier-builders have successfully carried out the construction of the terminal as intended by the party, he said he was pleased with their work. Praising them for having done a lot of work, he indicated the tasks to be fulfilled to wind up the construction and ways to do so.

Stressing that the Terminal of Pyongyang International Airport is like a gateway to Pyongyang and the face of the country, he underscored the need to build it as a proud edifice in the era of the Workers' Party both in architectural style and contents and as befitting the appearance of the highly civilized socialist nation.

It is important to firmly preserve the Juche character in architecture, he said, instructing officials to introduce the world trend and good experience of other countries into the construction of the terminal and, at the same time, make sure that national identity is preserved in it.

He underscored the need to build the arrival lounge, the lounge for departure formalities, departure lounge, resting lounge, interview room and restaurant, etc. for the best convenience of passengers and to be impeccable in the aspects of architectural beauty and formative art.

He underlined the need to equip the terminal with all modern facilities and build service facilities in a peculiar manner and make thorough arrangements for service from now. He proposed a measure for preparing the staff to improve the service and specified tasks and ways for doing so.

He called for building more service facilities including hotel and bus stops near the terminal and energetically pushing forward a project for face-lifting the environment of the area of Sunan where the terminal is located.

He stressed the need for the soldier-builders to enhance their responsibility and role and for the Cabinet, the ministries and national institutions to render positive material and moral assistance to the builders in order to finish the construction of the terminal as scheduled.

Noting that the construction of Terminal No. 2 of the airport is the project to which the party pays particular attention, he expressed expectation and conviction that the soldier-builders would successfully complete the project qualitatively and thus build the terminal as an impeccable monumental edifice in the era of Songun.

He was accompanied by Vice Marshal of the KPA Hwang Pyong So, director of the General Political Bureau of the KPA, and KPA Lieut. General Ma Won Chun, director of the Designing

KIM JONG UN EXPRESSES CONDOLENCES OVER DEATH OF JON PYONG HO

Pyongyang, July 10 (KCNA) -- Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Un, first secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and first chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, paid a condolence call at the bier of Jon Pyong Ho to express sorrow at his death on Wednesday.

Placed before the bier was a wreath sent by Kim Jong Un.

Also seen before the bier were wreathes in the name of the Central Committee of the WPK, Central Military Commission of the WPK, NDC of the DPRK, Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, DPRK Cabinet, Ministry of the People's Armed Forces and institutions.

Standing beside the bier were the honor guards of the KPA.

He paid a silent tribute to the memory of the deceased and went round the bier with sorrow for the death of a veteran revolutionary who had devoted himself to the work for glorifying the immortal revolutionary exploits performed by President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il in developing the national defense industry till the last moments of his life.

Kim Jong Un met the members of the bereaved family to express his sympathy with them.

He was accompanied by Hwang Pyong So, Ri Yong Gil, Hyon Yong Chol, Pak To Chun, Yun Tong Hyon, Jo Chun Ryong, Ju Kyu Chang and Choe Chun Sik.

SPOKESMAN FOR NDC POLICY DEPARTMENT DENOUNCES U.S., S. KOREAN AUTHORITIES FOR RECKLESS MILITARY MOVES

Pyongyang, July 12 (KCNA) -- The spokesman for the Policy Department of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK Saturday released the following statement:

The U.S. is always preoccupied with aggression and interference.

On Friday the U.S. suddenly hurled the flotilla of the nuclear carrier George Washington into the Pusan Port of south Korea again.

That day the group of Aegis Destroyer Kid under the Third Fleet of the U.S. imperialist aggression forces entered the Tonghae Port of south Korea.

What is surprising is that these pirate warship groups entered the south Korean ports at the earnest request of the south Korean puppet authorities and amid their noisy welcome though they should have thought twice before doing so.

It was reported that those groups would stage a "drill to intercept planes" accompanied by naval maneuvers targeted against the DPRK together with the south Korean naval force in the South and East seas of Korea from July 16.

From July 22 they mull staging a large naval joint drill in waters off Jeju Island with warships of the Japanese aggression forces involved.

What should not be overlooked is that these grave maneuvers are slated to take place in defiance of the special proposal sent by the NDC of the DPRK to the south Korean authorities for improving the north-south relations and ensuring peace on the Korean peninsula and a meaningful statement issued by the DPRK government.

The planned reckless military actions of the U.S. and south Korea are another open challenge to the sincere efforts of the army and people of the DPRK to defuse the tension on the peninsula and create peaceful atmosphere.

They are, at the same time, a blatant effrontery to chill the desire and wishes of all Koreans to mend the north-south relations and achieve national reconciliation and cooperation.

In February, too, the U.S. sent a formation of nuclear-capable strategic bombers to south Korea, deliberately creating a phase of confrontation when there was a sign of reconciliation between the north and the south.

Whenever there was a sign of improving the north-south relations and detente on the peninsula, the U.S. resorted to sinister interference and obstructions.

These actions on the part of the U.S. were prompted by its scenario to retain a grip on south Korea and Japan and lay a siege to the continent in a bid to keep an unchallenged edge in the Asia-Pacific region.

What matters is that the south Korean puppet forces steeped in sycophancy and submission are pursuing this sinister scenario of the U.S. and persistently introducing nuclear strike means of the U.S. imperialist aggression forces, making constant nuclear blackmail and posing serious threat to compatriots.

However, the army and people of the DPRK are not afraid of the U.S. nuclear blackmail and threat little short of its "gunboat diplomacy" in the last century.

The U.S. should properly understand that the more persistently it resorts to reckless nuclear blackmail and threat, the further the DPRK will bolster up its cutting edge nuclear force for self-defence always ready to go into action.

The south Korean puppet forces would be well advised not to miscalculate that their act of depending on the U.S. and toeing its line is the only way out for them. They should come to their senses and seek a way out from the standpoint of attaching importance to the nation and giving priority to it.

They should bear in mind that now is the time to make a proper option at the present when various issues between the north and the south are high on agenda.

The U.S. and south Korean authorities should always remember that the army and people of the DPRK together with the world people are watching with high vigilance their anachronistic reckless military moves.

THE ENDS OF THE “EVER-VICTORIOUS” GENERALS OF THE US

In the Korean War (June 1950-July 1953) the US, which had been boasting of being the “strongest” in the world, suffered a defeat, the first of its kind in its history. During the war the “ever-victorious” generals of the US met ignominious ends.

GENERAL DEAN BECOMES A POW

During the Second World War General Dean, commanding a division, killed and captured 30 000 German troops in Germany and Austria. In the Philippines he repulsed Japanese forces and entered Manila.

Leading the US 24^th Division, famous as an “ever-victorious” division, he went to the Korean front ahead of others. To check the southward advance of the Korean People’s Army (armed forces of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and ensure the deployment of the main force of his division, he dispatched Smith-led task force to the Osan line as an advance party. When the task force was annihilated at the first encounter with the KPA forces, he lamented that it was a “shame for the United States of America,” and said that he would “earn confidence in Taejon by fighting a model battle.” However, the division was encircled and wiped out in Taejon by the adroit combat tactics of the KPA combined units. Without caring about the dignity of a general, Dean fled in the uniform of a private soldier before being captured by a rank-and-file soldier of the KPA.

During the Second World War he used to say that to become a POW was the most ignominious thing for a soldier, and in the Korean war, he found himself becoming a POW.

 “GRAVE GENERAL” SMITH

Smith entered the Korean war, leading the 1^st Marine Division, which had been called the “flower of the Marine Corps.” During the strategic and temporary retreat by the KPA, he advanced as far as Lake Jangjin in the northern part of the DPRK. The KPA forces encircled and attacked the division, killing its troops en masse. Smith had frozen earth dug by explosion and the corpses as well as his seriously injured soldiers buried there.

His division lost 12 000 troops in the area of the lake. On a vessel carrying the remaining soldiers, the division commander lamented that it had been unprecedented in the 175-year history of the US marines that a commander went his way, leaving so many corpses of his men behind.

It earned him the disgraceful title of “Grave General.”

GENERAL WALKER DIES WHILE FLEEING

Walker had earned fame during the Second World War while advancing to Austria after landing at Normandy.

In the early days of the Korean war he commanded the ground operations of the “UN forces” as the commander of the US 8^th Army. He ordered his men: UN soldiers, your hands must not shake even though those who are in front of you are children or the elderly; kill them; by doing so, you will save yourselves from catastrophe and perform your duty as UN soldiers.

On his order, the US soldiers massacred innocent Korean civilians in the areas they occupied temporarily.

Though he clamoured that he would push the frontline to the northern border area of the Korean peninsula before Christmas, the 190 000-strong main force of the 8^th Army crumbled. While fleeing with a heavy tank in front, he encountered the KPA’s Second Front units, which had buried land mines and encircled the US forces before attacking them. Eighty US officers, including Walker himself, were killed in the battle.

GENERAL MACARTHUR IS OUSTED

Allied Commander in the Far East, Douglas MacArthur commarded the UN forces from the first day of the Korean war. He enlisted in the Korean front vast amounts of materiel of the US, including the latest weaponry, and elite US forces. Organizing the General Christmas Offensive and other operations and drawing on the experience he had gained during the decades of previous wars, he made desperate efforts to conclude the Korean war in a short period. However, he found himself helpless in front of the counteroffensives offered by the KPA.

Judging that if they continued the war by placing confidence in him, they could be defeated, the US authorities fired him from his post in April 1951, less than one year after they ignited the war. Thus General MacArthur, who had been called a hero of the war in the Pacific, was ousted.

GENERAL RIDGWAY IS RECALLED

After MacArthur was ousted, Matthew Ridgway was appointed to the MacArthur’s post. In the US military circles he had been known as an officer possessed of a strong will and high commanding ability and as an ambitious man who would face death if it was for his career and fame.

He flew to the Korean front in field uniform with two grenades around his neck. He resorted to every means and method to change the tide of the war; he proposed truce negotiations to the DPRK, and at the back organized various military operations, including the summer and autumn offensives. Each time he had to drink a bitter cup: during the period of the Autumn Offensive, the US lost 147 000 troops, 279 tanks and armoured vehicles, 961 planes and other combat equipment. He even had bio-chemical weapons used despite being called “General Pest” and “General Cholera,” but the result was the same.

He was recalled to his country one year after his appointment.

GENERAL CLARK SHEDS TEARS

The US expected a great deal from Mark Clark, who succeeded to Ridgway, because he had received the surrender of the stubborn German forces in Italy and the Italian forces during the Second World War.

Soon after his appointment as commander of the UN forces, he declared that he would “wipe out” the 78 cities in north Korea from the map of the world, and unfolded the Operation Strangulation, aimed at destroying all, burning down all and killing all through carpet bombing. He organized the New Offensive as the last resort, but his dream of demonstrating the strength of the UN forces and win an “honourable truce” was shattered to smithereens. He could not but sign the Korean Armistice Agreement, a document which was as good as an instrument of surrender.

His mother, who received him at an airport, recalled as follows: The dignified mettle and pride were nowhere to be seen, and two streams of tears were trickling down his face.

DPRK GOVERNMENT STATEMENT CALLS FOR ENDING CONFRONTATION AND IMPROVING NORTH-SOUTH TIES

 Pyongyang, July 7 (KCNA)

The government of the DPRK released the following statement Monday, 20 years since President Kim Il Sung left his last signature on a historic document related to Korea's reunification.

 The Korean nation's cause for national reunification is undergoing big difficulties and trials due to the vicious challenge and obstructive moves of the anti-reunification forces at home and abroad, the statement said.

 The DPRK government clarifies as follows out of its patriotic desire to tide over the difficulties lying before the nation, improve the north-south relations and open up a fresh turning phase for independent reunification at present:

1. The north and the south should end reckless hostility and confrontation and open up the road for reconciliation and unity.

 The grave situation in which even a single remark and act and tiny friction may lead to a dangerous conflict and destruction of the nation is prevailing on the Korean peninsula as hostility and confrontation have reached the extremes.

 We should no longer remain a passive on-looker to this tragic situation in which exhaustive political strife among compatriots may cause tremendous catastrophe of the nation at a crucial time when all the Koreans should pool their strength and wisdom for the cause common to the nation.

 The north and the south should open up the road for improvement of relations from fresh viewpoint and stand for the destiny of the nation.

 The south Korean authorities should discard the anachronistic concept of hostility and make a bold decision to change its policy for confrontation with fellow countrymen into that for alliance and reconciliation with the north.

 They should stop all kinds of the north-targeted war exercises which they conduct with outsiders, a direct product of their hostile policy toward the fellow countrymen in the north.

 If they have true willingness to improve the relations with the north, they should opt for respecting and implementing the north-south agreements including the June 15 joint declaration and the October 4 declaration which were provided thanks to the top leaders of the north and the south.

2. The north and the south should reject dependence on outsiders and settle all issues by the efforts of Koreans.

 The north and the south should never fall a victim to outsiders keen on fishing in troubled waters through the division of Korea.

 They should solve all issues by their own efforts in the common interests of the nation from the stand of putting the nation above all, attaching importance to the nation and achieving national unity.

 The north and the south should never tolerate the unreasonable act of outsiders to interfere in the internal issue of the nation but counter it with joint efforts.

 We will join hands with all those including the south Korean authorities if they take the stand of settling the issue of the north-south relations and the reunification issue of the country in line with the desire and wish of the nation.

3. The north and the south should seek reasonable reunification proposals supported by all Koreans and that guarantee the prosperity common to the nation.

 There is increasing demand and requirement of fellow countrymen to achieve reunification through federal formula in Korea where differing ideologies and social systems exist.

 In the June 15 joint declaration the north and the south recognized that there are common points in the north-proposed low-level federation and the south-proposed confederation, and agreed to work for reunification in this direction in the future.

 The north and the south should specify the reunification proposals by way of federation and confederation and make efforts to realize them and thus actively promote co-existence, co-prosperity and common interests.

4. The north and the south should create the atmosphere favorable for the improvement of the north-south relations.

 To actively create the atmosphere favorable for reconciliation and unity at present is a prerequisite for improving the extremely deteriorated north-south relations.

 It is necessary to put an end to all kinds of calumnies and vituperations that foster misunderstanding and distrust among the fellow countrymen, to begin with.

 Legal and institutional measures that block kindred bonds and compatriotic feelings between the north and the south should be lifted and a broad avenue for contacts, visits, cooperation and dialogue should be opened.

 An end should be put at an early date to such an abnormal situation in south Korea in which the desire of the people from all walks of life for reunification is dampened and the hostility against the DPRK is incited through the racket for "eliminating forces following the north".

  If the above-mentioned principled stand of the DPRK and measures taken by it in good faith are implemented, an epochal occasion will be provided in normalizing the deteriorated north-south ties, easing the situation on the Korean peninsula and achieving the national reconciliation and unity.

 We express the expectation that all Koreans would actively support the principled stand of the DPRK government that was prompted by its noble sense of responsibility to improve the north-south ties and open up a wide avenue for independent reunification and that the south Korean authorities would positively respond to it. -0-

BASIC PRINCIPLE FOR KOREA'S REUNIFICATION

 Pyongyang, July 8 (KCNA)

The government of the DPRK in a statement on July 7 declared that the north and the south should settle all issues by the concerted efforts of Koreans, rejecting dependence on foreign forces.

 The principle of independence is the basic one for national reunification which the north and the south promised to adhere to before the nation reflecting the desire and wishes of all fellow countrymen.

 This principle calls for resolving all issues, big and small,  arising in the inter-Korean relations such as the one of national reunification by the concerted efforts of the Koreans without depending on foreign forces and free from foreign interference from the standpoint of attaching importance to the nation and giving priority to it.

 It is the Koreans who are vitally interested in the issue of national reunification, the matter of achieving the national unity by rejoining the severed blood ties of the nation split by foreign forces and of establishing the national sovereignty throughout Korea. It is also the Koreans who are capable of doing so.  The issue of reunification related to the national sovereignty should not be left to foreign forces to settle it. Their meddling in the issue would only create complexities in it.

  Foreign forces can never speak for the desire of the Korean nation for the reunification and its interests.  It is crystal clear to all that foreign forces do not wish Korea to be reunified as they partitioned it into two in pursuance of their aggressive purpose and interests.  The north and the south should never fall victim to foreign forces keen on fishing in troubled waters by keeping Korea partitioned.

 It is the only right way of achieving national reunification to attach importance to the nation, strictly rely on the nation and adhere to the idea of By Our Nation Itself.

 The north and the south must solve all issues in the idea of By Our Nation Itself from the standpoint of giving priority to the nation and attaching importance to it and achieving the national unity in the common interests of the nation.

 Such practices as peddling the internal affair of the nation in foreign countries, imploring for their "support" and begging for "sanctions" and "cooperation" against the DPRK in a bid to do harm to compatriots are nothing but shameful sycophantic and treacherous acts as they allow the destiny of the nation to be a plaything of foreign forces.  It is necessary not to allow foreign forces' unreasonable interference in the internal affair of Korea and for the north and the south to jointly counter it. This is the genuine way of applying the principle of independence and the idea of By Our Nation Itself.

 There is nothing insolvable when the Koreans reject foreign forces on the principle of independence and pool their efforts. All "assertions" and "declarations" contrary to the principle of independence should be retracted and all cooperative mechanisms infringing upon the interests of the fellow countrymen should be dismantled. These are the historic tasks to be fulfilled to accomplish the historic cause of national reunification in the spirit of By Our Nation Itself.

 No matter how much water may flow under the bridge and no matter how complicated the situation may remain, the basic principle of national reunification -- the principle of independence and the idea of By Our Nation Itself -- can never change. All Koreans in the north, the south and abroad should wage a more dynamic patriotic struggle to bring earlier the independent reunification of the nation by pooling efforts in the spirit of By Our Nation Itself. 

PEERLESS STRATEGIST

The Korean War (1950-1953) witnessed a miraculous victory for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea with less than two years of its history won in the fiercest confrontation against the United States, with the most influential military and economic power and the longest history of aggression in the world, and other imperialist allied forces. Credit went to Kim Il Sung (1912-1994), now held up as the eternal President of the DPRK, who was endowed with outstanding stratagem and unique military tactics.

When the south Korean army, egged on by the US, started the war at dawn on June 25, 1950, Kim Il Sung put forward the strategy of switching from defence to an immediate counteroffensive.   

It was quite a new and original counteroffensive strategy never before found in military theories and manuals or even in other countries’ experiences. It had been common in the history of war that in face of an all-out surprise attack a nation, however strong its army and its economic and military capabilities might be, was plunged into great confusion and ruined without even exercising its power. Or it was forced to undergo confusion and trials for a certain period before straightening out the situation and regaining its strength capable of switching over to a counteroffensive. 

Following his unique strategy, the Korean People’s Army frustrated the surprise attack of the enemy and liberated Seoul, the enemy’s capital city, within three days after the outbreak of the war, and more than 90 per cent of the southern part of Korea and 92 per cent of its population in little over than a month.

Douglas MacArthur, the then commander of the US Far East forces and UN Forces, wrote in his letter to the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Organization that the “enemy” was an offensive and well-trained professional army and its supreme military commander was excellent in command and well-versed in fundamentals of operational stratagem.

Kim Il Sung saw through the enemy’s motives and commanded the KPA to apply strategies and tactics properly.

One of his strategies was employed in frustrating the “General Christmas Offensive” so much vaunted by the US. When the US was getting overheated in preparing for a new general offensive hurling large troops in November 1950, the President pointed out that the US would start its attack on November 24 and ordered the KPA to go over to an all-out decisive counteroffensive on November 25. The troops of the US and its vassal states suffered a heavy loss and took flight.

A Western journalist witnessed the situation and wrote: The KPA must have known beforehand when the US would start its attack. If not, it would not have been able to launch such an immediate counterattack. It proved once again that its Supreme Commander’s operational ability has no limits. It was beyond imagination that he guessed right the date of the US general offensive, but it was more surprising that he took into account every minutest detail to fix the time of the counteroffensive.

Kim Il Sung put forth and made best use of original tactics that wrote brilliant pages in the modern history of war.

Many military tactics were created by him during the war, including mountain warfare, tunnel warfare, assaults, anti-aircraft and anti-tank teams, which were suited to the topographical features of Korea, military equipment of the KPA and the modern warfare. Of them the tactics of relying on tunnels was created based on geographical features of the country that is mountainous and a scientific analysis of the enemy that depended on his technical superiority.

By deploying the tactics of relying on tunnels the KPA defended Height 1211. In September 1951 Kim Il Sung made his way to the area of Height 1211 in the eastern sector of the front and indicated the orientation and ways to frustrate the frantic “autumn offensive” of the US. He took measures to build strong tunnel positions. In accordance with his order the KPA soldiers set up smithies on the heights, forged chisels, hammers, picks and other tools by melting the enemy shell and bomb fragments, and dug tunnels along the defence line, converting their positions into an impregnable fortress. Even in the thick of the enemy’s intensive bombardment they took a good rest in the tunnels, singing and dancing to the tune of musical instruments they made by themselves.

The then Allied Commander in the Far East Ridgway, who met with consecutive defeats owing to the KPA defence line consolidated into tunnels, cried in despair that it was the strongest one ever known in the world.

The superiority in numerical and technological strength much vaunted by the US, the so-called “world’s strongest,” was shattered to pieces by the strategic and tactical superiority of the KPA created by its Supreme Commander Kim Il Sung.

Recollecting the Korean war, former Portuguese President Francisco da Costa Gomes, who once served as the chief of staff of the Portuguese army in Macau, said: “The operations plans advanced by the United States in the war were all formulated after several rounds of discussion by dozens of bourgeois generals, like chiefs of staff and military specialists, of the Western countries on the US side. But General Kim Il Sung frustrated them all single-handed. Witnessing it, I learned that General Kim Il Sung was a universal genius in military strategy and a great commander.”

Kim Jong Un Inspects KPA Posts

Pyongyang, July 15 (KCNA) -- Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Un, first secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and first chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, inspected a civil police post under KPA Unit 171 and a post of the third company of the second battalion under the unit guarding the forefront.

The first leg of his inspection was the civil police post. At the observation post he watched the enemy's position facing the post and learned in detail about the enemy situation. He highly praised the servicemen for always keeping themselves fully combat ready.

He noted that the Korean revolution is making triumphant progress, foiling the moves of the reactionaries at home and abroad thanks to the unknown efforts and warm patriotism of the frontline soldiers standing guard over the defence line of the country as firm as an iron wall.

"All the servicemen of the post standing in fierce confrontation with the enemy despite rain or snow and whether they are known or unknown are patriots", he said, instructing them to further tighten their frontline guard duty as required by the prevailing situation, always remembering the expectation of the party, the revolution, the country and its people.

He underscored the need for them to fully prepare themselves politically and ideologically and in military technique so as to beat back any surprise invasion by the enemy. To do so it is important to have strong faith and optimism that the socialist cause is sure to triumph and arm them with the anti-imperialist, anti-U.S. class consciousness, he stressed.

He went round a bedroom, mess hall and daily food store of the post to take warm care of its servicemen's living. He gave a pair of binoculars, automatic rifle and machine gun to the post as gifts and had a photo taken with its servicemen. The next leg of his inspection was the post of the third company of the second battalion under the unit.

He looked round the monument to the field guidance erected to convey the exploits of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il to posterity. He said with deep emotion that coming to his mind, visiting the post, was Kim Jong Il who visited the post during the Arduous March when the country was undergoing great difficulties. He instructed the servicemen of the post to defend the post which is an eastern gate to the country as firm as an iron wall, true to the noble intention of Kim Jong Il.

Going round a bed room, education room and mess hall, he said that there was nothing to spare for the servicemen on the forefront and it was necessary to make sure that the measures taken by the party pay off. He told the commanding officers to make redoubled efforts to provide the better living conditions to the servicemen.

He gave the post a pair of binoculars, an automatic rifle and a machine gun as gifts and had a photo taken with its service personnel.

He noted that the people of the DPRK can sleep in peace and the supreme commander feels rest assured as the service personnel of KPA Unit 171 are standing guard over the forefront as firm as an iron wall. He reposed the deepest trust in them, saying that the Central Committee of the WPK deeply trusts them.

He was accompanied by KPA Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong So, director of the General Political Bureau of the KPA, and Army General Ri Yong Gil, chief of the KPA General Staff, Army Col. General So Hong Chan, first vice-minister of the People's Armed Forces, and Army Col. General Pak Jong Chon, vice-chief of the KPA General Staff and director of its Fire-Command Department

KIM JONG UN GUIDES LIVE-SHELL FIRING EXERCISE OF KPA UNIT

Pyongyang, July 15 (KCNA) -- Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army Kim Jong Un, first secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and first chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, guided the live-shell firing exercise of KPA Unit 171.

He mounted an observation post to learn about the plan for the exercise and the deployment of multiple launch rocket systems before issuing an order to rapidly take up the designated firing position.

After closely watching the combat movement of service personnel through binoculars, he set the order, method and targets of firepower strikes and issued an order to open fire.

The moment the rocket systems roared, shaking the mountain ranges on the forefront line, reflecting the will of the KPA service personnel to annihilate the enemy and Hero Height 351 was enveloped in powder smoke reminiscent of a battlefield.

Shells dropped in the sea like hail, making huge columns of water soar.

Watching the columns of water rising in succession, he said with great satisfaction that the artillerymen are very good at firing and all of them are crack shots.

He highly appreciated the successful drill, noting that all the targets hit by the artillery pieces in the fire positions on the forefront represented the eruption of the KPA service personnel's burning hatred and their expression of the strong resolution to retaliate against the enemy.

He stressed that he came to be convinced once again that all service personnel were only waiting for an offensive order from the supreme commander while keeping themselves highly alerted.

He said that the hostile forces are now getting more undisguised in their moves to isolate and stifle the socialist country but the Korean people can dynamically push forward the building of a thriving nation as the service personnel are defending the posts of the country as firm as an iron wall with ardent patriotism.

He indicated the important tasks to be fulfilled by the units on the front to make more thorough-going combat preparations.

He was accompanied by KPA Vice Marshal Hwang Pyong So, director of the General Political Bureau of the KPA, and Army General Ri Yong Gil, chief of the KPA General Staff, Army Col. General So Hong Chan, first vice-minister of the People's Armed Forces, and Army Col. General Pak Jong Chon, vice-chief of the KPA General Staff and director of its Fire-Command Department.

Crushing Defeat Suffered by the United States

The Korean war (1950-1953) was the first war in which the United States, having boasted of its being the “strongest” in the world, suffered an ignominious defeat.

While starting a war in Korea, the US had reckoned that it could easily occupy the country by means of its numerical and technical superiorities. The then US military brasshats bragged to the press that the war would be finished within 72 hours.

The US hurled into it a huge armed force over two million strong, including the one-third of its ground force, one-fifth of its air force, and most of its Pacific Fleet, troops of 15 vassal states, the south Korean puppet army, state-of-the-art combat and technical equipment, including B-29 strategic bomber, called as “air fortress,” and enormous amounts of war supplies worth over 73 million tons.

However, the US suffered in the Korean war tremendous loss nearly 2.3 times as much as that it had suffered in the Pacific war: 1 567 128 men including 405 498 US soldiers were killed, wounded or captured, and over 12 220 aircraft, 3 250 tanks and armoured vehicles, 13 350 trucks, 560 warships, 7 690 artillery guns, and 925 150 small arms were lost.

The US military celebrities, known as famous generals of the Pacific War, were either killed or sacked from their posts, being responsible for defeat in the war. The “General Christmas Offensive” at the end of November 1950 so vaunted by the US resulted in the “December general retreat.” Anti-war protests gained momentum within the US mainland, arousing the impeachment of the US President and the replacement of the State Secretary. Douglas MacArthur and Matthew Ridgway, who served as commander of the UN Forces, were ousted from their posts, and those in command of US 1^st, 2^nd, 7^th and 25^th Divisions fired. “Smith’s special attack unit” which was the first American unit that engaged in ground operation was smashed to bits, and the US 24^th Division, which had boasted of being “ever-victorious,” was encircled and completely routed, and many US army units were destroyed in succession. General Walker, commander of the US 8^th Army, was killed in a military operation of the Korean People’s Army, and Dean, US 24^th Division commander, was captured by a KPA soldier.

The myth of US “mightiness” was shattered in the sky and on the sea, as well.

On October 30, 1951, US B-29s under the aegis of 90 fighter-bombers made sorties to the Korean front. But three B-29s were shot down and five damaged. That day was listed as “Black Tuesday” in the US Air Force. In the following week alone, 20 “air fortress B-29s” were destroyed. Since the breakout of the Korean war 2 200 US pilots were seized with war phobia and evaded their flying service.

On July 2, 1950, four torpedo boats of the KPA navy attacked on the sea off Jumunjin the US heavy cruiser Baltimore of 17 000 tons with an escort of a light cruiser and destroyer, sinking it deep in the sea, and damaging the light cruiser.

Omar Bradley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, confessed at a Congressional hearing in May 1951 that the US waged the wrong war at the wrong place and with the wrong enemy. It proved that the US already recognized its defeat in the Korean war when the war was at its height.

The US News and World Report wrote that the loss in the Korean war was over two times of the total of those the US had suffered in five great wars, the War of Independence, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War and the Philippine War.

After the Korean war the former US Defense Secretary George Marshall deplored, “The myth exploded to atoms, and it became clear to everyone that the United States was not so strong as others thought her to be.” Mark Clark, commander of the US Far East forces and concurrently commander of the UN forces in Korea, recalled the time when he signed the Korean Armistice Agreement, saying: In carrying out the instructions of my government I gained the unenviable distinction of being the first United States Army Commander in history to sign an armistice agreement without victory. I suffered a sense of frustration…”

The ignominious defeat suffered by the US was the first of its kind in American history. It can neither be retrievable nor removed, no matter how long time passes.

The US should never forget the loss in the past Korean war.

If it becomes oblivious of the lesson from it and starts another war in the Korean peninsula, it will suffer its complete doom beyond comparison with the past.