North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un watched a mortar shooting match to mark the founding day of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, an anti-Japanese guerrilla group, and ordered soldiers to be ideologically armed. The Korean People’s Revolutionary Army refers to an anti-Japanese armed military organization founded by Chairman Kim Il-sung on April 25, 1932, mainly composed of workers, farmers, and young students.
The Korean Central News Agency reported on the 26th, “Chairman Kim celebrated the 94th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army the day before by making a congratulatory visit to a joint unit under the mechanized infantry division in the western region of the People’s Army and encouraged the soldiers.”
Chairman Kim placed a bouquet of flowers at the Local Leader Historic Monument, which engraves the achievements of President Kim Il-sung, and then paid a moment of silence and visited the Revolutionary Historic Site. Chairman Kim emphasized, “It is our party’s unchanging ideology of building a strong army and view of war that the ideological eliteization of soldiers is a treasured sword of invincibility and victory,” and added, “Only an ideologically strong army that is always aware of its lineage and roots can resolutely suppress and crush any enemy.” At the same time, he mentioned, “We must set an example for the entire military in terms of political and ideological work and combat preparation for soldiers in line with the characteristics and status of the combined unit.”
Chairman Kim also observed a shooting match by mortarmen of light infantry units under the jurisdiction of the Grand Coalition Forces at each level. Minister of National Defense No Kwang-chol, People’s Army Chief of Staff Ri Yong-gil, and General Political Bureau Director Kim Seong-ki accompanied Chairman Kim. Chairman Kim said, “Combat training must be organized and conducted with a focus on strengthening the combat power that can completely destroy the enemy by thoroughly implementing our Party’s military strategic ideology and all requirements of the Juche strategy,” and said that training games for each level of unit and specialist division should be held more intensively across the entire military.
North Korea originally celebrated the establishment of the regular army, the Korean People’s Army, on February 8, 1948, as ‘Army Foundation Day’. However, starting in 1978, April 25, the founding date of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, was changed to Army Foundation Day. It is interpreted as part of the ‘idolization’ policy to place the legitimacy of the People’s Army in the tradition of President Kim Il-sung’s anti-Japanese struggle. Starting in 2018, when Chairman Kim took office, February 8 was again designated as Army Foundation Day, and April 25 was celebrated as a separate memorial day.
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