February 8, Juche 37 (1948) is a day of grand national event in which the long-cherished desire of the Korean people came true and a day of historic event to be specially recorded in Korea’s history of army building.

Nothing is of more vital and overriding importance than the building of armed forces in carving out the destiny of the people.

President Kim Il Sung put forward the founding of a powerful regular army as an indispensable requirement for building an independent, sovereign state after Korea’s liberation (August 15, 1945) and made tireless efforts to strengthen and develop the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army into the Korean People’s Army (KPA), the regular revolutionary armed forces.

On the historic day of proclaiming the founding of the KPA, he said as follows:

“Comrade officers, noncommissioned officers and men of the Korean People’s Army,

  Dear fellow countrymen,

  In celebrating the second anniversary of the People’s Committee of North Korea, the organ of genuine people’s power, we today proclaim the founding of the Korean People’s Army, the first regular armed forces belonging to the people in the history of Korea. The Korean people, who had been subjected to all manner of persecution and suppression under the bayonets of the Japanese imperialists, took power into their own hands after liberation and set out to create a new, happy life. And now they have their own full-fledged regular army to defend the country and the nation.”

Looking up at the President that day, all the people across the country were transported with delight and excitement of having their own revolutionary regular army.

An issue of Rodong Sinmun in those days, reflected the unanimous feelings of all people as follows:

“Oh, Chairman Kim Il Sung standing on the platform of the parade!

…

“Who dares to invade our country? Who dares to infringe upon our nation’s happiness? We have the peerless patriot Chairman Kim Il Sung! ...”

Thanks to the wise leadership of the President who founded the powerful, revolutionary regular armed forces in a short period of two years after national liberation, the KPA could provide a sure military guarantee for building a new country with arms, achieve victory in the Fatherland Liberation War and firmly defend socialism.

The KPA has recorded its history with greater victory and glory under the commandership of Chairman Kim Jong Il, a heaven-sent brilliant commander.

He strengthened the political and military might of the KPA to the maximum by administering Songun politics in an all-round way in the 1990s and developed the defence industry into a powerful cutting-edge one which can manufacture any sophisticated military hardware at its discretion.

Under his energetic leadership spanning over half a century, the KPA has brilliantly carried forward the history and tradition of victory as an elite revolutionary army, taking the lead in supporting the cause of the Party and the leader.

Today, the KPA, founded by Kim Il Sung and developed under the leadership of Kim Jong Il, is giving full play to its invincible might as the revolutionary army that reliably defends the security of the Party and the revolution, the country and the people under the leadership of Supreme Commander Kim Jong Un.