N Korea leader 3 times appears in public on Army Day.

26/4 Tass 65

PYONGYANG, April 26 (Itar-Tass) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il was
present at a concert of the State Merited Chorus on the occasion of the
national holiday - 78th anniversary since the creation of the Korean
People's Army (KPA) that was marked in the country on Sunday. The North's
official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Monday that the
musical performance started with the national anthem. Then the soloists
and chorus with great enthusiasm sang patriotic songs "glorifying heroic
feats of the KPA that bears the red flag of the revolution high and
together with the people participates in the construction of a great and
prosperous state."
According to KCNA, General Secretary Kim Jong-Il visited the command
of KPA Unit 586 and congratulated servicepersons there on the occasion of
the 78th birthday of the KPA. He warmly waved back to the enthusiastically
cheering servicepersons and heartily congratulated them on the army day.
After receiving a salute, he saw records of victories showing a glorious
course of the unit shining with exploits.
The unit has a long history as it has performed laudable feats in the
defence of the country and socialist construction by displaying unrivalled
patriotic devotion and popular heroism in the struggle for the party and
the leader, the country and the people from the period of the hard-fought
war up to this date, he noted, highly appreciating the exploits of the
unit.
Learning about the feats of many heroes produced by the unit one by
one, he said that these fighters were, indeed, staunch revolutionaries and
true roots of the WPK as they unhesitatingly dedicated their youth and
lives to the country and the people. He stressed the need for all the
servicepersons to earnestly learn from the noble revolutionary spirit of
the forerunners and become heroes of the new century to be remembered by
the country and the people, the agency reported.
After looking round combat and technical equipment, he dropped in at
the operation command room and military study rooms of the unit to learn
about its training. He put forward important tasks which would serve as
guidelines for increasing the combat capability of the unit in every way.
Then he made the rounds of the servicepersons' hall and other
entertainment and educational facilities to acquaint himself in detail
with the political work conducted among them.
He was pleased to learn that the unit has conducted the political work
in a unique and profound manner after successfully building facilities for
ideological and cultural education suited to the characteristic features
of the servicepersons and all of them fully enjoy a cultural and emotional
life. He called for always paying primary attention to the ideological
work, according to KCNA.
He had a photo session with the servicepersons of the unit.
He was accompanied by KPA Vice Marshal Kim Yong Chun, vice-chairman of
the NDC of the DPRK and minister of the People's Armed Forces, KPA General
Ri Yong Ho, chief of the General Staff of the KPA, KPA General Kim Jong
Gak, member of the NDC of the DPRK and first vice director of the General
Political Bureau of the KPA, and other commanding officers of the army.
The North Korean leader also watched manoeuvres of military Unit No
115. According to him, the KPA has all the needed military, political and
ideological training for rebuffing any outside aggression. The KCNA report
provided no information about the military units' whereabouts.
The Korean People's Army, also known as the Inmun Gun, comprises the
military forces of North Korea. Kim Jong-Il is the Supreme Commander of
the Korean People's Army and Chairman of the National Defence Commission.
The KPA has five branches: the Army Ground Force, the Navy, the Air Force,
the Artillery Guidance Bureau, and the Special Operation Force.
The KPA's annual budget is 6 billion US dollars. The US research
organization ISIS reports that the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of
Korea) might possess fissile material for some 2 to 9 nuclear weapons.
North Korea's Songun "Military First" policy elevates the KPA as an
organization and State function, the primary position in the Government
and society, making it the revolutionary basis.
In 1978, Kim Il-Sung directed that "Military Foundation Day" be
changed from 8 February to 25 April, the nominal day of establishment of
his anti-Japanese guerrilla army in 1932, to recognize the supposedly
indigenous Korean origins of the KPA and obscure its Soviet origin. An
active arms industry had been developed to produce long-range missiles
such as the Nodong-1.
North Korea is the most militarised country in the world today, having
the fourth largest standing army in the world, at nearly 1.2 million armed
personnel, with about 20 percent of men ages 17-54 in the regular armed
forces. It also has the Worker-Peasant Red Guard, a reserve force
comprising 3.5m+ (IISS), 3.8m (USMC) or 4.7m (State Department) militia.
It operates an enormous network of military facilities scattered around
the country, a large weapons production basis, and a dense air defence
system.
The KPA faces the Military of South Korea and United States Forces
Korea across the Korean Demilitarised Zone, as it has since the ceasefire
of 1953.
-0-ezh/ast


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