WE WILL BRILLIANTLY CARRY FORWARD THE GREAT HEROIC SPIRIT             OF THE VICTORIOUS WARTIME GENERATION
Speech at the Seventh National Conference of War Veterans
July 27, Juche 110 (2021)
Esteemed comrade war veterans,
On once again seeing you, the older generation of our revolution whom we always respect and regard as our role models, and celebrating with you the motherland’s great Victory Day, I cannot suppress the surge of happiness and emotion.
The historic victory in the war, which our state and people will remember with dignity and pride for generations to come, is their greatest asset that cannot be bartered for anything in the world.
Moreover, it is the greatest blessing and source of glory for our generation to hold regular conferences to see the war veterans, who were the masters and witnesses of that legendary heroic era.
I extend warm thanks and make a deep bow to you, esteemed war veterans, who created the legend of the miraculous victory in the fierce three-year war, who heroically glorified your era and who are now participating in the celebrations for V-day looking hale and hearty, and also to all the other veterans of the Fatherland Liberation War and those people across the country who performed meritorious wartime service.
I pay noble tribute to the martyrs of the People’s Army and all the other patriotic martyrs who dedicated their youth and lives in defence of the sovereignty and honour of their country, and I extend warm congratulations to all the people who are greeting July 27 Victory Day amid a strenuous, powerful struggle.
I also pay noble tribute to the martyrs of the Chinese People’s Volunteers who shed their precious blood unsparingly in the same trench with our soldiers in the face of the imperialist invasion when our country was facing its darkest hour, and I extend warm greetings also to the veterans of the CPV.
Esteemed comrade war veterans,
The exploits of the victorious wartime generation, the second generation of our revolution, shine brilliantly as a historic and highly significant landmark in the glorious course of our Republic’s development.
All that is worthwhile for our powerful and beautiful Korea is linked to the exploits of the great generation which you represent.
The freedom of our tens of millions of people, our genuine system, our beautiful mountains and rivers, our vast fertile plains and our precious natural resources–all these are inconceivable without the exploits performed by the numerous warriors who defended every inch of their country’s territory at the cost of their blood.
Because the courageous defenders of the country in the 1950s repulsed the invasion by the brigandish US imperialists at the cost of their lives, their descendants for several generations have been able to enjoy the dignity of an independent people who are free from suffering as slaves.
Because the victorious wartime generation performed such great exploits in defeating the armed invasion by the US imperialists and their vassal states and bringing about the unprecedentedly significant event of victory in the war, the destiny and future of the country could be assured and we, their descendants, could inherit the great fame and honour of being heroic Korea and a heroic people.
Dear comrades,
The victorious wartime generation’s exploits are etched in golden letters in the annals of our country, and the most precious of them is their heroic fighting spirit and mettle.
The fighting spirit which created the great victory and miracle will never fade, no matter how many years may pass, and it constitutes an inexhaustible source of fresh victories and miracles.
When we recall the great heroic spirit displayed by the victorious wartime generation, there is nothing that does not strike the world’s people with wonder and move their hearts.
For the sake of the Party and the leader and to carry out the pledge they had made to the leader, the soldiers of the People’s Army turned out without hesitation in do-or-die battles and displayed unyielding courage, looking up to the Supreme Headquarters, even as they confronted death. With their indomitable mental strength they won battles in the war that have gone down in world legend.
Whenever I meet you, war veterans, I can vividly picture the arduous, dreadful image of the Fatherland Liberation War and the fierce hand-to-hand fighting against the enemy, and I wonder whether we are now struggling as the wartime warriors did.
I can only bow to the victors of those great years who gave full play to their indomitable and courageous mental strength in facing the most tremendous challenges and dangers.
Even though they rendered such brilliant service for the freedom and independence of their motherland and for the life of the coming generations, our victorious wartime generation has never demanded any reward for the blood they shed.
It was the victorious wartime generation who readily shouldered the weighty tasks of healing the wounds of war and rebuilding the country on the ruins.
Not only the warriors who had returned from the front, but also those who had fought undauntedly in the rear regarded it as their natural duty, their obligation and their responsibility to overcome the misfortune and suffering and to carry out at higher speed tasks scores of times greater than the norm by fulfilling the share of their fallen comrades-in-arms, mindful of their desire.
In response to the call of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung to display the mettle of Koreans in post-war reconstruction by building bigger and more splendid things rather than simply restoring them, the victorious wartime generation launched the construction of an independent powerful country from scratch. By taking ten, even a hundred, steps while others were taking only one, they created new things from nothing and made the seemingly impossible, possible.
Thanks to the honourable builders who, in a battle against time, displayed fortitude with their belts still tightened, heroic Korea created the more brilliant image of Chollima Korea and completed the historic task of simultaneously promoting economic construction and strengthening national defence, which represented a shortcut to becoming a rich country with a strong army.
This great revolutionary generation created the splendid tradition of supporting the Party Central Committee absolutely and defending it with a revolutionary upsurge, a tradition of struggle which our Party and people have emulated from one decade to the next; they also cultivated the noble collectivist climate and communist human relations of one for all and all for one.
Thanks to the self-sacrificing and devoted struggle of the victorious wartime generation, the iron truth of Juche that it is possible to create a new life even on debris and to prosper as long as the people, the territory, the Party and the government exist, has been proved to be a brilliant reality.
In every decade of socialist construction, our war veterans and others who performed meritorious wartime service, always remembering how they lived during the war years when they fought, shedding their blood and braving the hail of bullets and gunfire, have, while working steadfastly at their posts, led the rising generations to live and struggle in an upright and honourable way.
Such is the noble spiritual world of the victorious wartime generation, which we all respect and appreciate.
By inheriting the great heroic spirit of the victorious wartime generation, our Party and people have been able to overcome the arduous trials in the struggle to defend socialism, which were as challenging as several wars, and to perform with credit the great tasks facing the revolution.
The defenders and builders of the country in the 1950s, who safeguarded our glorious DPRK with honour and created an immortal heroic spirit that has to be carried forward generation by generation, are, indeed, our saviours and excellent teachers who deserve to be praised and emulated for generations to come.
Comrades,
As the descendants of the great victorious wartime generation, our people today and the new generations have a special sense of dignity and pride, the like of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
It is the honourable mission that has fallen on the descendants of the great victorious wartime generation to make the country, which was defended and built by their forerunners, stronger and eternally prosperous by brilliantly carrying forward the great tradition of victory and the heroic spirit which were created under the leadership of the great leaders and the great Party.
A generation that is fully aware of this sacred, historic mission and duty will never degenerate or collapse, but will advance valiantly and resolutely.
Whenever we are faced with a new challenge and gigantic tasks, we are reminded of the older generation of the revolution, the victorious wartime generation, who faced, and coped with, challenges and tasks more formidable than the current ones.
Today, the difficulties and obstacles created by the unprecedented global health crisis and the protracted blockade are no less harsh for us than those in the wartime situation.
However, just as the victorious wartime generation displayed the greatest courage and brought about the greatest victory and honour in the face of the greatest national trial, so our generation, by carrying forward their fine tradition, will turn the present difficulties into a fresh, greater victory.
Even if we encounter even worse hardships on the road of building a powerful socialist country, we will never stop, but will rush determinedly forward towards the struggle objectives we set by carrying forward the heroic spirit of the victorious wartime generation.
We will, without fail, turn this land, for which the war martyrs dedicated their priceless lives and the war veterans have devoted their lifelong honest, patriotic efforts, into a prosperous and powerful country where all the people enjoy happiness and have nothing to envy.
To this end, our Party will make sure that the valuable ideological and spiritual wealth of the victorious wartime generation becomes ingrained in all the people, service personnel and rising generations, and is their sustenance in the course of their genuine life and struggle.
We will ensure that the staunch revolutionary spirit with which that generation placed absolute trust in our Party alone and carried out its decisions even at the cost of their lives, the death-defying spirit with which they never hesitated to sacrifice their lives with every confidence in their strength and ultimate victory when the country was at the crossroads of life or death, the indomitable fighting spirit with which they vigorously turned out in the rehabilitation and construction work braving hardships and difficulties, and the ennobling collectivist spirit with which they created a fresh socialist way of life by supporting and caring for one another even in the teeth of adversity, remain alive and pulsate in today’s struggle and life.
We will ensure that no one ever forgets the history of brilliant victory and struggle in the Fatherland Liberation War, of post-war rehabilitation and of the era of the grand Chollima upsurge, all of which are an outstanding textbook of ardent patriotism, that every workplace and military post resounds at all times with wartime songs and songs of creation and construction, and that fresh miracles and exploits are constantly created amid the practical struggle for implementing the Party’s policies.
Dear comrade war veterans,
With the historic Eighth Party Congress as the momentum, the cause of building socialism of our own style has entered a new dynamic era and the whole country is vibrant with a soaring spirit.
Our revolutionary armed forces are fully prepared to cope with any change in the situation and any threat, and are standing firmly at the outposts of national defence and socialist construction. At the same time they are building up their might and becoming eternally invincible by dint of their heroic combat spirit and ennobling political and moral traits.
Tens of thousands of members of the younger generation are carrying forward the excellent spirit and mettle of the victorious wartime generation by volunteering to work on various fronts at the call of the Party.
The gains of the revolution the victorious wartime generation won at the cost of their blood remain strong, and the future of our state and our socialist cause is bright.
Even if you do nothing more than remain healthy, it is a great inspiration to our Party and people and a great encouragement for our revolution.
On the occasion of the 68th anniversary of victory in the great Fatherland Liberation War, I extend once again my heartfelt thanks to our precious war veterans and others who performed meritorious wartime service, and wish every one of you long life in good health.
The great heroic spirit of the victorious wartime generation will shine forever and be carried forward powerfully.
Long live the great July 27 Victory Day!
Long live our great motherland, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea!