KPA Holds Military Exercises to Commemorate Anniversary

Kim Jong Un waves to participants and attendees at military exercises by KPA Unit #655. In attendance in this image are: VMar Kim Yong Chun (L); VMar Choe Ryong Hae (3rd L); VMar Kim Jong Gak (4th L) Gen. Kim Kyong Ok (3rd R) and VMar Ri Yong Ho (R) (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un attends a photo-op with KPA commanders and senior officials (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

DPRK state media reported on 27 April (Friday) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) and other members of the central leadership observed live fire exercises of Korean People’s Army [KPA] Unit #655.  KJU was reported as having commanded the exercises which were held to commemorate the KPA’s official anniversary.  Kim Jong Il was reported to have conducted a field inspection of KPA Unit #655 on 8 February 2001, the date commemorated as the KPA’s anniversary until 1978.

KCNA reports:

He was greeted by KPA Vice Marshal Choe Ryong Hae, director of the KPA General Political Bureau, KPA Vice Marshal Ri Yong Ho, chief of the KPA General Staff, KPA Vice Marshal Kim Jong Gak, minister of the People’s Armed Forces, KPA General Choe Pu Il and KPA Col. Gen. Son Chol Ju before the observation post of the training field.

Waiting for him in the field were Hyon Chol Hae, Kim Won Hong, Ri Myong Su, Pak Jae Gyong, Ri Pyong Chol, Kim Yong Chol, Yun Jong Rin, Jo Kyong Chol, Pak Jong Chon and members of the NDC, staff members of the KPA Supreme Command and commanding officers of the KPA large combined units.

Watching the exercises were Kim Kyong Hui, Jang Song Thaek, Kim Yong Chun, Kim Ki Nam, Yang Hyong Sop, Pak To Chun, Kang Sok Ju, Kim Yong Il, Kim Yang Gon, Kim Phyong Hae, Mun Kyong Dok, Kim Chang Sop, Ri Pyong Sam, Kwak Pom Gi, O Il Jong, Kim Kyong Ok, Ri Jae Il, Han Kwang Sang, Kim Myong Guk, and leading officials of the party, state and armed forces organs, members of the party central guidance bodies in Pyongyang, officials of ministries and national institutions and those in the fields of science, education, culture and arts, public health, media and defence industry and KPA officers and men.

After receiving a salute from the chief of the KPA General Staff, Kim Jong Un mounted an observation post before being briefed on the plan and distribution of units for the exercises.

He issued an order to start the exercises.

The moment stormy roars of powerful firepower strike means rocked heaven and earth with ceaseless shower of shells and bombs. Brave flying corps struck targets one after another leaving trails in the sky. Tanks and armored cars made a dash at the “enemy’s positions” and a-match-for-a hundred fighters occupied the “enemy’s posts” in a moment.

Volley firing roared, rending the air, and the “enemy’s positions” clouded with powder smoke turned to the sea of fire in no time.

Expressing satisfaction over the successful exercises to which the Juche war methods were applied, he set forth important tasks for further rounding off the combat preparations of the KPA.

In order to accomplish generation after generation the revolutionary cause of Juche, the Songun revolutionary cause which was pioneered in the thick forest of Mt. Paektu, it is necessary to continue paying big efforts to strengthening the KPA, he said.

All the officers and men should firmly prepare themselves to be stalwart fighters possessed of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il’s invincible strategies and tactics, brave attack mode and perfect capacity for fighting an actual war, he noted.

He called for mercilessly wiping out the enemies with the arms of justice and revenge if they dare provoke.

The Korean-style socialist system centered on the popular masses will shine forever as an indestructible fortress as it is being defended by the heroic KPA that has grown to be iron-willed and matchless elite army under the care of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il over the past 80 years, he stressed.

He had a photo session with major commanding officers of the KPA, staff members of the KPA Supreme Command, commanding officers of the KPA large combined units and officials who accompanied him.

Kim Jong Un watches military exercises of KPA Unit #655. In attendance and visible in this image are: Gen. Kim Myo'ng-kuk (background, L), Gen. Kim Wo'n-hong (2nd L), Gen. Pak Chae-kyo'ng (3rd L), Gen. Kim Kyong-ok (4th L), VMar Choe Ryo'ng-hae (3rd R), Gen. Kim Yong Chol (2nd R) and VMar Kim Jong Gak (R) (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un waves to the audience at the U'nhasu Orchestra concert held to commemorate the KPA's 80th anniversary (Photo: KCNA)

DPRK state media also reported on 27 April that Kim Jong Un and members of the core leadership attended a performance of the U’nhasu Orchestra, programmed for the KPA’s anniversary.  KCNA reports:

The performance began with the playing of the national anthem. Put on the stage were prelude “Let Us Not Forget the Pledge Made to the Revolution”, male duet and chorus “We Will Defend Han Byol”, orchestral music and chorus of the immortal classic “Song of Anti-Japanese War”, mixed quartet and chorus “Song Devoted to Marshal Kim Il Sung”, female quintet “We Sing of Our Country Holding the Leader in High Esteem”, chorus “Ballad of Mt. Singo”, female solo and pangchang “Song of Love for People”, children’s quartet “We Are Happy”, chorus “Leader, Just Give Us Your Order”, female solo “Under the Banner of the Party”, narration and orchestral music “Our Arms Say” and chorus “Korea, Advance” and other colorful numbers.

The performers vividly depicted the glorious 100-year history of Juche Korea that is eternally glorified thanks to the undying feats of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il and the rosy future that is in store for Korea as it has Kim Jong Un at the top post of the WPK, state and army.

The concert ended with the immortal revolutionary paean “Song of General Kim Il Sung”.

Kim Jong Un expressed great satisfaction over the successful performance.

He gave the highest appreciation to the orchestra, saying it is an art troupe to which Kim Jong Il had shown particular care.

He expressed expectation and conviction that the artistes of the orchestra will arouse more dynamically the service personnel and people to the general advance of the Songun revolution through their performing activities.

Among the audience were Choe Ryong Hae, Ri Yong Ho, Kim Kyong Hui, Kim Jong Gak, Jang Song Thaek, Kim Yong Chun, Kim Ki Nam, Pak To Chun, Hyon Chol Hae, Kim Yang Gon, Kim Kyong Ok and Kim Myong Guk.

Members of the central leadership in attendance at the U'nhasu Orchestra concert (L-R): Pak To Chun; Jang Song Taek; Kim Ki Nam; Choe Ryong Hae; Kim Jong Un; Ri Yong Ho; Kim Jong Gak; Kim Yong Chun; Kim Kyong Hui; and, Hyon Chol Hae (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un Attends 2 More Photo Ops

Kim Jong Un waves to managers and employees of the Mansudae Art Studio during a photo op with them, reported by DPRK media on 20 April (Photo: KCNA)

A commemorative photo of Kim Jong Un, other members of the DPRK central leadership and employees of the Mansudae Art Studio (Photo: KCNA)

DPRK state media reported on Friday (20 April) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) attended two commemorative photo sessions at Ku’msusan Memorial Palace.  His first photo op was with the managers, party officials and personnel of the Mansudae Art Studio.  KJU was accompanied by SPA Presidium President Kim Yong Nam, DPRK Premier Choe Yong Rim, Director of the KPA General Political Bureau Choe Ryong Hae, NDC Vice Chairman Jang Song Taek and KWP Secretary and Director of the Propaganda and Agitation Department [PAD] Kim Ki Nam and PAD Senior Deputy (1st Vice) Director Ri Jae Il and PAD Deputy (Vice) Director Kwon Hyok Byong.   KCNA reports:

Kim Jong Un, first secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, first chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, had a picture taken with officials, creators and employees of the Mansudae Art Studio.

Before having a photo session with them, Kim Jong Un warmly congratulated them on their big successes in the creative work to portray the leaders including the erection of the statues of President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill and in the drive to thoroughly implement the WPK’s Juche-oriented literary and art policy.

He expressed expectation and conviction that they would bring about a fresh turn in the work to portray the leaders and create many more masterpieces fully reflecting the Korean people’s thoughts and feelings and the spirit of the times and thus creditably discharge their mission and duty they have assumed before the party and the revolution.

Managers and employees of the Mansudae Art Studio greet Kim Jong Un during a commemorative photo session at Ku'msusan Memorial Palace (Photo: KCNA)

Kim Jong Un (seated, C) poses for a commemorative photograph with participants in the 15 April 2012 military parade held in Pyongyang (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

Kim Jong Un’s second photo op was with participants of the military parade held in Pyongyang on 15 April, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung.  Also in attendance were Kim Yong Nam, Choe Yong Rim, Choe Ryong Hae, Jang Song Taek, Kim Ki Nam as well as Chief of the KPA General Staff VMar Ri Yong Ho, Minister of the People’s Armed Forces VMar Kim Jong Gak, NDC Vice Chairman and director of the KWP Civil Defense Department VMar Kim Yong Chun, KWP Secretary of Military Industry Pak To Chun, 1st Vice Minister of the People’s Armed Forces and Director of the KPA General Logistics Department VMar Hyon Chol Hae, Director of the KWP Machine-Building Industry Department Ju Kyu Chang, Director of the KWP Military Affairs Department Col. Gen. O Il Jong, Vice Chief of the KPA General Staff Gen. Choe Pu Il, Deputy (Vice) Director of the KPA General Political Bureau Gen. Pak Jae Gyong, Chief of the KPA Reconnaissance General Bureau Gen. Kim Yong Chol, Military Security Commander Col. Gen. Jo Kyong Chol, KPA Foreign Affairs Department official Col. Gen. Sim Sang Dae, Col. Gen. Son Chol Ju, Col. Gen. Yun Tong Hyon and Col. Gen. Pak Jong Chon.

A commemorative photograph of DPRK central leadership with participants in the military parade held on the anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birth (Photo: Rodong Sinmun)

KCNA reports:

Kim Jong Un, first secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, first chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, had a photo session with the participants in the military parade for celebrating the centenary of the birth of President Kim Il Sung.

After arriving at the square of the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, Kim Jong Un waved back to the enthusiastic cheers of the participants, extending a warm salute to them.

He congratulated the service personnel of the three services and the Strategic Rocket Forces of the KPA and the Korean People’s Internal Security Forces, members of the Worker-Peasant Red Guards and the Young Red Guards and students of revolutionary schools on demonstrating the spirit of Songun Korea and tremendous national power through their parade.

He expressed expectation that the participants in the parade would fulfill their mission as standard bearers and shock brigades in invariably preserving the revolutionary nature of the KPA just like the character of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and fully demonstrating the fighting method of the powerful revolutionary army of Mt. Paektu holding aloft the red flag of the WPK as its first colors.

This was the first instance that a KCNA news item directly referred to the KPA Strategic Rocket Force Command [SRFC] since Kim Jong Un’s inspection of the SRFC’s complex near Kangdong County during late February 2012.  When Kim Jong Un delivered his speech before last Sunday’s parade, according to KCBS he addressed “heroic officers of the army, the navy, the air force and the strategic rocket unit of the KPA and officers of the Korean People’s Internal Security Forces.”  However, KCNA English reporting on the parade and KJU’s speech omitted any references to the SRFC or “the strategic rocket unit of the KPA.”

DPRK to Launch Kwangmyongsong-3 Satellite & Unha-3 Rocket in April

DPRK state media reported on 16 March (Friday) the country’s Korea Committee for Space Technology will launch the Kwangmyo’ngso’ng-3 satellite between 12 and 16 April from the Sohae Satellite Center in Ch’ol’san County, North P’yo’ngan Province.  The launch will be held in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the late DPRK President, founder of the country and grandfather of current supreme leader Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n).   KCNA reports:

Kwangmyongsong-3, a polar-orbiting earth observation satellite, will be blasted off southward from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Cholsan County, North Phyongan Province between April 12 and 16, lifted by carrier rocket Unha-3. A safe flight orbit has been chosen so that carrier rocket debris to be generated during the flight would not have any impact on neighboring countries.

The DPRK will strictly abide by relevant international regulations and usage concerning the launch of scientific and technological satellites for peaceful purposes and ensure maximum transparency, thereby contributing to promoting international trust and cooperation in the field of space scientific researches and satellite launches.

The upcoming launch will greatly encourage the army and people of the DPRK in the building of a thriving nation and will offer an important occasion of putting the country’s technology of space use for peaceful purposes on a higher stage.

Xinhua English reports:

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is to launch in mid-April a working satellite, Kwangmyongsong-3, manufactured by itself with indigenous technology to mark the 100th birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung, the official news agency KCNA reported Friday.

A spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology, who announced this in a statement Friday, said the expected launch, scheduled between April 12 and 16, is in line with the government’s policy for space development and peaceful use, said the report.

“The DPRK will strictly abide by relevant international regulations and usage concerning the launch of scientific and technological satellites for peaceful purposes and ensure maximum transparency, thereby contributing to promoting international trust and cooperation in the field of space scientific researches and satellite launches,” said the statement.

After successfully launching two experimental satellites, the DPRK scientists and technicians have steadily conducted scientific researches to develop and utilize working satellites indispensable for the country’s economic development, said the statement.

Through the researches they have made a drastic progress in the field of space science and technology and laid solid material and technological foundations for working satellite launches and operation, it added.

It is reported that Kwangmyongsong-3, a polar-orbiting earth observation satellite, will be lifted by carrier rocket Unha-3 and blast off southward from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Cholsan County, North Phyongan Province.

A safe flight orbit has been chosen so that carrier rocket debris to be generated during the flight would not have any impact on neighboring countries.

According to the KCNA, the upcoming launch will greatly encourage the army and people of the DPRK in the building of a thriving nation and will offer an important occasion of putting the country’s technology of space use “for peaceful purposes on a higher stage.”

Yonhap reports:

The announcement came just weeks after North Korea agreed to temporarily put a moratorium on missile and nuclear tests and freeze its uranium-enrichment facilities in exchange for 240,000 tons of food aid from the United States.

South Korea expressed “serious concern” over the North’s plan, noting the launch would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution.

North Korea said Unha-3 rocket carrying Kwangmyongsong-3 will blast off from its satellite launching station in North Pyongan Province between April 12 and 16, the Korean Committee for Space Technology said in Pyongyang.

The launch of a satellite built by indigenous technology is designed “to mark the 100th birth anniversary of President Kim Il-sung,” the country’s founder and the late grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, the committee said.

The launch date is set around the late founder’s April 15 birthday, one of the most important holidays in the isolated country. The North, one of the poorest countries in the world, has vowed to usher in a prosperous and powerful nation by the milestone anniversary.

The committee said it has chosen a safe flight orbit to ensure carrier rocket debris to be generated during the flight would not have any impact on neighboring countries.

North Korea “will strictly abide by relevant international regulations and usage concerning the launch of scientific and technological satellites for peaceful purposes and ensure maximum transparency,” the North’s committee said in an English-language statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The committee claimed that the launch will greatly encourage North Koreans “in the building of a thriving nation and will offer an important occasion of putting the country’s technology of space use for peaceful purposes on a higher stage.”

Meanwhile, South Korea called on North Korea to “immediately stop such a provocative act and abide by its international obligations.”

The launch “will become a grave provocative act against peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia,” the Foreign Ministy said in a statement.

The North’s move could be aimed at boosting its negotiating power with the U.S. after their recent nuclear deal, said Kim Yong-hyun, a North Korea expert at Dongguk University in Seoul.

“The North could employ brinkmanship, as it wants to take the lead in future negotiations with the U.S.,” Kim said.

Mark Fitzpatrick writes on IISS’ blog about how this announcement affects the Leap Day Deal:

Space launches differ from ballistic-missile tests in their purpose and trajectory. Where space launches only need to go up, ballistic missiles must also come down, to securely deliver their payload, and need to survive atmospheric re-entry. The 2011 IISS Strategic Dossier on North Korean Security Challenges describes the differences in detail (p. 155). But because satellite-launch rockets and ballistic missiles share the same bodies, engines, launch sites and other development processes, they are intricately linked. The satellite launch also provides missile-development information regarding propulsion, guidance and operational aspects.

That is why most nations insisted that the Unha-2 test violated the ban under UN Security Council Resolution 1718 on ‘any launch using ballistic missile technology’ and UNSCR 1874 on ‘all activities related to [North Korea's] ballistic missile programme’. When the Security Council mildly rebuked North Korea for that test, Pyongyang’s response was to abrogate all past agreements and to conduct a second nuclear test.

It is easy to see events now playing out as they did three years ago. The 15 April test launch will undoubtedly provoke a similar rebuke. Given the symbolism of the satellite launch on Kim Il-sung’s birthday, that rebuke will not be worn lightly. It would not be too surprising if Pyongyang then abrogated the Leap Day deal and set off another nuclear explosion.

When the North Korean leadership approved the Leap Day deal they must have known that a satellite launch was planned. Some may therefore conclude that the deal was a ruse, and that North Korea has no real intention to settle differences. But that is too hasty a conclusion. The contradictory messages sent by the 29 February deal and the 16 March satellite-launch announcement could also indicate policy splits in the new leadership arrangement. If the satellite- launch announcement had come a day earlier, we might even call it the Ides of March stabbing.

 

Kim Jong Un Inspects IV Army Corps Units

Kim Jong Un (2nd R) watches members of an artillery company training during an inspection of IV Army Corps in South Hwanghae Province (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

DPRK media reported on 25 February (Saturday) that Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n) inspected several units under the Korean People’s Army [KPA] IV Corps, including its 4th battalion which was responsible for the artillery shelling of  Yo’np’yo’ng Island on 23 November 2010.  According to KCNA he was accompanied by Gen. Kim Myong Kuk, Gen. Kim Won Hong, Gen. Pak Jae Gyong, Col. Gen. Hwang Pyong So, Col. Gen. Kim Chun Sam and personnel of the KPA Supreme Command.

He inspected the 1st and 4th Battalions under KPA Unit 403 stationed in the forefront area.

He gave the service personnel of the battalions pairs of binoculars and automatic rifles as souvenirs before having photo sessions with them.

He inspected combat positions of the 4th Battalion to learn in detail about its combat preparations.

The battalion is a proud sub-unit well known to the world as it turned Yonphyong Island into the one in flames by retaliating against south Korean puppet warmongers’ reckless shelling into territorial waters of the DPRK side to launch aggression through merciless shelling.

He highly appreciated the feats the soldiers performed by showing what the arms in the hands of the powerful revolutionary army of Mt. Paektu and the battle fought by it were like.

He went round a soldiers’ bedroom and wash-cum-bath house of a company under the battalion and took deep care of their living.

After viewing the combat positions of the sub-unit in the light of terrains and combat preparation, he said the present deployment of the sub-unit was not suitable from a tactical point of view, setting forth a task to courageously transfer and deploy its forces in new positions.

He went round a soldiers’ bedroom, education room and various other places of a company under the 1st Battalion to take warm care of the soldiers’ living.

He inspected a forward command post of KPA Unit 688 stationed in a forefront area.

He mounted the forward command post where he learned about the deployment of reinforced forces and equipment of the unit defending Yonphyong Island of the south Korean puppet army.

Feasting his eyes on vast defence theatres in the forefront area and the land of the south whose sky is overcast with dark clouds of war due to the enemy’s preparations for a new war of aggression such as Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises, he learned in detail about the terrains, the distribution of forces of the unit and its guard duty.

He put forward the important tasks which would serve as guidelines for increasing the combat capability of the unit in every way and consolidating the defence theatre as firm as a rock in view of provocations of the enemy.

He continued his journey to inspect a battalion under KPA Unit 493 stationed in a forefront area.

He mounted a watch post of a costal artillery battalion under the unit where he looked over Paekryong Island near from it and learned about its guard duty.

Asking if there is any change in the enemy’s recent movements and how combat and technical equipment and forces are deployed, he underlined the need to further increase the density of firing in the future and steadily revise and supplement the proposal for sharing the firing duties and using equipment as required by a modern warfare and the changing deployment of enemy’s forces.

He guided soldiers of Artillery Piece No. 1 of the Second Company under the battalion in firepower training.

He inspected a battalion under KPA Unit 641 stationed in the forefront area.

He gave the soldiers of the battalion a pair of binoculars, automatic rife and machinegun as souvenirs before having a photo session with them.

Making the rounds of an education room, bedroom, mess hall and other cultural and educational and supply service facilities, he paid deep attention to the service and living of soldiers.

The southwestern sector of the front is a hot spot where a war may break out any moment due to the enemy’s reckless provocations for aggression, he noted, calling for keeping the service personnel on utmost alert in view of the touch-and-go situation. He ordered them to make a powerful retaliatory strike at the enemy, should the enemy intrude even 0.001 mm into the waters of the country where its sovereignty is exercised.

Kim Jong Un (2nd R) visits a coastal defense position during an inspection of the IV Army Corps (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

Kim Jong Un (2nd R) looks through binoculars from a command post, as part of an inspection of the IV Army Corps. Also seen in attendance are Gen. Kim Won Hong (L), Col. Gen. Pyon In Son (2nd L) and Gen. Pak Jae Gyong (R) According to South Korean media, Col. Gen. Pyon, a former deputy defense minister, assumed command of IV Corps in August 2011 (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

KJU’s appearance was reported not long after the DPRK’s National Defense Commission [NDC] published a report in state media that threatened “a sacred war to counter of our own style and protect the security of the nation and the peace of the country” as a reaction to the annual joint US-ROK military exercises Key Resolve/Foal Eagle.  The NDC’s statement was released as US and DPRK diplomats concluded a third interaction over the DPRK’s nuclear weapons program in Beijing.

The Lee Myung Bak group of traitors has embarked upon the road of kicking off again DPRK-targeted Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises in league with the brigandish U.S. imperialists, defying strong domestic and foreign public protest and condemnation.

Huge troops of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces and their strike means have already been deployed in south Korea and in its vicinity and huge forces of the three services of the puppet army have been put on a wartime posture.

Key Resolve and Foal Eagle are unpardonable war hysteria kicked up by the hooligans to desecrate our mourning period and an unpardonable infringement upon our sovereignty and dignity.

This is, at the same time, a blatant challenge to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and an undisguised act of disturbing them.

The on-going development goes to prove that the Lee group which is more dead than alive, forsaken by the times, is still resorting to the last-ditch moves for war, backed by its American master.

In view of the prevailing situation, the National Defence Commission of the DPRK clarifies the following principled stand internally and externally:

First. Our army and people will foil the moves of the group of traitors to the nation and warmongers at home and abroad for a new war with a sacred war of our own style.

We have so far made every possible effort to avert a war and defend peace with a high degree of patience and magnanimity.

The Lee group and the warmongers at home and abroad are, however, unhesitatingly plunging to the road of an adventurous war, dreaming of “Egyptian style change” and “Libyan style victory”, ignorant of who their rival is.

War maneuvers staged against the belligerent party are, in essence, a silent declaration of a war.

The declaration of the war is bound to be accompanied by a corresponding physical retaliation.

Now that a war has been declared against us, the army and people are firmly determined to counter it with a sacred war of our own style and protect the security of the nation and the peace of the country.

The target of this war is the Lee group and hordes of warmongers at home and abroad.

The Lee group is hordes of traitors for all ages as it is rubbing salt into the wound of the compatriots grieving over the great loss to the nation through a renewed saber-rattling, not content with the high treason it had already committed during that period.

The U.S. imperialists are the sworn enemy keen to launch another war of aggression to impose “American style political mode” upon us, not content with the painful tragedy of division forced upon our nation, the tragedy that has lasted for more than half a century.

The sacred war will make a clean sweep of the Lee group and those warmongers from this land by the war mode of our own style, our strong striking means unknown to the world.

Second. The just struggle of the people in the south and overseas compatriots will be further intensified to bring down the Lee regime under the motto of peace against war.

The Lee group is nothing but human scum which had been forsaken by all Koreans already long ago.

“Myung Bak, quit” and “Let’s judge the Lee Myung Bak regime and set up a new government for national reconciliation.” This is the shout of the political and social circles in south Korea and the mind-set there.

The Lee regime is little short of a ship in distress which began sinking in face of the stormy waves of the angry public.

We admonished the group enough to make it understand and set an example in the four years of its office and showed it through an actual battle what our strike that turned waters into a sea in flames.

This being a hard reality, the Lee regime is still persisting in sycophancy, submission and treachery, failing to come to its senses.

That is why we branded the group of traitors as the one which should not be let to go scot-free.

In response to the mind-set in the south, our army and people will encourage and firmly back the people in the south and overseas compatriots in their nation-wide struggle to bring down the Lee regime in the idea of attaching importance to the nation and putting it above anything else and from a patriotic stand.

Third. Our army and people will show the U.S. imperialist warmongers hell-bent on war of aggression and intervention what their arms and real war are like.

It is the U.S. imperialist aggressors who are chiefly to blame for having driven into a phase of war the unstable situation on the peninsula where neither war nor peace has persisted for such a long period. It is again those warmongers who have staged ceaseless provocative war maneuvers in south Korea and in its vicinity, pursuant to their scenarios for a war of aggression against the north to confirm their feasibility.

In view of the intensified moves of the U.S. imperialists to ignite a war against the DPRK, they will shatter reckless military provocations, arms build-up and war maneuvers with increased posture to fight a resolute battle against the U.S. and launch a struggle of high intensify to drive out of this land the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces, the main hurdle lying in the way of achieving peace and security on the peninsula.

They will always keep the bases of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces and centers for their military operations against the DPRK within striking range and wipe them out at a single blow, should they provoke us.

Nuclear weapons are not the monopoly of the U.S. We have war means more powerful than the U.S. nukes and ultra-modern striking equipment which no one has ever possessed.

The U.S. is sadly mistaken if it thinks it is safe as its mainland is far away across the ocean.

There is no limit to the striking intensity and range of our army and people to wipe out the aggressors.

It is their unchangeable stand to show the enemy what their arms and real war are like.

The ongoing struggle to bury the group of traitors and warmongers at home and abroad is a patriotic struggle on which the destiny of the nation in the new century of Juche year hinges.

No force on earth can overpower the single-mindedly united army and people of the DPRK.

Under the leadership of the peerless brilliant commander of Mt. Paektu they will usher in a new era of national reconciliation and peace and prosperity proudly and forcefully, shattering every war move of the enemy.

Kim Jong Un Ordered Suspension of Military Training After KJI Death

In one of his first acts as central leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong Un ordered the suspension of the Korean People’s Army’s [KPA] annual winter training cycle prior to DPRK media publicizing the death of Kim Jong Il.  After the July 1994 death of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il issued a similar order and many KPA officers and service members remained in barracks.  Yonhap reports:

The North’s state media reported Kim Jong-il’s death Monday, two days after it occurred. The Seoul source said before the passing was announced, Kim Jong-un ordered all military units to halt field exercises and training and return to their bases.

“This is a direct example showing Kim Jong-un’s complete control over the military,” the source said, adding the move also indicated that the younger Kim is poised to become the top commander of the North’s military.

Kim Jong-un became vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party and a four-star general last year, indicating Kim Jong-il’s intentions to make his youngest known son the country’s next leader.

South Korean intelligence officials had previously believed Kim Jong-un had not yet assumed full control over the armed forces in the aftermath of his father’s sudden death.

Officials were only able to confirm that Jong-un’s order two days after he’d issued it. Won Sei-hoon, head of Seoul’s National Intelligence Service, and Kim Kwan-jin, the South’s defense minister, came under fire Tuesday after admitting the service learned of Kim Jong-il’s death from television news coverage.

South Korean officials said they have not observed any unusual activity from north of the border, but that the North has reinforced its security forces at the Joint Security Area near the border.

Kim Jong Il Kicks Off KPA Winter Training Cycle

Kim Jong Il is briefed prior to directing what DPRK media reported to be "combined tactical exercises" of KPA Large Combined Unit #630. Also in attendance is son and designated successor, Kim Jong Un (R), who holds the position vice-chairman of the Party Central Military Commission (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

DPRK media reports that Kim Jong Il supervised the “combined tactical exercises” of Korean People’s Army [KPA] large combined unit 630.  The accounts of the military exercises came amid the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MOFA] saying the development of a light water reactor and low enriched uranium is “progressing apace” and also as an international aid conference began in the south.  KCNA reports:

After receiving a salute Kim Jong Il mounted the commanding post where he was briefed on the exercises and commanded the combined tactical exercises of the unit.

When the exercises started, a-match-for-a-hundred stalwart fighters stormed the enemy positions and carried out their duties under various situations, attacking and obliterating targets at a stroke.

The exercises strikingly demonstrated the firm determination of the servicepersons to mercilessly destroy provocateurs if they fire even a single bullet into the inviolable territory of the DPRK, and accomplish the historic cause of national reunification at any cost. They also showed that not a single enemy can survive the unpredictable counterattack of the revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK which are carrying forward the shining traditions of the anti-Japanese struggle.

Watching the high-level exercises to which the Juche-oriented war tactics are applied, Kim Jong Il expressed great satisfaction with the fact that soldiers have been fully prepared to timely foil any surprise invasion by enemies and defend the socialist homeland as firm as a rock.

He highly estimated their successful exercises.

He repeatedly expressed satisfaction with the fact that the commanding officers of the large combined unit are rounding off their combat preparations with high innovative insight to handle manifold situations while keeping themselves abreast of modern military science and technologies and modes of combat actions.

He praised the soldiers for stirring up the hot wind for intensive exercises, saying they are acquiring combat rules applicable to an actual war by conducting effective exercises away from formalism with the revolutionary determination and enthusiasm to unconditionally attain the remarkably high goal of the exercises.

The army is under obligation to defend the destiny of the country and the nation with arms, he said, calling for intensifying combat exercises and perfecting combat preparations, cherishing that nothing is more important than combat preparations for the army.

The socialist homeland is impregnable as dependable soldiers as those of the large combined unit stand guard over it, ready to creditably carry out any combat order given by the party and the country at a moment’s notice, he added.

It is essential to continue channeling big efforts into strengthening the KPA in order to accomplish generation after generation the revolutionary cause of Juche, the Songun revolutionary cause that was started in the thick forests of Mt. Paektu, he said. He urged soldiers to put spurs to increasing the military capabilities which represent the sovereignty of the country and the nation and state power, and thus increase the combat capabilities in every way so that a soldier can match a hundred enemies.

He then went round a company under KPA Unit 169 honored with the title of the O Jung Hup-led 7th Regiment.

Going round a bedroom, education room, mess hall and other places, he learned about the military service of the soldiers.

Very pleased with the excellent conditions for military service provided to the soldiers by the unit, he called on the commanding officers to consider it as their noble moral obligation to take care of soldiers’ life so that they can glorify their military service with feats without feeling any inconvenience.

On Tuesday (29 November), Korean Central Television [KCTV] aired a film of Kim Jong Il watching joint, live fire military exercises with other members of the central leadership during September, which was followed by a radio editorial reiterating the DPRK’s earlier trope of turning the south into “a sea of fire.”  Yonhap reports:

North Korea on Wednesday renewed its threat to turn South Korea’s presidential office into a “sea of fire,” once again stepping up its offensive against the Seoul government.

North Korea’s military first issued the warning last week in response to military exercises by the South near the inter-Korean maritime border. The drills were conducted to mark the first anniversary of the North’s Nov. 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, in which four South Koreans were killed, but Pyongyang viewed them as a rehearsal for war against it.

“(South Korea) should understand clearly that our warning is not empty talk, and refrain from rash acts,” said the official Radio Pyongyang.

The report also repeated North Korean claims that the attack on Yeonpyeong was a justified response of self-defense to South Korea’s military exercises at that time.

Kim Jong Il Conducts KPA Field Inspections After “Sea of Fire” Statement

Kim Jong Il (6th L) stands for a commemorative photo following his inspection of KPA large combined Unit #233. (KCNA-Yonhap)

A view of Kaemori, South Hwanghae Province (Photo: Google image)

Kim Jong Il traveled to South Hwanghae Province and inspected two Korean People’s Army [KPA] units, one day after the KPA Supreme Command issued a report that threatened “a sea of fire” in the south.  DPRK media reported on 26 November that he inspected KPA Air Force (KPAF) Unit #1016 and KPA large combined unit (taeyonhap pudae) #233, described by KCNA as being in “the western sector of the front.”  KCNA reports:

He expressed great satisfaction over the fact that the commanding officers and servicepersons of the unit have turned all operational theatres into impregnable fortresses to devotedly protect the Party, the revolution, the country and its people and firmly guarantee the great revolutionary surge with a powerful military force and are fully prepared to beat back any enemy’s surprise invasion in good time.

He praised them for standing firm guard over the forefront of the country with strong fighting spirit and faith in sure victory to wipe out all enemies on this land with just retaliatory blows and get the Korean people’s long-pent up grudge settled without fail if they disturb the DPRK’s legitimate exercise of sovereignty through reckless saber-rattling.

He expressed expectation and conviction that all servicepersons of the unit would boost its combat capability in every way to cope with the enemies’ provocations and consolidate all its defense theatres as firm as a rock, thus performing laudable military feats on the sacred road of defending the country.

This photo shows a graveyard (circled in red) in the North Korean border county of Kangnyong in South Hwanghae Province. The photo was taken from an observatory on South Korea's western border island of Yeonpyeong on Nov. 21, 2011, the first anniversary of North Korea's indiscriminate bombardment on the island. Scores of tombs were built recently in the graveyards, sparking off assumptions that they might be coastal positions. (Yonhap)

Kim Jong Il visits a stone factory in an image broadcast on KCTV 26 November. Also seen in attendance are Kim Jong Un (R) and Gen. Hyon Chol Hae (2nd R) (Photo: KCNA-Yonhap)

Kim Jong Il’s visit to the area followed reports that the KPA added or reinforced a number of coastal artillery positions.  According to ROK media, some coastal artillery guns may have been placed and concealed in a cemetery in Kangryong County.  Incidentally, Kim Jong Il was reported to have visited a stone factory on 25 November.  During his KPA inspections KJI was reported to be accompanied by Pak Jae Gyong, Kim Won Hong, Jang Song Taek, Kim Jong Un, Ri Yong Ho, Hyon Chol Hae and Kim Kyong Ok.  Also reported to be in attendance were “staff members of the KPA Supreme Command.”    On 24 November (Thursday) the KPA Supreme Command published a report denouncing ROK military exercises held in the West Sea:

The military warmongers dared to announce that the rehearsal is aimed to remind the DPRK of victims and lesson from the Yonphyong Island Shelling and review their “perfect readiness for counteraction.”

It is also intended to show their will to decisively punish “not only the base of provocation but also commanding posts of all echelons including supporters in the north” with the combined forces of three services in case the DPRK starts a military action, they asserted.

As for last year’s Yonphyong Island shelling, it was a legitimate self-defensive step against the provocateurs who dared to make a clumsy fire on the inviolable territorial waters of the DPRK despite its army’s advance warning.

This being a hard reality, they launched the anti-DPRK war rehearsal far from drawing due lesson on the first anniversary of the shelling. It is little short of a new political and military provocation to the army and people of the DPRK.

Such disgusting behavior by the military warmongers, who go recklessly without knowing about the present trend of situation and their domestic condition, will arouse criticism and ridicules from among the people at home and abroad.

They should not forget the lesson taught by the Yonphyong Island Shelling one year ago.

They should be mindful that If they dare to impair the dignity of the DPRK again and fire one bullet or shell toward its inviolable territorial waters, sky and land, the deluge of fire on Yonphyong Island will lead to that in Chongwadae and the sea of fire in Chongwadae to the deluge of fire sweeping away the stronghold of the group of traitors.

The DPRK revolutionary armed forces are in full readiness to go into a decisive battle to counter any military provocation.

This report was one of several missives issued by the DPRK during the week that marked one year since the 23 November 2010 Yo’np’yo’ng Island artillery shelling incident which resulted in the death of two ROK Marines and two civilians.  According to Yonhap, the first mention of the anniversary appeared in a 22 November essay on Urminjjokkiri which said West Sea exercises were “clearly an attempt to create another military provocation like the Yeonpyong-do incident, and ultimately carry out an all-out attack on the North.”  This essay was similar to information bulletin #987 released by the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea [CPRK]:

They are seriously mistaken if they think they will go scot-free after they commit provocation in the future, too.

The puppet group is kicking off the sinister confrontation racket, instead of drawing due lesson from last year’s Yonphyong Island shelling case. Such action will bring itself to shame and reveal its colors as a war hawk more glaringly.

The reality clearly shows that “flexibility of the policy toward the north” much touted by the group is no more than wordplay to deceive the public opinion.

The puppet group has only the extreme hostility toward fellow countrymen and sinister intention to go for confrontation and war with the DPRK.

Its reckless confrontation moves are a last-ditch effort to arrest the daily growing demand of the South Korean people for switchover in the policy toward the north, quell the desire for reunification through alliance with the north and free itself from the wretched plight into which it has been driven at home and abroad due to its serious ruling crisis.

The army and people of the DPRK are now in full readiness to go into action and annihilate the enemy, with surging indignation at the evermore pronounced anti-DPRK smear campaign and war moves of the puppet group.

ROK officials did not respond to the DPRK’s statements.  Yonhap reports:

“We don’t find it worth responding to North Korean rhetoric that flies in the face of common sense,” a military official said on the condition of anonymity. “If North Korea wants to engage in dialogue, it should stop clinging to irrational logic and immediately apologize for its torpedoing of the Cheonan warship and its shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.”

The official was referring to two deadly armed provocations by North Korea last year, which killed 50 South Koreans, mostly soldiers.

Another official at the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, also made a similar comment on the North’s latest harsh rhetoric.

On Thursday, the North’s military threatened to turn Cheong Wa Dae, South Korea’s presidential office, into “a sea of fire.” It came a day after South Korea held military exercises in the Yellow Sea to mark the first anniversary of the Yeonpyeong shelling.

The South Korean official said these exercises only strengthened the military’s defense posture and its determination to strike back against future North Korean provocations.

“If North Korea provokes again, our forces will thoroughly punish them and make them regret their action,” the official said.

Sources said North Korea put its forces on heightened alert as South Korea staged exercises in the Yellow Sea.

KPA To Begin Abbreviated Winter Drills on December 1

The Korean People’s Army [KPA] and Worker-Peasant Red Guards will begin the winter drill on 1 December.  Yonhap, citing a DPRK source, reports that the annual winter drills will last until 20 December which was described as “short than usual”:

The news of the planned drills came weeks after North Korea test-fired anti-ship missiles twice by using its IL-28 bomber in the western waters.

North Korea has also reinforced coastal artillery gun positions near its base close to the tense western sea border with South Korea, in an apparent response to Seoul’s move to bolster its artillery bases on its border islands.

Last year, the North torpedoed a South Korean warship and shelled the South’s border island of Yeonpyeong, killing 50 people and driving relations between the sides to the lowest point in decades.

South Korea has recently held a large-scale annual exercise across the country to strengthen its defense readiness against possible North Korean provocation.

Meanwhile, after the reported promotion of Gen. U Tong Chuk, another rumored senior KPA appointment has surfaced.  Gen. Kim Kyok Sik (Kim Kyo’k-sik) has returned to the Korean People’s Army General Staff Department [GSD] in the position of Vice Chief.    From February 2009 to August 2011 he served as commander of the forward-deployed IV Army Corps on the DPRK’s west coast in South Hwanghae Province.

Gen. Kim Kyok Sik (L) (Photo: KCNA)

Gen. Kim had a command role in the artillery shelling of Yonpyong Island on 23 November 2010, and a planning or advisory role in the March 2010 sinking of the ROK naval corvette Chonan.  During early August 2011, according to one report, he inspected coastal artillery units on Yongmae Island, possibly one of his last official acts as commander of the KPA’s forces in the western zone.  Gen. Kim’s return to GSD has caused some Pyongyang watchers to wonder if he was replaced by a corps commander tied to Kim Jong Un (Kim Cho’ng-u’n).  Chosun Ilbo reports:

Immediately before the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, leader Kim Jong-il and his son and heir Jong-un visited Hwanghae Province, where they reportedly met Kim Kyok-sik.

A former senior North Korean official, who has defected to the South, said Kim’s return to the General Staff is “a kind of reward for his work in the field. It’s not clear whether it’s a promotion, but it’s not a demotion,” he said.

Another South Korean government official said it seems Kim Kyok-sik was replaced as part of Kim Jong-un’s efforts to replace aging frontline commanders with younger generals. “It’s too early to see his dismissal from the Fourth Corps as part of the North’s attempt to seek rapprochement with South Korea,” he added.

From 2007 to 2009 Gen. Kim served as chief of the KPA General Staff.  His February 2009 replacement by current GSD head Ri Yong Ho was interpreted as a demotion.  However, during his time heading GSD, Gen. Kim may have planned the aggressive, forward-leaning policies he enacted as IV Corps commander.  JoongAng reports:

“On Sept. 9, when a military pageant was held to mark the founding of the North Korean regime, Commander Kim was seated separately from other generals,” the source told the JoongAng Ilbo on Wednesday.

“Recently, we witnessed an inauguration of a new commander for the 4th corps and a luxury foreign car appeared at the ceremony,” the source continued. “[Among many scenarios] we are weighing the possibility of his being replaced.”

For South Korea, the hawkish commander’s replacement could be a sign of the North trying to improve ties.

“Kim’s replacement could be in response to our constant demands for apologies and the North taking responsibility for provocations such as the torpedoed Cheonan warship and Yeonpyeong Island,” a government official said.

Some government sources suggested that Kim maybe have been made vice defense minister or deputy chief of the KPA general staff.

“When Kim was transferred to head the 4th corps in 2009 from being the chief of the general staff, some said he was demoted,” a source told JoongAng Ilbo. “However, it turned out later that Kim was in charge of an important task to direct a military clash between the two Koreas near the Northern Limit Line. It could be that he was assigned another important task from the North Korean leader.”

Kim Jong Il walks by KPA general officers after the Foundation Day parade by the Workers' Peasant Red Guards in September 2011

DPRK Denies Firing Artillery Shells

The DPRK representative to the North-South military talks denied that the KPA fired artillery shells near the NLL.  The DPRK claimed that the noises heard by ROK forces were explosions from ongoing construction projects in South Hwanghae Province.  Xinhua reports:

South Korea on Thursday dismissed a claim by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) that it did not fire artillery shells into waters near a western sea border a day ago. On Wednesday, South Korea fired shots in response to what it said was a sound of artillery shells presumably fired by the DPRK, one of which fell near the disputed maritime border Pyongyang refuses to acknowledge. Pyongyang later claimed through its state media that what Seoul heard was an explosion at a construction site, but the defense ministry here told Xinhua on Thursday such an ungrounded claim is “not worthy of a response.” The maritime border in question was the scene of a deadly exchange of fire last November between the two Koreas. The incident, which Pyongyang said was provoked by a military drill between Seoul and Washington, killed four South Koreans.

The DPRK’s firing of artillery shells occurred while ROK media reported of an assassination plot targeting ROK Defense Minister, Kim Kwang-jin.  Choe Sang-hun wrote in the New York Times:

The South Korean military’s Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said it believed that one of the shells landed at the Northern Limit Line, a border drawn by the United Nations at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The South accepts and patrols the line, but the North rejects it, insisting on a border line farther south. South Korea responded by broadcasting a warning and then firing three artillery shells on the northern line. At 7:46 p.m., North Korea fired two more shells, one of them hitting the water close to the northern line, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. In response, South Korean marines fired three artillery rounds on that area. “We fired to warn them,” said a Defense Ministry spokesman, speaking on the customary condition of anonymity. “We are watching the situation carefully and maintain our readiness.” But North Korea accused the South Korean military of mistaking construction noise for artillery, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported. “It was a tragicomedy that they indiscriminately reacted to what happened with counter-shelling even without confirming the truth about the case in the sensitive waters,” the news agency reported. The South Korean military has maintained high vigilance since North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells at Yeonpyeong last November, killing two marines and two civilians. At the time, South Korea responded with an artillery attack on North Korea. The attack on Yeonpyeong and the sinking of a South Korean warship in March last year chilled inter-Korean relations to their lowest point in years. South Korea blames a North Korean torpedo attack for the ship’s sinking, which killed 46 South Korean sailors. North Korea denied responsibility. North and South Korea remain technically at war; they suspended hostilities in 1953 with a cease-fire rather than a peace treaty. The two sides have never agreed on a western sea border, subjecting the waters around Yeonpyeong to rival claims and occasional military clashes. Hundreds of South Korean fishermen operating in the waters have been taken into custody by the North Korean Navy. The two navies fought skirmishes in 1999, 2002 and 2009. Earlier Wednesday, South Korean news media reported that the Seoul authorities were searching for an assassination squad assigned by North Korea to murder the South Korean defense minister, Kim Kwan-jin. But neither the Defense Ministry nor the government’s main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, would confirm or deny the reports. North Korea, which had earlier threatened to “execute” Mr. Kim for his hawkish remarks, had not yet reacted to the news reports.