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The outstanding fighting spirit and bravery of the Korean People’s Army reliably guaranteeing the ever-victorious tradition of the Juche revolution with invincible arms are writing a legendary biography of heroes unprecedented in history, raising the mightiness and sacred prestige of our state to the top of the world. The combatants of the armed forces of the Republic who took part in overseas military operations in hearty response to the order of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea demonstrated before the whole world the transparent and outstanding ideological and spiritual superiority and fighting mettle of the KPA which no army in the world can match and the indomitable spirit of Koreans by braving heavy gunfire in bloody life-and-death battles. A ceremony of awarding state commendations to the commanding officers and combatants of the overseas operation units of the KPA was held at the headquarters building of the Central Committee of the WPK. Officials of the WPK Central Committee warmly greeted the brave soldiers who participated in the war, as they entered the yard of the Party Central Committee after travelling thousands of miles in response to the ardent desire and affectionate call of the respectedComrade Kim Jong Un eager to glorify the life of the great successors and representatives, who firmly carried forward into the new century the tradition of victory peculiar to our state, with the honour of gold star. Secretaries and other senior officials of the WPK Central Committee warmly congratulated the laudable sons of the country putting garlands around their necks and giving them bouquets. The venue of the ceremony was full of respect for the brave combatants boundlessly loyal to the order of the country. Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, attended the ceremony. Present at the ceremony were commanding officers and combatants who performed distinguished feats in overseas military operations, and bereaved families of martyrs. Present there were members of the Central Military Commission of the WPK, leading commanding officers of the Ministry of National Defence and military and political commanding officers of the large combined units of the KPA. The DPRK national anthem was played solemnly. The solemn melody of the national anthem, which redoubled pride in being the sons of the powerful country and the ardent patriotic desire in every moment of their life in the days of the decisive battles and inspired them to be in the van of the charge and to win immortal victories, made the hearts of the brave soldiers full of strong emotion. Kim Jong Un made a significant speech. Expressing his emotion of seeing again at the meaningful ceremony the proud sons, the heroes of the country, who are a source of great pride for the state and for whom all the people have waited and of awarding the title of Hero of the DPRK and other high commendations to them, he, on behalf of the Party and the government, extended heartfelt thanks and warm militant greetings to the commanding officers and combatants of the overseas military operations units, who fought bravely as befits Koreans and the Korean People’s Army under a hail of bullets and bombs in the do-or-die battles in the alien land and have returned home with dignity. He continued: Out of the desire to put forward in front of their country and fellow people the laudable heroes who have performed feats on the battlefields in the alien country in defence of the sacred prestige and dignity of their motherland and to make the whole country hold them in respect and esteem, the Central Committee of our Party has arranged a grand ceremony of awarding state commendations to them at its headquarters building. These are special and valuable commendations the country and people confer on the honourable victors for their great feats that can be performed only in a bloody struggle. As we are holding the first awarding ceremony today, I am reminded of the combatants who must be totally engaged in their tasks, even at this moment, true to the order of their motherland, as well as of the martyrs; and I am sorely sorry for failing to share this place of honour with all of them. Then he proposed a moment of silence praying for the eternity of the martyrs who laid down their lives in the overseas military operations. At the proposal of Kim Jong Un, all the participants observed a moment of silence in memory of the martyrs who won the priceless victory with their indomitable fighting spirit and noble self-sacrifice. Saying that all the combatants in the war are all great men, great heroes and great patriots as they performed great exploits to be etched in history for all eternity to bring lasting prosperity and strength to their country, Kim Jong Un proudly declared that the victory won by the combatants constitutes a great exploit that firmly defended the great honour of the Korean People’s Army, which must never be allowed to be stained, and provided a sure guarantee for the existence of our state and its development, a victory worth being recorded as a miracle in the history of our army building and in the chronicles of anti-imperialist revolutionary struggle, and at the same time, an epochal event in the world history of wars, which reformulated the thousands-of-years-old logic of the strong. Stressing that the combat actions, which the overseas operations units, representing the armed forces of our Republic, carried out on the battlefields in the limelight of the world, fully demonstrated the mightiness of the heroic Korean People’s Army whose invincibility is based on the definite superiority of the ideological and spiritual preparedness and the Juche-oriented strategy and tactics, he continued that what the Party Central Committee prioritizes and appreciates with satisfaction before anything else is the fact that the prestige of the ever-victorious Korean People’s Army has been verified most rigorously in its history of over 70 years, and that the true picture of our army fully prepared for war has been clearly confirmed.
