Military aircraft flyover on the 90th anniversary of the KPRA

A night-time grand military parade was held at Kim Il Sung Square in the DPRK's capital Pyongyang on April 25, the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army (KPRA), the forerunner of today's Korean People's Army (KPA).

President Kim Il Sung, the legendary hero of the anti-Japanese war, founded the KPRA on April 25, 1932. It marked the dawn of the national liberation struggle for the Korean people who had even been deprived of their language and their Korean names in a situation where no army had been guarding the territory of their nation. Having no state backing or stable rear or outside assistance, the KPRA fought in the spirit of self-reliance and made its own weapons..The KPA underwent a baptism of fire in 1950 to 1953 when the US imperialists, south Korean puppets and other states including Britain, invaded the DPRK under the flag of the UN.

When Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, arrived at the square together with his wife Ri Sol Ju, a solemn ceremony of receiving him was held by the honour guard of the Korean People's Army.

The military parade was an important event for all the civilians and service personnel, as the DPRK has drawn the warranted conclusion that in order to defend the building of the DPRK as a prosperous country and take forward its nation-building project, a strong army is necessary. Imperialist provocations against the DPRK have been stepped up, and the threats of the US and its allies against the DPRK have underlined the imperative of that country having its military deterrent and defending its revolution and dignity. The experience of the Korean Peninsula has demonstrated who is interested in peace and sovereignty, and that it is not the warmongers of the US, NATO and their pro-war allies. In this respect, the pride and confidence which the people of the DPRK have in the KPA is a powerful force against war and instability in the region, despite the wild claims that the US, Britain and others make against the DPRK.

The military parade in Kim Il Sung Square began with a magnificent demonstration of the skills of the DPRK's paratroopers who landed precisely in the Square, fluttering a large national flag. The State Merited Chorus in charge of playing music for the parade entered the Square, followed by the combined military band playing military music and changing formations to portray two pistols showing the origin of the revolutionary armed forces, the numbers "4.25.", "90", etc. the emblem of the Party and the letters "Ongwi" (safeguard) at the Square. Parade columns of the powerful elite army proudly entered the Square as orchestral music capturing the spirit of victory was performed, signifying, as the report of the event said, "the might of the DPRK dashing ahead like the wind in the face of manifold difficulties".

Columns of cutting-edge military hardware were on standby on the avenues to the Square. They well demonstrated how the appearance of the armed forces of the DPRK has dramatically developed from the first armed group of Koreans who declared their resistance against aggressors with only 100-odd rifles on April 25, 90 years ago. Air squadrons of the Air Force with the mission of defending the airspace of the DPRK and its revolution were also there waiting for their sorties.

When Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea, president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, arrived at the square together with his wife Ri Sol Ju, a solemn ceremony of receiving him was held by the honour guard of the Korean People's Army. After receiving a salute from the chief of the honour guard, Kim Jong Un reviewed the guard and the colours of the large combined units.

In a speech, Kim Jong Un emphasised that the founding of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army was an event of national significance that declared the people's resistance against imperialism under the banner of winning national liberation and independence by their own efforts. It was also an historic event, he said, that ushered in a new era of the Juche revolution that relies on the powerful revolutionary armed forces. The significance of this event, he continued, is not confined only to the fact that the Korean people, who were forced to live a pitiable life in the turmoil of history, could have their own national army and the hope of their revival; it also lies, he said, in the fact that the event marked a declaration at home and abroad of the conception of a consistent anti-imperialist stand of the Korean revolutionaries to take to its conclusion the settling of accounts with those who infringed upon the dignity and sovereignty of the Korean nation by force of arms and their unyielding will to win the people's freedom and liberation and the revolution's victory without fail by the internal forces.

See the video: Pyongyang Broadcast Service - DPR of Korea - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB8xGBGCtV4

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