ID :
37280
Thu, 12/25/2008 - 09:58
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/37280
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea says top priority is military
SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korea vowed Wednesday that it will reinforce
leader Kim Jong-il's military-first policy, saying it has been the buttress of
the regime in outliving the fall of communism in other countries.
The military-first policy, called "songun" in Korean, has been the North's ruling
philosophy since the leader took power after the death of his father and the
North's founder, Kim Il-sung, in 1994.
"The great leader has made the military the priority of state affairs and devoted
all his energy to enhancing the nation's military power over the past 10 years,"
Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper published by the North's Workers' Party, said, marking
the anniversary of Kim's nomination as the top commander of the Korean People's
Army.
The lengthy commentary said North Korea was an exception, thanks to this policy,
when many communist regimes -- apparently those of the Soviet Union and other
East European nations -- fell in the 1990s.
"In the 90s, the fall of socialism in some countries raised great concerns and
disturbance among many people, and imperialists took their chance to gabble about
the 'end' of socialism," it said. "Through the military-first policy promulgated
by our great leader, the superiority and power of Korean-style socialism has been
demonstrated," it said.
In the anniversary ceremony, Vice Marshal Kim Il-chol, minister of the North's
Korean People's Army, accused South Korea of preparing for war but warned the
North's military will turn the South into ashes.
"The pro-American warmongers of South Korea hell-bent on igniting another war had
better stop their rash acts," Kim said, as the North "will not merely turn
everything into a sea of fire but reduce everything treacherous and
anti-reunification to debris and build an independent reunified country on it."
North Korea has 1.17-million-strong military, the world's fifth-largest, as the
backbone of the communist regime, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry
report in 2006. About 1 million soldiers are in its army, while the navy has
60,000 and the air force 110,000.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
leader Kim Jong-il's military-first policy, saying it has been the buttress of
the regime in outliving the fall of communism in other countries.
The military-first policy, called "songun" in Korean, has been the North's ruling
philosophy since the leader took power after the death of his father and the
North's founder, Kim Il-sung, in 1994.
"The great leader has made the military the priority of state affairs and devoted
all his energy to enhancing the nation's military power over the past 10 years,"
Rodong Sinmun, a newspaper published by the North's Workers' Party, said, marking
the anniversary of Kim's nomination as the top commander of the Korean People's
Army.
The lengthy commentary said North Korea was an exception, thanks to this policy,
when many communist regimes -- apparently those of the Soviet Union and other
East European nations -- fell in the 1990s.
"In the 90s, the fall of socialism in some countries raised great concerns and
disturbance among many people, and imperialists took their chance to gabble about
the 'end' of socialism," it said. "Through the military-first policy promulgated
by our great leader, the superiority and power of Korean-style socialism has been
demonstrated," it said.
In the anniversary ceremony, Vice Marshal Kim Il-chol, minister of the North's
Korean People's Army, accused South Korea of preparing for war but warned the
North's military will turn the South into ashes.
"The pro-American warmongers of South Korea hell-bent on igniting another war had
better stop their rash acts," Kim said, as the North "will not merely turn
everything into a sea of fire but reduce everything treacherous and
anti-reunification to debris and build an independent reunified country on it."
North Korea has 1.17-million-strong military, the world's fifth-largest, as the
backbone of the communist regime, according to South Korea's Defense Ministry
report in 2006. About 1 million soldiers are in its army, while the navy has
60,000 and the air force 110,000.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
