The meaning of the anniversary of the founding of the Republic

September 9, 1948 is the day when our motherland the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was founded as well as the day when our people's destiny met its dramatic change.

Our national flag, flown in the sky of September, was the emblem of new Korea rising as a bright light of the orient with the peerless great man as the leader.

Therefore, whenever we greet this very day, we recall the instructions of Chairman Kim Jong Il, who explained the true meaning of the anniversary of the founding of the Republic.

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"September 9, 1948 is a very meaningful day, when our people held the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, whom they had greeted for the first time in their 5 000-year-long history, in high esteem as head of state and embarked on the road of creating a new life under the banner of the Republic."

Decades ago, on the 9th of September, Chairman Kim Jong Il told the officials that whenever he greets the anniversary of the Founding of the Republic, what comes to his mind first is the image of the President Kim Il Sung. He continued that the significance of the day lies more to the fact that the day is the one when President Kim Il Sung was elected as the head of independent and sovereign state than to the fact that it's the day that founding of the Republic was announced.

He engraved the fact that our country and Korean nation's greatness is indebted to the greatness of President Kim Il Sung and that he symbolizes our country.

In the past our people were deprived of their sovereignty, resources, language, letters and even history and culture by the foreign invaders.

For it was a colony of Japan, the representative of our country disemboweled himself in the meeting of all nations. Then how come such a grief-stricken nation was heralded a bright era.

President Kim Il Sung embarked upon the road of revolution at an early age and fought against Japanese imperialists for 20 years, pushing his way through endless snowstorms and wage long bloody battles and thus accomplished the historic cause of the liberation of the motherland and founded the country for the people.

Thanks to his leadership, our people were able to escape the bitter fate of stateless people and desperate conditions and became masters of their own destiny, becoming a dignified and happy people who are enjoying independent and creative life to their hearts' content.

The 20th century was the century of national independence and many countries gained their independence. But no country in the world inflicted such a massive political and military blow to the strong imperialist forces by founding and developing its own armed force upholding the banner of liberating the country by their own efforts.

The traces of anti-Japanese war left in the mountains of Paektu and every turn of Amnok River tell the immortal history of struggle waged by President Kim Il Sung, who went through the do-or-die battles to save the destiny of our nation.

On that meaningful day, Chairman Kim Jong Il said that as we have our great motherland, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which was founded and led by President Kim Il Sung, our people could lead a happy life and our nation is promised the eternal prosperity and that the dignity and honor of our nation is indebted to the prestige of President Kim Il Sung. He continued that we can never think of our country without our President and our Republic and the name of our president are inseparable and that modern Korea is the Korea of President Kim Il Sung.

President Kim Il Sung was highly respected admired by world leaders like Stalin of former Soviet Union.

Recollecting those days, he said that our President liberated our country at the age of 34 and founded our Republic and elected as the leader of our country at the age of 37. He continued that there are many world leaders but no other leader embarked upon the road of revolution and led the unprecedented arduous anti-imperialist national liberation revolution to a victory and was elected as the head of state at such young age. This was the greatest respect paid to President.

Today, eye-opening changes have been taking place where a new era of our-nation-first principle is heralded and the national prestige of the DPRK is being exercised. This is the precious outcome based on the patriotic exploits of President Kim Il Sung who achieved and upheld the dignity of the nation and people and gave inexhaustible power to them.

People of Korea, we should always remember. Today, Juche Korea is demonstrating its heroic might and advancing towards the accomplishment of the socialist thriving nation. Today's extraordinary reality is traced back to the day 76 years ago.

It really is.

The significance of the anniversary of the founding of the DPRK lies more to the fact that it is the day when President Kim Il Sung was elected as the first head of state of the independent and sovereign state than to the fact that the founding of the Republic was declared.

The genuine significance of the anniversary of founding of the Republic proven by Chairman Kim Jong Il is engraved as the invariable truth in the minds of Korean people.