Comrades!

Generals, officers, soldiers!

My dear comrades-in-arms!

The moment that our Party and government, together with the many families of this country who sent their precious children to the battlefield, so eagerly and anxiously awaited has now arrived in this manner.

The entire nation waited.

For myself, it is a moment I had been counting down to on my fingers with great anticipation.

There are no words to describe the emotions I feel now, meeting again in such a meaningful place the splendid sons of our nation, the utmost pride of our state, for whom all the people waited, the heroes of the country.

I express heartfelt thanks and the warmest combat greetings to the commanders and fighters of the overseas operation unit who fought bravely, true to being "Koreans" and "Soldiers of the Korean People's Army" amidst the smoke of gunpowder and hail of bullets in a foreign land where life and death were decided, and who returned with honor, bringing great glory and shining military feats to the Fatherland.

Comrades!

I am pleased to announce here today the decree adopted by the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, pursuant to the proposal of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the Central Military Commission, to confer the title of Republic Hero and high-level awards upon the generals, officers, and soldiers of our army who established immortal heroic feats in the overseas operation.

This serves as the first award for the participants of the overseas operation, who are the excellent sons of the Korean people and the representatives of the great honor of the Fatherland.

With the desire to highly elevate before the country and the people the splendid heroes who established heroic feats on foreign battlefields, safeguarding the sacred authority and dignity of the state, and to have the entire nation respect and uphold them, the Party Central Committee grandly organized this national award ceremony for the comrades at the headquarters building of the Party Central Committee.

It is a special and precious award from the country and the people to the honorable victors who achieved great merits that could not have been accomplished without a bloody struggle.

Comrades truly deserve this glory and should receive the highest respect.

From the time we dispatched our special operation units overseas, I have been receiving constant reports on the combat operations, and I was deeply moved by the noble spirit, unparalleled bravery, and precious sacrifices of our officers and soldiers, and I hastened my heart to greatly commend everyone upon the completion of their assigned tasks and their return to the Fatherland.

Holding the first awards ceremony like this today, the images of the fighters who are faithfully following the orders of the Fatherland and devoting themselves to their duties at this very moment, and of the martyrs who sacrificed themselves, come to mind, and I truly cannot contain the regret of not being able to place them all together in this glorious place.

Before the reality of being able to meet the noble figures who dedicated their precious lives for the great victory and glory only through photographs on the memorial wall, my heart aches and feels bitter.

I only think how wonderful it would be if they, who met the most glorious eternal life in the brilliant final moments they chose and left behind heroic feats and legends in history to be passed down through the ages, were here together in this place.

I wanted to warmly embrace all the comrades for whom I prayed every single moment for their safety, and I wanted to personally pin the hero medals on the chests that braved the flames while holding the glorious national flag; it is so regrettable that I cannot do so.

Standing before the bereaved families of the sacrificed soldiers, I do not know how to express the heartbreak and apology for not being able to protect the precious sons who trusted and entrusted themselves to us, lives that were still so youthfully green.

Taking this opportunity, I express my deep condolences to the bereaved families of the martyrs who participated in the overseas military operation and dedicated their noble lives, and I propose that we all observe a moment of silence in prayer for their eternal life.

All our participants in the war are great humans, great heroes, great patriots.

The participants of the overseas operation, through their steadfast struggle and noble sacrifice, established great achievements that will remain forever in history for the endless prosperity and might of the Fatherland.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said with great pride that the victory achieved by the war veterans is a monumental feat that firmly safeguarded the great honor of the Korean People's Army, which must never be tarnished, and provided a solid guarantee for our country's existence and development; it is a victory that will be recorded as a miracle in our army-building history and history of anti-imperialist revolutionary struggle, and at the same time, it becomes an event in world war history that reestablished the theory of the strong that has been passed down for thousands of years.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said that the combat activities of the overseas operation units, representing the military force of our Republic on the battlefield where the world's focus was concentrated, fully demonstrated the power of the heroic Korean People's Army that is ever-victorious through the definite superiority of its ideological spirit and Juche-based strategy and tactics, and continued as follows.

What I value most and evaluate with satisfaction is that the reputation of the ever-victorious Korean People's Army has undergone the most stringent verification in its over 70-year history, and the reality of our army, fully prepared for war, has been clearly confirmed.

The key to being surely prepared for war and guaranteeing victory is to break the enemy's will to fight.

It has now become an established theory that any army of any country, if it engages our army, will not avoid the fate of being utterly destroyed.

Although you fought on foreign soil and the battlefront you occupied was outside the territory, it can be said that you have built a high wall of defense upon the land of the Fatherland.

In this sense, the achievements you have established are more precious and valuable than achieving victory in a war fought on our own land.

Today's awards ceremony is an expression of gratitude and a precious evaluation from our Party, state, and people for the historical feat of perfectly executing the political decision made by the Party and government for the destiny and future of the country and of defending the great honor that all generations of the Republic have built and protected for decades.

Comrades!

Although the traces of fierce battles will disappear from the liberated areas in foreign lands where shells roared, and everything will soon be transformed, the memories of the outstanding bravery and noble sacrifice of our soldiers cannot be erased or forgotten.

Their greatness and immortality vividly reside here, in the land of the Fatherland, tens of thousands of ri away from the fierce battlefields.

What makes us reverently reflect on the spiritual world of the comrades who contributed to the liberation of the Kursk territory is that the sublime fighting spirit of the heroes we have highly elevated until now has become that of all the soldiers of the overseas operation units.

The heroism of our soldiers of the overseas operation units, which simultaneously evoked admiration and concern in many countries, was not limited only to a few specific holders of heroic feats.

In the overseas military operation, hundreds and thousands of heroes emerged, rivaling Ri Su Bok, Kang Ho Yong, and Jo Gun Sil.

Frankly, before the world was surprised, I myself was surprised first.

Whether military commanders, political workers, medical personnel, interpreters, or logistical support members—no matter who they were or under what circumstances, everyone fought bravely in the same manner, with the same mettle.

In the heroism and sacrifice displayed, there were no lines of rank or age, nor was there any distinction based on experience or previous combat record.

Transcending the conventional notion that the age for blocking a firing port is 18, officers in their 30s and 40s stepped forward to block enemy firing points with their own bodies; the facts that they unhesitatingly chose the path of self-destruction where not even a corpse could remain, and that they willingly blocked bullets flying towards their commanders, gave me a strong shock.

Look at the memorial wall erected here in the Party Central Committee hall.

So many of our outstanding and handsome officers offered their bodies争先恐后 (striving to be first) and met a glorious end.

These are rightly heroes among heroes, and the overseas operation unit should be called a hero unit.

The individual heroic acts we held up as models in the past have today developed into a mass movement.

If about 600 heroes were produced nationwide during the three years of the war over 70 years ago, in the overseas military operation carried out by our Republic's armed forces, an entire army group, all of them, became heroic holders of feats in a little over six months.

The fundamental secret of the victorious conclusion of this overseas military operation lies not in the merits of a few outstanding military experts or heroes, but in the thoroughly mass character of heroism, and in the fact that the sublime and beautiful spiritual and moral traits firmly dominated the ideological feelings of all the soldiers of the overseas operation unit.

They were all alike in the thoroughness in executing orders, which is the essence of a soldier; they were all alike in the fervor of patriotism and comradeship and in their devotion; and they were all alike excellent in their morality, knowing how to remain faithful to their duty and make upright choices according to their conscience even at the moment facing the end of life.

With such extraordinary spiritual qualities, comrades have let the world know what exactly makes our army strong and what the fundamental factor is that makes it certain to win in any fight.

This becomes an event that clearly engraves upon the era and history the concept of a powerful army and the law of victory.

I am convinced.

Whatever branch of the army or whatever unit of our army participated in this war, they would all have fought like you, comrades, and would have recorded military feats placed side by side with the heroic feats you created.

What makes me most happy and satisfied is that through you, comrades, I have reconfirmed the height of the spiritual and moral character of all the soldiers of the entire army; having such an army as the pioneer and guardian of its revolutionary cause is the pride and glory of the Workers' Party of Korea and the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

As has always been the case, our army, even in today's times, is glorifying its honorable calling as the symbol of the heroic Korean people and the representative of the great Korean people.

The country defended by a heroic army is forever strong, and the cause advancing with the heroic army at the vanguard is ever-victorious and invincible.

Because it firmly gives us this conviction, today's award ceremony holds special meaning and weight.

At this meaningful place, I extend once again, on behalf of the Party and government, heartfelt thanks and combat greetings to the soldiers of the overseas operation unit who broke through and braved the fierce barrage of fire, protecting the faith of the Party and country in our army, and who highly exalted the great honor of the Korean People's Army with unparalleled heroic combat spirit and immortal feats.

And on this occasion, I want to send to our splendid war veterans words I have repeated hundreds of times in my heart.

Because you exist, because heroic soldiers like you are defending it, this country is unshakable.

Comrades!

Our Party will seek out without omission the military feats of the fighters of the overseas operation unit, written in blood on every decisive battlefield in foreign lands, and will highly elevate them before parents, wives, and children, before the state and the people, before descendants.

We will tell the people, the soldiers of the People's Army, their children, and future generations all about those precious combat experiences you gained through bloody struggle, about the genuine comradeship and absolute love for the country, about the pain of sacrifice that had to be endured while swallowing blood and tears, and the joy of the precious victory achieved at that cost, and about the beautiful life overflowing with optimism while envisioning the future.

In a corner of the capital, a Combat Feats Memorial Hall and a Combat Feats Monument will be built to forever convey the merits of the great war veterans, and the entire nation will eternally reverently regard and learn from the sublime spirit and mettle of the heroes.

The mother country will bestow the highest and most glorious honors upon all soldiers of the overseas operation unit, and the parents who excellently raised their children and did not hesitate to send them to the sacred war for the country will also be elevated together to the platform of glory.

Today's award ceremony is the beginning of all that.

The path of glory pioneered with the shed blood of warriors on foreign battlefields and the noble lives of the martyrs will not end, and the bloody combat records inscribed with their names will forever shine as the most precious pages of the Fatherland's history.

Comrades!

Suppressing all challenges threatening the sovereignty and security of the state and militarily firmly guaranteeing peace and development is the unchanging mission of our revolutionary armed forces.

Currently, on the international stage, due to the excessive use of military force by fanatical forces heated with war fever, a very serious and unpredictable security crisis is being created, and our enemy countries are further blatantly revealing their dangerous schemes to somehow break down our country's position and strength that balances the security situation in the Korean peninsula region.

This environment gives us no room for letting our guard down and demands more perfect and overwhelming preparedness from our army.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un clarified the major tasks that must be grasped and pushed forward in the work of making the armed forces of the Republic the most elite and powerful, and completing war preparations, in response to the created situation and the military provocations of enemy countries.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un continued, saying that he hopes you will always bear in mind that at this very moment, the parents, wives, and children who love the soldiers of the overseas operation unit performing honorable combat duties in a foreign land tens of thousands of ri away, and the Fatherland, are counting the days until they return safely.

Our country will forever be dignified, powerful, and strong thanks to great heroes like you, comrades.

Our army will continue the flow of the great history of victory for thousands and tens of thousands of years with its unique loyalty and heroic mettle.

I wish immortal glory to the heroic soldiers of the overseas operation unit who set the highest and most glorious peak upon the long history of victory of our people and the absolute might of the revolutionary armed forces.

Long live the heroic Korean People's Army!