Pyongyang, June 30 (KCNA) -- The title of DPRK Hero was instituted on June 30, 1950 in the early days of the Fatherland Liberation War.

The institution of the title of hero is associated with the noble love of President Kim Il Sung who was desirous of adding eternal lustre to the feats of wartime fighters.

The President, who paid deep attention to conferring commendation or orders on the brave soldiers of the Korean People's Army who were fighting at the cost of their youth and lives for the country, called officials of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) on the next day when the war broke out and gave them the instructions on instituting the title of DPRK Hero and the order.

At the Third Session of the Military Commission of the DPRK, the President said that the title of DPRK Hero should be awarded with Gold Star Medal and Order of National Flag First Class, the highest order of the DPRK, and the decree on instituting the title of hero should be proclaimed according to relevant procedures.

The news of the decree of the Standing Committee of the SPA of the DPRK on instituting the title of DPRK Hero gave matchless strength and courage to the officers and men of the KPA and the people who turned out in the sacred war to annihilate the enemy.

Within the fifteen days after the decree was issued, the title of DPRK Hero was conferred on more than 10 officers and noncommissioned officers of the KPA, including commanding officers of the Second Torpedo Boat Squadron who sank the U.S. heavy cruiser Baltimore and destroyed the U.S. light cruiser with four torpedo boats, airmen who shot down bomber B-29 of the U.S. imperialists who boasted of being the "fortress in the sky" and a tankman who performed distinguished military feats in the battle for liberating Seoul.

More than 600 heroes were produced during the war (June 1950-July 1953) amid the mass heroism being displayed at every place of the front and the rear.

Thanks to the President, who led the service personnel and people with his love and trust and put forward them as heroes, the defenders of the country could work military miracles of defeating the imperialist allied forces led by the U.S. imperialists in the fierce three-year war. -0-