Pyongyang, September 22 (KCNA) -- The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un made a speech at the 13th Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on September 21.

The full text is as follows:

Dear comrade Deputies,

Esteemed Chairman of the Standing Committee and Deputy Speakers of the Supreme People's Assembly,

Dear observers,

The 13th Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is successfully conducting its work on the basis of the mission and authority granted to it by the Constitution of the Republic and thanks to the active participation and discussion by all the Deputies.

I feel satisfied that our supreme power organ is pushing forward in a responsible and purposeful way with the important state affairs to provide a legal and institutional guarantee for solving urgent problems of great practical significance in further promoting the consolidation and development of the socialist system and the comprehensive prosperity of the state.

Expressing encouragement to the Deputies to the Supreme People's Assembly, who, as representatives of our people's independent rights and general will, are infinitely faithful to their duties in their fields of socialist construction and are playing a major role in the legislative activities for the perfection of state policy and government work, and availing myself of this opportunity, when numerous officials of the Party, government and leading organs in national defence and security and socio-economic sectors are present as observers, I would like to emphasize the successes achieved so far this year and a series of important tasks arising in state building and activities in the future.

Comrades,

In 2025, when our Party and the government of the Republic have to round off their work at the present stage, great and important undertakings, which were planned scientifically and more actively for the comprehensive development of the state, have been pushed forward in a powerful and balanced way and meaningful successes achieved so far.

The 13th Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee of the Party to be convened this December will make a general review, but if I have to make a preliminary review at this meeting, I think that the five-year plan, including this year's plan, will be successfully fulfilled, and I do not doubt that this will be reported to the Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea.

The political enthusiasm of the citizens to glorify the 80th anniversary of the Party with great labour achievements has been fervent since the beginning of the year and has led to an uninterrupted advance and courageous struggle in the second half of the year as well, following the first half.

This convinces us that the five-year plan, set by the Eighth Central Committee of the Party, is sure to be carried out in 2025, an important year that marks the 80th anniversary of our Party, in the run-up to its historic Ninth Congress.

The achievements made in the nine months of this year are great, and the overall mettle and atmosphere are inspiring.

Before anything else, the metallurgical, chemical, electric power, machine-building and other key industries and major economic sectors are carrying out this year's national economic plan in the main.

Of course, they are not on the level with which we can feel content and satisfied, but it is very good that most enterprises are eager to attain their production targets and are presenting substantial results.

Following last year, the agricultural sector has grown promising crops this year, and it expects to hit the national target of grain production.

The fact that the production and procurement plans of early-ripening crops for this year have been overfulfilled thanks to the devoted efforts of the officials and working people in this sector is something that is unprecedented and has proved in reality the validity and vitality of our Party's new policy of encouraging wheat farming.

The expected yields of the second crops are good as well, so we have definite prospects for attaining the grain production target envisaged for this year.

As a result of our efforts to increase the rate of mechanization in farm work, it has increased by 2% over the previous year; this further strengthening of the foundations of agricultural production constitutes a great asset for its steadier advance.

It can be said that the deviations of only making empty talks have been eliminated, the seed revolution, double cropping, scientific farming and mechanized farming have become part and parcel of bringing about a substantial transformation in agricultural production, all the people's enthusiasm for sincerely assisting the farms has soared, and the capability to cope with natural calamities that hampered farming every year has been raised to a certain degree.

It is the construction sector that most clearly and undeniably demonstrates the nation's progress.

As for industrial construction first, the projects for building bases with a high level of modernization and enormous production capacities in the key industries and light industry sector have been pushed forward through strenuous efforts, and major projects including the first stage of the Tanchon Power Station and the renovation of the Ryongsong Machine Complex expect the day of completion.

On the shore of the Amnok River, which witnessed the removal of flood damage last year and a transformation in the northwestern border area, a large-scale greenhouse farm is presenting its vivid appearance thanks to the vigorous creative struggle of soldier-builders and other young people.

With the gigantic project of building 50 000 flats in the capital city within the five-year plan period being pushed forward more extensively than the original plan, the fourth-stage construction in the Hwasong area is well underway according to the planned procedure, and construction of hundreds of houses in the Komdok area and tens of thousands of houses in different rural communities across the country will be completed within this year.

The Wonsan Kalma Coastal Tourist Area was built in a perfect way and people from different parts of the country started enjoying themselves there; the construction of the Samjiyon tourist area has been dynamically pushed forward; the Pyongyang General Hospital is nearing inauguration; and many other structures, which are symbolic of our style of new civilization and showcase our state's rapid advance, are springing up. These, too, constitute a remarkable success.

With the regional development policy in the new era being pursued in an expansive way, the regional-industry factories, more developed than those built in the first year of enforcement of the policy, are under construction in 20 cities and counties, and another tremendous undertaking for setting up public health facilities and comprehensive cultural service bases, essential for radically improving the quality of life of the regional people, is also going on successfully at a trial stage.

In particular, the Ragwon County Offshore Farm and a modern housing district for its employees, which can be called a substantial target in securing big assets for increasing the development potential of regions and transforming them, have been built in a little over half a year.

Nothing is more encouraging and inspiring than the joy and laughter of the people for the ruling party of a socialist state and its government in convincing themselves of their policies and devoting their all for the people by displaying stronger leadership abilities.

The people are deeply feeling the real change of their own regions as they move into modern houses built by the state and bringing the future goal to the present reality through courageous efforts–this is a great motive force in vividly highlighting the aspirations and development goals of our economy and injecting vitality into our socialist system.

Notable successes have been achieved in the sectors of science, education, public health, arts and sports, making the appearance of development become clear in all the realms of state and social life and giving pleasure and encouragement to the people.

On several occasions including the 80th anniversary of national liberation, 77th anniversary of the Republic and V-Day, our state has demonstrated its dignity and prestige once again and our people renewed their will to keep their self-respect and achieve prosperity by their own efforts.

Our Party and government are also making a steady leap forward in strengthening the defence capabilities of the state.

In accordance with the Party's line of strengthening the naval forces, we have successfully built destroyers capable of carrying out various naval military missions, thus creating a solid strategic axis for defending our maritime sovereignty and taking a crucial first step in building a marine power. Recently we have set clear targets, ranging from ceaseless strengthening of the strategic forces and the expansion of their capabilities to improvement of the combat performance of conventional military hardware. These constitute a transformation of great significance.

Besides, we have possessed new, secret weapons, and made many achievements in defence science, which would make a great contribution to boosting our military forces more radically.

We have demonstrated how great and precious the assets of the state and the wealth of the people created over the nine months of this year are and how wide our fighting scope for confidently stepping up the remarkable progress of socialism is.

To lay the foundations for achieving prosperity by dint of self-reliance had been included in the long-term plan at the First Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly held six years previously; now these foundations have been built up definitely in all realms, and the comprehensive development of socialist construction, which had been regarded as an ideal in those days, has already entered a solid phase.

Now, it has become an established theory that no one or no adversity can obstruct or delay our state and people in their onward march to increase their own strength and progress in their own way along the road for their development.

Neither the wicked obstructive moves by outside forces nor the unprecedented public health crisis and natural disasters could undermine our strength and unity.

All these are attributable to the fact that the entire Party, the whole country and all the people, by upholding the decisions of the Eighth Congress of the Party as their invincible struggle programme, have made strenuous efforts to achieve a leap forward by displaying unprecedented perseverance and practical ability year after year, dauntlessly overcoming severe challenges and difficulties.

In the course of this, our will and self-confidence to staunchly advance our cause and open up our future have become stronger, and the role of all the people and their power of advance have gained further momentum.

All the people in the country are witnessing radical transformations where they live, and they are being united more closely with a high sense of pride in their country and devotion for its sake.

I am proud of the fact that the people's pride in and love for their country have never been so great as today in the history of the Republic spanning nearly eight decades.

For us, the economic growth and the increased military strength are of weighty significance, yet what is more important and powerful is the spiritual strength of the people, the motive force, and the preparedness of the politico-ideological force.

Our Party and the government of the Republic identify reserves and potentials first in ideological factors rather than in economic levers, and they solve all problems by dint of ideology and political offensive; thanks to such leadership mode, the flames of an emulation drive for increased production and practising economy, which were kindled by the workers of the Sangwon Cement Complex, have swept the whole country with revolutionary enthusiasm and fighting zeal. Encouraged by the heroic spirit of the martyrs of the overseas operations units who sacrificed their lives in defence of the honour and dignity of the country, the patriotic enthusiasm and mass heroism are mounting further among the people across the country.

For the future victory, success and development, this is more precious and powerful than anything else.

Availing myself of this opportunity, I would like to extend my warm, sincere gratitude to all the citizens of the Republic who have always rendered absolute support to the policies of the Party and the government and upheld them through a vigorous struggle and brilliant achievements of creation.

Dear Deputies,

We are working hard to develop our Republic into a powerful country that no one would dare to provoke and an ideal society for the people by boosting the soaring spirit of advance with which we have brought about unprecedented changes in all the realms of state and social life since the founding of the country and thus successfully carrying out the heavy tasks of the times and the revolutionary duty. This is the real aim of our struggle, and we are full of self-confidence.

At the present moment, when the struggle to bring about the comprehensive prosperity of the state has entered a period of unprecedented upsurge, our Party and people expect a more correct and proactive role from the government of the Republic.

The government should adhere to the principle of strengthening the people-oriented character in its activities and giving full play to the unity and creativity peculiar to our people.

Revealed in a number of units are such deviations as paying little attention to the working and living conditions for the working people and leaning towards implementing production plans or construction tasks.

We should not tarnish the original features of man-centred socialism in any circumstances, but place man above production and solve one by one the elementary problems arising in promoting the health and convenience of producers.

As the work of finishing this year's farming is in full swing across the country, we should ensure that there are no such instances as taking off the shares of farmers on the pretext of implementing the plans and trading in cereals through illegal channels.

We need the planned quantities of cereals, but more important are the rights and interests of the farmers and more precious is the mindset of the people who absolutely trust the Party's policies.

We should not tolerate even the slightest manifestation of practices that may be revealed in the course of implementing the policies contrary to our state's people-oriented character, including the abuse of power, bureaucratic behaviour and infringement upon the interests of the people, and instead we should orient all state affairs thoroughly to cementing our single-hearted unity.

It is very important to turn the course of arranging and conducting state affairs into that of giving free rein to the inexhaustible strength of the masses.

In other words, when overcoming the subjective and objective obstacles in the way of our advance or implementing the pressing, essential tasks in a bold manner, we should push ahead with all state affairs by considering first the unrivalled revolutionary spirit of our people and their patriotic loyalty and enlisting their great strength.

The Cabinet should steadily enhance its organizing and mobilizing role.

As it has under its authority the executive institutions and forces capable of performing the mission of government organs and can exercise the relevant authority, the Cabinet should give proper guidance and control over all its affiliated organs so that they can perform their functions with credit.

Also, it should work to ensure close ties and cooperation between the sectoral executive institutions through collective discussion, give regular control and direction over both the overall affairs and the work of individual sectors, and take realistic steps for eliminating the tendencies that may be revealed among economic guidance officials, such as working in a subjective manner, acting on impulse, self-centredness, fame-seeking, irresponsibility and incompetency.

It should establish strict financial discipline in dealing with the overall state affairs to allow no room for such negative practices as misappropriation, waste and embezzlement, and ensure that funds, once invested, are put to proper and effective use for building up the foundations of the independent economy and promoting the wellbeing of the people.

Finding proper solutions to the problems arising in economic management is the most pressing task facing us in putting the overall state affairs in order and achieving sustained development of our economy by relying on our own forces.

It is imperative to conduct a correct analysis of why contradictions and shortcomings are revealed in the present economic work and adopt prompt measures for establishing realistic and rational methods of economic management in order to dynamically propel socialist construction.

From this year the regional development policy has entered a new stage of expanded implementation, based on last year's successes and experience and the long-term demands for putting the regions on a track of diversified and sustained development.

The relevant sectors and units should work with a still higher sense of responsibility as dynamic progress is being made in carrying out the tasks for regional development, such as ensuring scientific accuracy and practicality in designing structures under the regional development policy, producing quality equipment and effecting standardization.

An important factor in regional rejuvenation and rural development is to ensure that provinces, cities and counties discharge their role properly, as befitting masters.

Coastal provinces should identify and implement in a purposeful way the construction of offshore farming bases under a plan and other projects that will bring real benefits to the residents by exploiting locally available economic potentials in conformity with their own characteristics, as well as the tasks for transforming their appearances with the entities of the new regional development policy as the standard.

As I pointed out during my visit to Songchon last year, the problem is the low quality of housing construction in the countryside, which is being carried out mainly by the city and county construction workforce.

Cities and counties should act decisively to build up the ranks of skilled construction workers, upgrade construction equipment and strengthen the bases for the production of building materials.

If they neglect this, the prospects of the regional development policy might grow bleak, which will entail serious consequences.

Provinces, cities and counties should also make substantial and assiduous efforts to systematically train large numbers of personnel who will implement the rural revolution programme in the new era as required by Party policy and thus transform the socialist countryside.

If we are to become prosperous and more powerful, not by a lucky chance but on the strength of self-sustenance and self-determination, we have no other choice but to rely on science and technology, and the prospects of our state's development depend on how steadily we increase its scientific and technological forces.

The state should establish a well-regulated system and order whereby the resources of talented personnel are mobilized and used to good effect and a guarantee is provided for the sustainable development of science and technology. Also, all sectors and all units should build up their own scientific and technological forces with a view to finding successful solutions to the technological problems arising in the course of actual work.

The education sector should, with the implementation of the second universal 12-year compulsory education programme as a momentum, make full preparations for educating students at the advanced international level, and it should also ensure that universities and colleges properly implement the new discipline-specific teaching plans to produce a larger number of talented personnel as demanded by reality.

What it must never neglect in this regard is to improve the qualifications and abilities of teachers and their specialization level.

To solve the problem of teachers is the key to developing education, so it is necessary to ensure higher quality of teacher training and improve the continuous education system for them; it is particularly important to give teachers in the regions and the countryside ready access to advanced teaching materials.

We should work hard to renovate treatment and prevention institutions at all levels, fundamentally raise the quality of medical service, and solidify the material and technical foundations of the public health sector, pharmaceutical industry in particular, as demanded by the historic era of the healthcare revolution.

We should steadily update the socialist legal system and improve the functions and role of law in the realms of state and social life.

The Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly should continually revise and supplement the sector-specific laws to provide a legal guarantee for implementing new policies of the Party, and it should be effective in perfecting legal and institutional mechanisms to ensure more efficient and smoother operation of all sectors and put them under strict control.

With the promotion of our exchanges with other countries in recent years, law-enforcement organs should work out a better strategy for, and adopt an aggressive, comprehensive and rigorous approach towards, frustrating the enemy's moves to undermine our system and degenerate our citizens and combatting all manner of crimes that disturb social and political stability.

They should strengthen their legal supervision and control over obstructing or neglecting the implementation of the decisions adopted by the Party and the state, violating the state's economic order and the discipline in implementing the national economic plan, infringing on the people's interests, and impeding the development of the state's defence capabilities; once they find out any of such criminal acts, they must not hesitate to wield the sword of revolutionary dictatorship.

Our Republic is an independent socialist state that never tolerates any kind of subjugation or domination. So, the most important of its state affairs is to strengthen its self-defensive capabilities, and this is something which we must bolster without a moment's halt and make no compromise over.

By relying on the powerful war deterrent we have already built up, we should work responsibly to defend our state's sovereignty and security, and make constant efforts to increase our capabilities with which to counter all kinds of military threats.

We should make proactive efforts to ensure that our paramilitary forces maintain full readiness as required by the features of modern warfare, thus further consolidating the might of the nationwide, all-people defence system. We should also see to it that the national trait of everyone regarding national defence as the highest expression of patriotism and rendering wholehearted support to the People's Army is brought into fuller play.

Today, availing myself of this opportunity, I would like to tell you particularly about our people's admirable deeds.

Recently, after we went public with the heroic exploits the combatants of our overseas military operations units had performed in liberating the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, a climate of mass heroism is prevailing across our society and our young and middle-aged people's enthusiasm for volunteering to join the army is growing more than ever before. These are part of an increasing, positive tendency to turn out in the patriotic struggle staking the dignity of Koreans and the reputation of Korea.

There have been so many instances of giving sincere assistance to the participants in the recent overseas operations and the bereaved families of the martyrs and donating money to help them meet their needs in living.

For less than a month from August 22 to this day, tens of thousands of people–officials, employees and residents–have donated a large sum for the construction of a combat feats memorial museum and a monument to combat feats to honour the memory of the heroes, for the construction of Saeppyol Street and for the bereaved families of the martyrs.

Among these people are honoured disabled ex-soldiers, farmers, scientists and housewives.

Regarding the continuing of this laudable trend, there arose the problem of using the money donated for the participants in the overseas operations and the bereaved families of the martyrs. As the Party and the state should take full responsibility for taking care of them, I have instructed officials to return the money to the donors without fail, thank them sincerely on behalf of the government of the Republic and give wide publicity to their deeds.

These deeds are clear testimony to the virtues and ennobling moral character unique to our people, the stability of our society and its true unity and might.

Availing myself of this opportunity, I would like to express thanks on behalf of the government of the Republic to all the admirable people who, with a noble mind, offered assistance to and donated money for our heroic combatants and the bereaved families of the martyrs.

Comrades,

The key, crucial variable in continuing the historic course for the comprehensive development of our country is how we defend the security of our state amid the volatile political trends of the world and the changing conditions of the times.

Today, at this meeting, I am going to make clear the status quo of the relations with the United States and the Republic of Korea and their compatibility, which have a decisive impact on the security of our state and the situation in the region, as well as the principled stand which we should maintain in the external activities.

At present, as global unrest and universal crisis are mounting due to the unreasonable ambitions of, and excessive use of force by, the camp led by the United States that is attempting to maintain its rapidly declining hegemony, the security structure surrounding the DPRK is still facing serious challenges.

In particular, the objective security situation around the Korean peninsula is literally renewing one worst record after another.

The United States and its vassal states, in disregard of the DPRK's security concern, have regularly committed provocative actions to exacerbate the tension, the danger of which has now increased to a noticeable level, quite unlike several years previously.

According to the United States' hegemony-oriented Indo-Pacific strategy and the scenario for its implementation, the US-ROK and US-Japan military alliances and the US-Japan-ROK tripartite military cooperation system are mutating into increasingly offensive and aggressive entities, and the direct victim of this is none other than the security environment of our state.

The reality facing us today is that various kinds of bilateral and multilateral war games against the DPRK take place simultaneously and continue without any gap in time and space, involving more and more nuclear elements.

Formerly, the tensity of the situation around the Korean peninsula used to peak every March and every August, like a seasonal wind, with the frantic, large-scale joint war exercises by the United States and the ROK. Presently, however, chronic tension persists all the year round, caused by a series of bilateral and multinational joint war exercises and frequent deployment of strategic assets.

This is clearly evidenced by the fact that last month, by launching the large-scale joint war exercise Ulji Freedom Shield, the United States and the ROK drove the situation to the extreme, and in September, the enemy continues to bring increasing military pressure to bear upon our state.

Even more serious is the fact that the nuclear operations guidelines presupposing the use of nukes against our state, which were formulated by the previous regimes of the United States and the ROK, have been inherited in their entirety by their current replacements and, accordingly, their nuclear war plan has entered the stage of more practical and concrete implementation.

Some days ago, the United States and the ROK launched Iron Mace, another undisguised nuclear war rehearsal aimed at getting familiar with the procedures and mode for attacking our state with nukes according to the above-mentioned guidelines, while at the same time conducting a multi-realm joint military exercise with the involvement of Japan.

This is an extension of and succession to the anti-DPRK policy the enemy states have handed down through generations irrespective of their regime change, and also a stark revelation of the intrinsic confrontational nature of their present ruling circles.

At the same time, the Japanese mainland witnessed a blitz deployment of the US forces' ground-based medium-range missile system for the first time in its history. As a result, the territorial depths of the regional nuclear powers including our state have become the constant, direct targets of the US military, which means they are exposed to an unprecedented security risk as well.

Owing to the adventurous military actions of the enemy states for demonstration, unpredictable and dangerous circumstances have been created in all realms of the ground, sea and air, and the confrontation between nuclear states has become unprecedentedly severe. This is the prevailing military and political situation we are in.

Like this, the present situation is more severe than ever before.

Although the present security situation has turned unprecedentedly bad, the level of security of our state, or the security coefficient, stands higher than ever before.

The security index for prevention of war has risen higher than it was in the past though the tension is getting worse with the passage of time and the fuse is burning–this fact hints at a very important thing.

It is that our nuclear forces are fully and perfectly performing their deterrent function for coping with and overwhelming all security challenges from outside.

In other words, the ever-increasing physical deterrent of our state, which is in direct proportion to the increasing use of military force by the United States and its allies, has completely sapped the will of its enemy states to unleash a war and ensured the balance of strength in the region.

I am sure of this fact, and I think it will be difficult for the enemy to deny it.

No matter how harsh the objective situation may be, war will be fully deterred if the subjective factor, that is, the internal force, grows strong enough to keep it under its control and manage it.

Through its uninterrupted, rapid development and threatening demonstration, our nuclear deterrent has proved its capability for, and reliability in, defending the national sovereignty, territorial integrity and the lives and safety of the people from foreign military threats, aggression and attack, steadily increased the security coefficient on the Korean peninsula and in the region, and made the enemy states dread the possible fatal consequences of an emergency.

Today's reality testifies that our painstaking efforts to speed up the accumulation of physical strength without interruption are entirely justifiable.

As I have already stated, maintaining security and defending peace by overwhelming strength is our unchangeable choice.

I say our enemy states have no means or way to stop the growth of our absolute strength, nor will they get them even in the distant future.

We are ready to cope with anything.

There may be different ways and principles for counteraction, and we are prepared to cope with anything.

Four years ago I stressed the need to get prepared for both dialogue and confrontation, especially to get fully prepared for the latter, in order to protect the dignity of our state and its interests for independent development and to reliably guarantee the peaceful environment and the security of our state.

The administrations of the United States and the ROK that were formed this year are talking about their willingness to have dialogue and improve relations with us. But, their aim to sap our strength and bring down our social system in the long run can never change.

Recently they came up with the idea of "phased denuclearization," which has led to the destroying with their own hands of the justification and foundations for negotiation with us.

I do not think the United States and the ROK have any good logic to reason with the international community to acknowledge their need for negotiation with us.

The concept of "denuclearization" has already lost its meaning.

We have become a nuclear state, and this was an inevitable choice we made at the crossroads of rise and fall of our state.

That is why we enshrined our nuclear possession in the supreme law of our Republic as something sacred and absolute, which cannot be affected or amended in any case.

Asking us to accept "denuclearization" now is as good as asking us to go against our Constitution.

There still exist a lot of people who join the United States in clamouring for "denuclearization."

They should know that they are committing acts of openly disregarding and grossly violating the sovereignty of the DPRK.

Could we go against our Constitution?

For what should we turn to "denuclearization"?

To avoid sanctions?

Never. Never ever.

I say "denuclearization" is the last, last thing to expect from us.

The fact that the DPRK is possessed of nuclear weapons will remain permanently as it is, whether the United States and its allies like it or not and however ardently they call in chorus for "denuclearization" for 10, 20 or 50, nay, 100 years.

Our retaining of nuclear weapons is enshrined in a national law, and we have a legal duty to defend the national law without fail.

Our enemy states' crafty sermon that we can be well off only when we give up our nukes has already lost its power of persuasion as we see the tragedies of bloodshed all around the world, which are of their own making.

The world knows well what the United States does after having others give up their nuclear weapons and disarming them.

We will never lay down our nukes.

The sanctions imposed by the hostile forces on us have taught us a lesson on how to get stronger, and developed tolerance and resistance in us so that we will not yield to any pressure.

There will be no negotiations, and never at that, with our enemy states to exchange something with them, obsessed with trying to get free from their sanctions.

If the hegemony-seeking Western forces led by the United States think they can pressurize and bring us to our knees through sanctions or sabre-rattling, still overcome with the delusion that they can win by inflicting a strategic defeat on the DPRK, a nuclear state, they are sadly mistaken.

The options are on their table.

If they want to continue with their foolish acts like imposing sanctions and pressure still clamouring for "denuclearization" without facing up to the changed reality, let them go ahead with the acts.

To be frank, that will provide us with a greater advantage.

Because we will have more time to do what we intend to do.

Time is on our side.

As befitting a great political power, we will shore up our economy as we have planned, and ceaselessly update our position of being a world-class military power by stepping up the strengthening of our military capabilities, which constitutes our unmistakable strategic aim.

Our Party and government will invariably, firmly and without a slightest deviation defend the Constitution of the DPRK and the basic law on the nuclear force policy, which has permanently codified our possession of nukes, and thoroughly safeguard the supreme interests of our state.

Unless the nuclear threat to us coming from outside is terminated, and as long as there exist the imperialist forces that use the nukes for the means of existence of their tyranny, we will never allow an interruption on our road of bolstering up our military capabilities to safeguard the security of our state and the wellbeing of our people both at present and in the future, but continue to move forward to maintain the edge of our overwhelming strength.

The hostile forces are well advised to be well aware of the fact that if they keep boasting of their strength recklessly and without limit in our neighbourhood, they might provoke us to impatience.

We are now exercising our war deterrent, and I do not want the primary mission of this deterrent to become invalid.

If invalid, its secondary mission will be put into operation.

I have already mentioned it.

If the secondary mission of the deterrent is put into operation, the military organizations and infrastructures of the ROK and its allies in the vicinity will collapse in a moment, and this just means annihilation.

I never seek the development of such a dangerous situation.

If the United States, freeing itself from its absurd pursuit of other's denuclearization and recognizing the reality, wants genuine peaceful coexistence with us, there is no reason for us not to come face to face with it.

Personally, I still have a good memory of the current US President Trump.

Availing myself of this opportunity, I am going to make our stand towards the relations with the ROK clearer.

We have no reason to sit together with it and will do nothing together with it.

I make clear that we will not deal with it at all.

In fact, we and the ROK have existed in the international community as two states over the last scores of years.

It is a stark reality that the two most hostile states on earth, two belligerent states, have been in acute confrontation on the Korean peninsula.

It was Syngman Rhee, the first president of the ROK, and his clique that rigged up a separate government on one half of the Korean peninsula in stubborn opposition to the aspirations of all the fellow countrymen to get rid of the tragedy of division imposed by foreign forces and live and develop independently on one territory.

In the first Constitution of the ROK fabricated and promulgated in July 1948, Syngman Rhee stipulated that "the territory of the ROK covers the Korean peninsula and its attached islands," thus codifying its inborn nature which is the most hostile to our state.

The Korean Armistice Agreement, concluded in 1953 after the three-year war, officially confirmed in front of the international community that the two belligerent states undeniably exist on the Korean peninsula without the complete end of the war. And in 1991 the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea joined the United Nations separately, and thereby they came to be internationally recognized as completely two different states.

We defined the ROK as a foreign country and the most hostile state, not based on the judgment formed abruptly in recent years.

This is nothing new.

We simply accepted the hard fact.

We call the ROK the most hostile state, because they have kept writing a history of the most hostile acts against the DPRK.

Starting with Focus Lens after the war, they frenziedly staged anti-DPRK war games almost every day, ceaselessly changing their codenames, including Freedom Bolt, Ulji Focus Lens, Team Spirit, Key Resolve and Ulji Freedom Guardian. At present, the drills developed more viciously into such all-round nuclear war rehearsals as Ulji Freedom Shield and Freedom Edge.

The ROK turned its whole territory into a nuclear outpost and depot, the largest of their kinds in the Far East, by introducing more than 1 000 nuclear weapons of all kinds into the Korean peninsula for the first time in history. It is now in a frenzy with war games by introducing into the peninsula at any time a huge amount of advanced military hardware including the three strategic assets of the United States and even the NATO-led Western forces.

The reckless anti-DPRK military moves, made by the ROK in collusion with foreign forces, have turned the Korean peninsula into a constant war danger zone where it would not be regarded as abnormal if a war breaks out right now.

Though government has changed more than ten times and the Constitution undergone revision nine times in the ROK so far, nothing has changed in the territory-related article of the Constitution, which is aimed at invading and annexing the DPRK. And although the National Security Law has been revised several times, the article concentratedly reflecting hostility towards the DPRK has not undergone even the slightest revision.

We have detestably witnessed what the successive rulers of the ROK have pursued.

The history of fierce confrontation between the DPRK and the ROK spanning nearly eight decades and the present reality clearly show that the inborn wild ambition of the ROK, whether they advocate "democracy" or put on the mask of "conservatism," to make our system and government collapse has never changed and will never change, and that the enemy is the enemy.

Furthermore, in view of national interests, we have no intention to get reunited with the country which has entrusted its politics and defence to foreign forces.

The ROK is a deformed entity with hemiplegia and a colonial tributary whose all fields have been Americanized, a foreign country that has thoroughly become heterogeneous.

It is a matter of course that as water and fire can never fuse into one, the independent politics and the sycophantic and treacherous politics cannot concur, the independent defence and the subordinate defence cannot merge with each other, the self-reliant economy and the colonial contract economy cannot combine, and the socialist culture and the Yankee culture cannot go together.

The reunification of the two entities, which have become completely heterogeneous and mutually exclusive, can never be achieved unless one of them ceases to exist.

Reunification is never needed.

The recently formed Lee Jae Myung government of the ROK is advocating a "line of compromise" with us, talking about "improvement of relations" and "peace," in a bid to make a distinction between it and its preceding governments. But nothing has changed substantially.

In view of its wild ambition for "unification by absorption," it puts in the shade its preceding vicious "conservative" regimes, which set the anti-DPRK policy as a state policy.

In public they say they will "assiduously build a tower of confidence with patience" for "restoring the south-north relations without fail," but behind the scenes they are building higher the wall of confrontation by expanding and strengthening the war rehearsals for aggression such as nuclear operation drill and multi-realm joint military exercise aimed at a preemptive nuclear strike on the other party.

Actually, in the draft budget bill for next year, which the Lee Jae Myung government passed for the first time after they came to power, the military expenditure is expected to increase by 8.2 percent, far surpassing that of the Yoon Suk Yeol regime that earned notoriety for its confrontational fanaticism against the DPRK.

These days, they say that they will recognize our system and will not pursue "unification by absorption" but coexist with us peacefully. But the chief of his state security office explained quite exactly the true intention of the ruler some days ago.

At a round-table meeting on September 17, he made a remark of totally denying our system and Constitution by saying, "The denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is the ultimate goal traditionally pursued by the ROK and the United States, and it remains unchanged, whether anyone likes it or not."

Now the enemy is openly clamouring for an early resumption of dialogue, saying that the longer the suspension of dialogue gets, "the more boosted the nuclear and missile capabilities of the north will be."

The "three-stage denuclearization theory" of the current ruler, so-called "suspension-reduction-denuclearization," is nothing other than a copy from the "workbook" of his predecessors who dreamed of disarming us.

It will be only an expression of deep attachment and obsession to discuss reunification with such an enemy state, and such persistence cannot change anything in realty.

How can we and the ROK be reunified?

Has the world history ever recorded a case of unification between such two sworn enemy states?

Why should we pursue a reunification which cannot be achieved unless one of them ceases to exist?

We will enshrine in a national law that we and the ROK are two states sharing the border, which are heterogeneous from each other and which can by no means become one.

The government of the DPRK will, in the future, too, reliably defend the sovereignty, security and fundamental interests of the state and strongly promote peace and security in the Korean peninsula and the region surrounding it in a most responsible manner.

Comrade Deputies,

In carrying out all the tasks facing the government of the Republic, the rights and authority of our Deputies are by no means light, and this honour of participating in the discussion of state affairs in person is an expression of the great expectations of the Party and the people for your responsible role.

Having been elected by the people and entrusted with the administration of the state and having pledged to serve the people, you should cherish the people's trust, thoroughly ensure the implementation of state policies through more proactive and devoted efforts, and have your work reviewed before the state and the people by producing results of sincere state political activities.

To this end, you should, first of all, have a correct understanding of state policies and, on this basis, explain them to the residents in your regions and to the people at your units and set an example for them to follow in implementing the policies.

What is important is that you should unfailingly and perfectly carry out all the policies advanced by the Party and the state for your respective sectors and units through meticulous planning, effective arrangement and stubborn persistence.

A Deputy needs to have insight and traits befitting a political activist of the state, know how to lead the public sentiments and encourage the collective to keep up the atmosphere of unity and struggle, get into the habit of finding and doing anything good for the people, strictly observe the laws and regulations of the state, and lead a frugal life so that he or she will not lose respect and trust of the masses.

All of you, by making redoubled, devoted efforts, should achieve a succession of excellent results you can be proud of before the Party, the state and the people, and your images and achievements will leave a notable imprint on the record of our sacred advance towards the Ninth Party Congress.

Our Party and the government of the Republic will cherish ennobling ideals and wage an unyielding struggle to bolster the people's firm trust, and they will continually build up the self-confidence and strength with which to translate the people's cherished desires into reality, thus fulfilling the heavy tasks facing them at every stage.

Comrades,

For the Workers' Party of Korea, the government of the Republic and our people, the absolute lifeline is to remain faithful to the socialist line and hold higher the banner of socialism.

This is because the advantages and vitality of the socialism of our own choice, which we have defended and glorified by shedding our sweat, and even our blood, unsparingly, have been proved by history and reality.

In the course of experiencing a dramatic change in their destiny and braving all sorts of difficulties, our people have accepted socialism as a requirement of their lives rather than an ideal or political mode; while enjoying one substantial benefit after another, leading a collectivist life in which they help and lead one another forward and share weal and woe with one another, and witnessing the reality of their ever-prospering country, they have keenly realized that socialism and their destiny are inseparably linked.

Our Party and government have no right to give up socialism, which our people have chosen, trust and propel by themselves and which they regard as a truth and treasure more than their own lives. They are duty-bound to develop it in our own way and lead it to attain a succession of great victories.

There will be no change or deviation in the political platform of our Party and government, and we will surely defend and advance socialism, which embody our people's aspirations and ideals, thus promoting the great prosperity of our state and ensuring the eternal wellbeing of our people.

Our cause is invincible as it advances by relying on the extraordinary patriotic enthusiasm and inexhaustible creativity of the heroic people who remain faithful to the ennobling ideals, and our socialist state's history of development and prosperity will continue forever.

Comrade Deputies,

Let us accomplish the cause of socialism, which represents our great history, honour and bright future.

Let us work hard for the dignity and comprehensive prosperity of our Republic, holding aloft the banner of socialism that symbolizes our ennobling ideals and beautiful dreams.

Long live our great country, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea! -0-