Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un Guides Artillery Fire Competition between Large Combined Units of KPA on Western Front

Pyongyang, March 21 (KCNA) -- Amid the high military morale running through the entire army all out for getting fully combat ready along with firm conviction in sure victory under the extraordinary commanding art and militant encouragement by Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, the sound of another artillery has rocked heaven and earth, as part of the efforts to carry on the revolution in training.

Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and supreme commander of the armed forces of the DPRK, on Friday guided an artillery fire competition between large combined units of the Korean People's Army (KPA) on the western front.

Supreme Leader of the Party, state and armed forces Kim Jong Un was greeted at the competition ground by Army General Kim Su Gil, director of the General Political Bureau of the KPA, Army General Pak Jong Chon, chief of the General Staff of the KPA, commanding officers of the large combined units on the western front and other KPA commanding officers.

The competition was aimed at making an inspection and evaluation of the artillery forces on the western front without notice to see how they are implementing the Party's policy on building up the artillery force and take measures, at awakening all the units and fundamentally improving all the forms, programs and methods of artillery drills and also at definitely turning ordinary drills into practicable ones for an actual war.

Taking part in the competition were the artillery units under the 3rd, 4th and 8th corps of the KPA.

In the competition, after the assessment of the state of the advancing maneuvers of every artillery unit to the fire line, the firing sequence was set by drawing lots to fire guns of different calibers at the target islet. The total standings were decided by aggregating the firing results and the time taken to complete mission.

The officers and men of the large combined units who participated in the competition were greatly excited to have their combat readiness inspected in the presence of Kim Jong Un who visited the seaside position as part of his ceaseless guidance for strengthening the combat capability of the KPA.

At the observation post, the Supreme Leader received a report from the chief of the General Staff on the sequence and method of the competition before guiding it.

On his order, the corps commanders directly commanded the firing of artillery pieces at the observation post.

As the corps commanders gave orders to fire, all the artillery pieces opened fire, showering a hail of shells on the islet.

In the competition the artillery units on the western front showed amazing results with marksmanship which they trained in their ordinary drills and fully displayed their combat capabilities fully ready to go into action.

The Supreme Leader expressed satisfaction, saying that the firing skill of the artillerymen on the western front, those under the 3rd Corps in particular, was remarkably great. And he spoke highly of them, noting that it was just like hitting the target with sniper rifle.

The Supreme Leader received a report on the General Staff's evaluation of the competition results from the chief of the General Staff.

The 3rd Corps won an overwhelming victory over others taking the first place, while the 8th Corps took the second and the 4th Corps the third.

Greatly satisfied with the combat readiness of the 3rd Corps, the Supreme Leader left his congratulatory autograph "I admire amazing combat capability of the battalion. I am so satisfied and give special thanks to it. Kim Jong Un. March 20, 2020" on the master gunner certificate to be awarded to an artillery battalion under the 3rd Corps which showed remarkable marksmanship and eye-opening results in the competition.

Army General Pak Jong Chon, chief of the KPA General Staff, awarded master gunner certificates, medals and badges to artillery battalions and companies which proved successful in the competition.

The Supreme Leader gave important instructions on the direction of the military and political work, including the issue of intensifying the drills of all the KPA units, as required by the prevailing situation.

The competition held under the direct guidance of the iron-willed commander Kim Jong Un, who is opening a great heyday of the development of the revolutionary armed forces with his extraordinary commanding art and far-sighted acumen, will serve as a historic one as it provided the turning point of another great leap forward in developing the Juche-based artillery force.