'Strong army, rich nation': Kim Jong-un marks war anniversary with fresh 'anti-US' message
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Strong army, rich nation': Kim Jong-un marks war anniversary with fresh 'anti-US' message")
This picture taken on July 26, 2025 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on July 27, 2025 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) laying flowers at the Fatherland Liberation War Martyrs Cemetery on the 72nd anniversary of the armistice of the Korean War, in Pyongyang. Photograph: (AFP)
Kim Jong-un, the North Korean supreme leader said that the nation and its people would build a country with a “strong army and become honourable victors in the anti-imperialist, anti-US showdown”.
Kim Jong-un, the North Korean supreme leader, on Sunday (Jul 27), vowed that his nation would achieve victory in "anti-imperialist, anti-US" battles. Kim made this statement as Pyongyang marked the 72nd anniversary of the armistice of the Korean War. State media reports suggest that the North Korean leader insisted that "our state and its people would surely achieve the great cause of building a rich country with a strong army and become honourable victors in the anti-imperialist, anti-US showdown".
Kim Jong-un pays respects to Kim II-sung and Chinese People's volunteers
On Saturday, Kim Jong-un visited the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang, where he laid a wreath. There he pledged that North Korea would "never forget the militant feats and merits of the fallen fighters of the Chinese People's Volunteers", reported the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
According to a Yonhap news agency report citing Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University's Institute for Far Eastern Studies, "By keeping mentions of its friendly relationship with China to a minimum, North Korea is sending a message that it can maintain its system and sovereignty on its own, and wants to show its diplomatic and military autonomy without provoking China".
He also paid his respects by laying a basket of flowers before the statue of North Korea's founder Kim II-sung, he praised the "victory of the outstanding military ideology, Juche-oriented war methods and superb strategy and tactics" of the nation's founder.
While he said that the nation and its people would build a country with a "strong army and become honourable victors in the anti-imperialist, anti-US showdown," he did not make any hostile remarks towards the United States or South Korea.
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What was the armistice of the Korean War?
Signed on July 27, 1953, the Korean War armistice brought an end to the three-year Korean War. U.S. generals signed the agreement representing the United Nations forces that backed South Korea. Since 1996, North Korea has celebrated the day as "Victory Day" and claims that it won the Liberation war against what it called US-led aggression.
