The DPRK’s robust munitions industry dates back over 70 years.
On October 2 1945, Kim Il Sung, who achieved the historic cause of national liberation by leading the bloody anti-Japanese war to victory, visited the Phyongchon plain to designate the site for a munitions factory.
It was not an easy job to establish the munitions industry from scratch soon after the country’s liberation—when the Party, state and army had yet to be built.
However, he believed in the patriotic mind of the Koreans. He was convinced that they could set up their defence industry by themselves as they beat the Japanese by seizing the enemy’s weapons to arm themselves and making even bombs when necessary.
His trust inspired the workers of the factory. With little experience, technology and equipment necessary for manufacturing weapons, they managed to manufacture the first prototype submachine guns only 20 days after they were tasked by him.
Seeing the trial products in October 1947, he said that weapons were not mystic and can-do attitude and patriotic passion would help them make more developed and powerful weapons than submachine guns.
Greatly encouraged, the workers mass-produced submachine guns in early 1948, contributing to the building of a regular army.
Kim Il Sung visited the factory on December 12 1948 to attend a national test fire, and gave instructions on expanding the factory.
Later, the factory evolved into a large-scale armament base that sprawled over an area of over 478 000 square metres and turned out various kinds of weapons and ammunition. It was instrumental in supplying armaments to the front during the 1950-53 Korean war initiated by the US.
Here is an interesting episode about the factory.
On July 24 1950, a month after the war broke out, Kim Il Sung ordered the factory to be relocated to Kunja-ri, Songchon County, South Phyongan Province.
The relocation was finished in a little over 10 days. Fortunately enough, the site of the factory came under the carpet bombing of the US soon after it was moved. The bombing was so indiscriminate that the area turned to ashes, only leaving eight trees around the target range unscathed.
People were struck by the far-sighted acumen of Kim Il Sung who had gauged possible enemy moves.
Kim Jong Il visited the factory on 11 occasions between July 1947 and August 1949 to see workers doing their work and shoot submachine guns himself.
It is not surprising that he made great efforts to build up the country’s defence capability throughout his revolutionary career.
The site of the factory serves now as the Phyongchon Revolutionary Site.
On his trip to the site last December, supreme leader Kim Jong Un highly appreciated the exploits the great leaders had performed to lay the solid foundations for the building of a self-reliant defence industry, saying that their exploits would go down in history.