기염을 토하다토하

To emit a flaming force.

Sunan Airfield, March 28th, 1952

Kim Il-Sung had been sitting in the back of his ZIS-115 armoured limousine for half an hour. His eyes wouldn’t focus - he sat, pulling his prepared remarks close to his face, trying to read them before putting them down out of frustration.

Tae Pyon-ri, the Chairman’s private doctor, sat with him. He wore a suit indistinguishable from those worn by Kim’s other adjutants and aides - he had a need not to be seen to be attended to by a doctor in public. Tae leaned forward, looking at the Chairman intently.

“I counsel you, again, to not go forward with the speech, Chairman.”

“I must be seen by my people, to be strong,” Kim said, resolutely.

“At least take Minister Pak Chang-Ok’s suggestion, and do the speech by radio. That will alow you better lighting and more time to rehearse the speech.”

Kim looked at the older man, with his careworn face and grandfatherly eyes. “I appreciate your counsel, Tae Pyon-Ri. I counsel you to leave the running of this state, to me.”

With that, Kim motioned for his guard to open the door - which was done promptly. A cordon of guards had cleared a path down to the speaking platform at the airfield. Sunan had seen heavy use in the first months of the war as a base for the KPAAF, but with the destruction of so many of its planes Sunan had slowly been eclipsed in importance by airfields in Manchuria. Nevertheless, the remaining KPAAF fighters devoted to the defense of the capital still lined the strip. The big Lavochkins looked resplendent, even if only four of them could be marshaled in working order for the photographs to be taken at this place. 300 members of the KPAAF, including its top commanding officers, were in attendance to hear his speech.

Kim mounted the platform to raucous applause. Choe Yong-gon, the Defense Minister, nodded solemnly to the Chairman as he approached the microphone stand.

Kim Il-Sung stood there for a moment, composing his thoughts on this occasion.

Koreans! It is a bright day in this, our homeland. It is a bright day that I come to you, that I speak to you from this place where so much glory has been attained by so few in the service of so many. I come to speak to you, my defenders of the skies, to bring you first the gratitude of our people.

Your feats in the air are ones which will be lauded in the annals of Socialism’s heroes from here to forever. We in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are newcomers to the skies. And yet, in the short amount of time that the Korean People’s Army Air Force has existed, it has swept its opponents from the sky in a string of crushing victories. Even with the enemy being backed by the great Imperial Evil of our age, our pilots hold strong. Even as the arsenal of imperialism is turned against us in Korea, I have faith that the skies will return to us, and are returning to us.

There are those in America who believe we are one step from being defeated. Who believe, that, by just dropping a few thousand small bombs, or one very big bomb, that the people of Korea will turn their tails and flee. That we will accept the so-called superiority of the American’s perversion of democracy, that we will accept the so-called ferocity of the Arsenal of Capital, that we will accept the so-called Republic of Korea’s rule over our land.

And yet, I need not ask to know the answer of the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea - the one Korean state - it is no! It is never, it is not one step back without the most fierce resistance. It is never that we will capitulate, for we know our ideals and our program are those that will bring the most equitable peace over this continent, when the evil above our heads is swept from the sky.

I come today to name you the Sky-Liberators, for that title is one you have earned. Our Sky-Liberators, the men of utmost bravery within our army. The men who take their machines to perform heroic deeds that confound and shock the Americans into submission, so even they have learned to fear us.

I come to tell you the story, as I am sure you already know, of your brave comrade, Hasa Seon Chu-Ri. He, under the service of the 216th Night Bomber Regiment, was undertaking a brave, nighttime mission against the American invaders near Daejeon in December of last year, a mission to disrupt enemy communications and spread confusion among the imperialists. As with all our Night Bomber regiments, he is very skilled at this task.

After undertaking a successful bombing run against an enemy supply depot, Seon Chu-Ri’s biplane was intercepted by an American jet fighter. In an act of outstanding bravery and skill, through Seon Chu-Ri’s flying the American fighter maneuvered into a mountain and exploded. Thus a Korean pilot achieved an outstanding victory through his skill, of destroying a decadent and expensive American jetplane without loss to himself.

It is this spirit, Sky-Liberators, that you must take with you in the service of our country. It is this spirit, the spirit of triumph of democracy over imperialism, of socialism over capitalism, of the brave fighter over the decadent invader - this spirit that every Korean knows and shares. You have it in you, Sky-Liberators, and you continue to impress me and our country every day.

May your glory see you through!