Kim Il Sung Military University, the reputed alma mater of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, is busy with preparations for events ahead of the 70th anniversary of its founding.
A Daily NK source in Pyongyang told Daily NK on Monday that Kim Il Sung Military University is quite busy after being ordered to prepare for “several political events, including study sessions on the Supreme Leader’s greatness,” to mark the 70th anniversary of the school’s founding.
According to the source, Kim Il Sung Military University is busier this year than during other fifth and tenth year anniversaries because the Central Committee and the military’s General Political Bureau — lending political significance to the school’s status as Kim’s alma mater — are directly organizing all celebratory efforts and quietly providing material support.
The source said that prior to the anniversary of its founding, the school has been making all educators and students study the “greatness of the Great Three (Kim Il Sung, Jong Jong Il and Kim Jong Un),” with particular focus on the accomplishments of Kim Jong Il and the revolutionary activities of Kim Jong Un during his time as a student.
The study sessions are reportedly taking the form of Q&A sessions and intensive discussions.
The related study materials firstly highlights Kim Jong Il’s accomplishments, lauding how he worked to the day he died to strengthen and develop Kim Il Sung Military University — as an institution producing reliable military cadres for the party — into the world’s top military academy.
The materials also reportedly say that Kim Il Sung Military University could further shine as the “greatest hall of Juche military learning” thanks to its status as “the alma mater of Comrade Kim Jong Un.”
According to the source, the materials said this was because when Kim began studying at the school, he made a firm determination that as representative of the “Mangyongdae family” (North Korea’s ruling Kim family), he would “unify the fatherland” and build a strong nation, demonstrating the nation’s dignity through “unbeatable military strength,” a determination he has since been putting into practice.
Meanwhile, the Central Committee and military’s General Political Bureau are reportedly calling on October — the month of the 70th anniversary of Kim Il Sung Military University’s founding — to be the academy’s most festive month ever, with the school’s community using the month to glorify the academy with “high levels of political passion and shining academic results.”
The source said “medals and commendations” are being prepared for the school’s educators to mark the 70th anniversary of its founding, along with “gifts of televisions.”
The source said Taedonggang TV Factory and Pyongsong Semiconductor Factory are furuiously manufacturing about 3,000 “North Korean-style LCD TVs,” with parts already imported from abroad to produce the gift TV sets.
The source said while the school has put efforts into celebrating fifth and tenth year anniversaries before, this is the first time it has celebrated an anniversary in such grand style.
“Previously, the school usually prepared for [anniversary-related] events starting about 10 days in advance, but this time, with the school busy preparing from a month ahead of time, the excitement on campus is building day-by-day,” he said.
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