Korean Revolutionary Army—first revolutionary armed organization
July 24, 2026At the historic Kalun meeting (June 30-July 2 1930),
He founded the Korean Revolutionary Army though he planned to form a standing revolutionary armed force within a year or two. His intention was to prepare for the building of a large guerrilla force through its operations. Quite important were the mass foundation for an armed struggle laid and the experience for it gained in the course of the political and military activities of the KRA.
He led the preparations for forming the KRA with the main emphasis put on selecting young people as recruits for the army and acquiring weapons.
The preparations were made in various regions simultaneously under his guidance.
After the preparations, he convened a meeting of cadres of the Party and the Young Communist League on July 6 1930 to declare the formation of the KRA, the first revolutionary armed organization of the Korean revolutionaries.
At the inaugural ceremony, he made the historic speech, “On the Mission and Basic Tasks of the Korean Revolutionary Army” and gave the KRA soldiers weapons and red ribbons stamped with the name of the army.
The ceremony was held in a small school playground, but its significance was really great.
In accordance with the line of armed struggle put forward by him, the KRA was divided into many groups to be dispatched to various areas and conducted military and political activities wherever they went.
As a result, military preparations for the anti-Japanese armed struggle were staged on a full scale and a solid foundation was laid for building a new-type standing revolutionary armed force in less than two years.
THE PYONGYANG TIMES