Kim Jong Il visited Kangson and kindled the flame of a new revolutionary upsurge last December. And, from the beginning of the new year, braving bitter cold, he has been continuing his journey of field guidance to units of the Korean People's Army and various sectors of the national economy to touch off a great leaping forward on all fronts of the building of a great, prosperous and powerful nation by giving the fullest scope to the mental spirit of the people and the army.

Having made a never-ceasing forced march of field guidance last year for the prosperity of the country, he visited the Guard Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Tank Division 105 of the KPA and congratulated its officers and men in the new year and showed them deepest benevolent affection.

Watching the valiant training of the soldiers of an artillery unit on his way of Songun leadership, he said the socialist motherland is invulnerable and the cause of building a great, prosperous and powerful nation is sure to be accomplished as it has the matchless great army that has become steel-strong in a nearly eight decade-long arduous struggle.

Making a round of the just completed Wonsan Youth Power Station, he bestowed the highest praise on the officials and working people in Kangwon Province as forerunners of self-reliance who built the structure of the Songun era by their own efforts in the hard time when the country were undergoing a grim test.

He had warmly supported the determination of the people of Kangwon Province to resolve the power problem by their own efforts and called at the construction site several times, encouraging the builders to heroic feats, and today he put them on the peak of glory. This warm love of the leader is stirring up the revolutionary zeal and militant morale of the entire army and people in the new year's march.

Nearly ten units have been reported to have been honored with his field guidance in the new year, which include the Taean Heavy Machine Complex and the Kum Song Tractor Plant seething with a new revolutionary upsurge amid the trust of the Workers' Party of Korea which set the working class up as the hero of the history of the great upsurge and the main combat unit in the building of a great, prosperous and powerful nation.

Juche 98(2009) will hold a brilliant place in the history of the country as a year of a new revolutionary upsurge thanks to the energetic field guidance given by Kim Jong Il day and night from the first morning of the new year to adorn the centennial of Kim Il Sung's Korea in the year number of Juche with a great victory of people-centered socialism.