2026-03-16 KOREAN NEWS

 THE EMBASSY OF THE DEMOCRATIC
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA TO SWITZERLAND

No 27/26
Mar 16, 2026

1. Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Votes in Election of SPA Deputies and Encourages Workers at Chonsong Youth Coal Mine

2. Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Plants Trees in Saeppyol Street on Tree-planting Day

3. KPA Long-range Artillery Sub-unit in Western Area Conducts Firepower Strike Drill

4. Report of Central Election Committee

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Votes in Election of SPA Deputies and Encourages Workers at Chonsong Youth Coal Mine

Pyongyang, March 16 (KCNA) -- The election of deputies to the 15th Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK took place at all the constituencies across the country on March 15 when the whole country was overflowing with the people's joy and excitement of greeting the historic day which would serve as an occasion to further consolidate the people-centered socialist system of Korean style and provide a powerful sovereign guarantee for the comprehensive development of the state.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, visited the Chonsong Youth Coal Mine under the Sunchon Area Youth Coal-mining Complex to vote at the polling station of the Sub-constituency No. 48 under the Constituency No. 150 for the election of SPA deputies.

When the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un arrived at the polling station, the coal miners and residents there broke into enthusiastic cheers, representing their boundless emotion and delight of being honored to have him, whom they longed to see even in their dreams, at their constituency on the meaningful election day which would serve as an occasion to consolidate the supreme power of the DPRK as firm as a rock with the hands of the people according to their will.

Kim Jong Un proceeded to the polling station, extending warm gratitude to the coal miners for having increased coal production to positively contribute to the development of the national economy with pure loyalty and gem-like patriotism to the Party and the revolution, the country and the people.

He was courteously greeted by Ri Kyong Chol, chief secretary of the South Phyongan Provincial Committee of the WPK, and leading officials of the Sunchon Area Youth Coal-mining Complex and the Chonsong Youth Coal Mine.

Accompanying him were Kim Jae Ryong, Ri Il Hwan, Kim Tok Hun and Kim Yo Jong, senior officials of the Party and the government.

Kim Jong Un received a voting card from the chairperson of the election committee and voted for Jo Chol Ho, manager of the Chonsong Youth Coal Mine under the Sunchon Area Youth Coal-mining Complex who is a SPA deputy candidate.

He met and had a conversation with Jo. He warmly encouraged Jo, hoping that Jo would faithfully discharge his responsibility and duty as a genuine representative of the people, a person directly engaged in sovereign activities and a political activist, deeply mindful that the trust and expectation of the coal miners and residents there mean the earnest requests of the country and the people.

Then he made a historic important speech to the voters of the coal mine.

All the participants were deeply moved by the passionate speech of Kim Jong Un who most highly appreciated the pure conscience and unknown efforts of the coal miners on behalf of the country and the times and unfolded a bright blueprint for transforming the coal mines across the country.

When Kim Jong Un finished his speech, they raised enthusiastic cheers, representing their boundless thanks to the outstanding leader of our revolution, the benevolent father of the people.

He learned about the conditions and production of the coal mine.

Underscoring again the importance of the coal industry's mission and role in ensuring the stable and sustained development of the national economy, he said that to shore up the coal front is a keystone of strategic significance not only in fulfilling the new five-year plan but also in developing the country in a forward-looking way.

He said that just as it is necessary to raise good crops for the living of the people, it is needed to increase the coal production for the running of a state. He stressed that the Party and the state should attach importance to the production of coal, the food of industry, and increase the state investment to it. He added that to build the Chonsong Youth Coal Mine into a standard one, where the mechanization and informatization of the work inside its pits are realized, is a starting point of the long-term project to transform the material and technical foundations of all the coal mines across the country and the working conditions of coal miners.

Whenever he looked back upon the arduous journey of our victorious struggle, he first thought of the unknown efforts of coal miners and always felt thankful for them, he said, adding that we should spare nothing for the coal miners. And he affirmed that it is the firm determination of the Party Central Committee to turn all the coal-mining villages into modern and cultural villages and towns during its ninth term, just like the Komdok area which has been ideally transformed in recent years, and that short-, medium- and long-term strategy for realizing it will be discussed at an earlier date.

That day, Kim Jong Un had a significant photo session with coal miners, labor innovators and officials of the Chonsong Youth Coal Mine in commemoration of his visit to it.

At the end of the photo session, the participants again broke into enthusiastic cheers, looking up to Kim Jong Un, which shook the mountains of the Chonsong area.

Warmly encouraging the coal miners full of great excitement, Kim Jong Un expressed expectation and belief that the workers of the coal mine would glorify the first year of implementing the decisions of the Party Congress with proud successes in increased production in redoubled and uplifted spirit filled with fresh confidence and optimism.

The workers of the Chonsong Youth Coal Mine, deeply moved by strong passion and affection, warm love and trust of the great father, firmly pledged to demonstrate their absolute support for the decisions of the Ninth Congress of the WPK through patriotic efforts for increased coal production and reliably guarantee the prosperity and development of the DPRK, bearing deeper in mind the honorable sense of obligation of defending the outpost for the development of the self-supporting economy.

Kim Jong Un's visit to the Chonsong Youth Coal Mine marked a historic occasion that finally broke with the technical and cultural backwardness in the coal industry and declared a fresh start for civilization and modernization, and an important political occasion that injected great vitality into the dynamic advance of the DPRK towards the comprehensive development.

 

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Plants Trees in Saeppyol Street on Tree-planting Day

Pyongyang, March 15 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, planted trees at the pondside park in Saeppyol Street on March 14, the tree-planting day.

Present at the tree planting were major leading cadres of the Party and the government, families of the martyrs of the overseas military operations who moved into their new houses in Saeppyol Street, officials of the Party and power organs in Hwasong District and students of revolutionary schools.

The participants were filled with great excitement and joy as they were to plant trees in the presence of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un in Saeppyol Street, a new street in the capital city where all the people across the country pay their respect and which represents the honor of our generation and pride of our state.

Ri Il Hwan, member of the Presidium of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee of the WPK, made a speech on tree planting.

He said today's tree-planting ceremony, held along with the start of the spring in 2026, is a manifestation of the sincerity to always remember the true patriots who added a new page to the history of the DPRK's glorious dignity and to add luster to the desire of the martyrs who wished their beloved motherland eternal prosperity with youthfulness, and an expression of the noble will to spruce up the country more beautifully and improve the environment of the capital city more wonderfully.

Noting that the unanimous intention and mind cherished in the hearts of all the people are to be planted together with trees, he added that it represents the sincerest love and thanks to the heroes and the patriotic mission and mind, fervent and invariable like theirs.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, together with other participants, planted for a long time the trees which will become new witnesses to the prospering capital city, saying that the true image of our generation following the noble spirit of heroic soldiers and reliably carrying forward the tradition of invincibility should be reflected, along with the history of the country growing stronger, in every tree that will grow with the souls of the martyrs of the overseas military operations, adding beauty to the landscape of Saeppyol Street full of joy of moving into new houses.

He said that the martyrs of the overseas military operations were the ardent ones who loved their native places, parents, wives and children more warmly than any others, and the ones strong in their ideological and mental power who turned the flavor and beautiful memory of the hometown, provided by a handful of earth they each had taken in the homeland, into their indomitable heroism under a shower of fire on the alien battlefields.

He hoped that the noble spirit of the martyrs would deeply permeate this land to build a solid pillar of patriotism in the hearts of all the people and help train all the coming generations to be the most righteous human beings.

Patriotism is the source of enthusiasm giving birth to the unlimited miraculous might and the driving force for creation and changes, he said, adding we will surely build a prosperous and strong country, the most powerful one in the world, by dint of great patriotism.

The participants lavished their sincerity on tree planting, cherishing the noble intention of the great father as the immutable truth and true value of patriotism.

The meaningful tree planting in Saeppyol Street, which took place in the presence of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, was an event of great significance that added vitality to the capital city and the great country to be eternally thriving and implanted true patriotism in the minds of the people.

 

KPA Long-range Artillery Sub-unit in Western Area Conducts Firepower Strike Drill

Pyongyang, March 15 (KCNA) -- A long-range artillery sub-unit of the Korean People's Army in the western area conducted a firepower strike drill on March 14.

The drill involved twelve 600mm-calibre ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, observed the firepower strike drill on the spot.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un stated briefly that the drill was aimed at making the army do what it should do.

He said that the drill would expose the forces hostile to the DPRK, the enemies within the 420-km striking range, to uneasiness, making a signaling wave stronger than the aimed, and give them a deep understanding of the destructive power of tactical nuclear weapon.

He affirmed that the drill is a regular one for checking the DPRK's defensive posture and war deterrence and such drill will be frequently conducted in the future, too.

He authorized Full General Jang Chang Ha, general director of the Missile Administration accompanying him, to command the drill, and came out to the launching position to give an instruction on the firing method.

At the central command post, Jang Chang Ha gave an order to open fire.

Making the deafening sound rending the air, multiple rocket companies opened fire in waves.

The launched rockets battered the island target in the East Sea of Korea about 364.4 km away with the accuracy of 100 percent, proving once again the destructive capability of their concentration strike and the system's military value once again.

After overseeing the firing drill, he spoke highly of the soldiers of the artillery sub-unit for being prepared for deftly handling the state-of-the-art multiple rocket launcher system. Then he once again praised the combat performance of the 600mm-calibre ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers, saying:

"It is indeed a very deadly yet attractive weapon.

Worldwide, there exists no tactical weapon that surpasses the performance of this weapon system.

This will be so in the coming few years.

Certainly, however, we will never mark time till that time, being content with this.

I always hold our defence scientists in respect and appreciate them for developing such a weapon system.

As I have already stated, our powerful attacking capability is, in effect, for defending ourselves.

It is because the most powerful attacking capability precisely means a reliable defence capability.

It is, in the true sense of the word, a means of deterring war.

But in case such deterrents of a defensive nature do not prevent foreign forces from launching an armed provocation or invading our state to jeopardize the security of its sovereignty, they will immediately be used for their second mission, i.e., as a means of massive, destructive strike.

As I have said several times, if this weapon is used, the opponent's military infrastructure within its striking range can never survive.

Our Party and the government of the Republic will maintain durable peace by means of powerful military capabilities.

Peace is something that should be defended rather than desired."

Kim Jong Un stressed the need for all units of the army at different levels to organize and wage high-intensity practical maneuvers under the simulated conditions of an actual war, true to the Party's policy of bringing about a radical turn in training, and maintain their full response posture to thoroughly frustrate any provocation by the enemies with overwhelmingly strong power.

 

Report of Central Election Committee

Pyongyang, March 16 (KCNA) -- The central election committee for the election of deputies to the 15th Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea issued the following report on March 15:

The election of deputies to the 15th Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is going on under the Law on the Elections of Deputies to the People's Assemblies at All Levels, amid the positive and unparalleled enthusiasm of all the voters to demonstrate the advantages and solidity of our state power with the people-first principle as its inherent political climate.

As of 18:00, voting was ended at all constituencies across the country and 99.99 percent of the electors registered on the voter rolls attended it.

 Overseas citizens of the DPRK staying in the homeland, too, took part in voting at their wishes.

 Those voters, troubled by aging or illness, cast their votes into mobile ballot boxes.

 The count of votes for the candidates for deputies to the SPA registered at relevant constituencies is being carried out at the constituency committees across the country.