News Desk
The Phyongchon Revolutionary Site located in Phyongchon District of Pyongyang (a munitions factory in the then Phyongchon-ri) is associated with the leadership of President Kim Il Sung.
Regarding the work to found and develop an armament industry as an important issue decisive of the rise and fall of the country and the future destiny of the nation, Kim Il Sung made sure that the first munitions factory was built in the country after its liberation (August 1945).
In October Juche 34 (1945), he chose Phyongchon Plain as the site for the factory on the spot and unfolded a far-reaching plan for founding an independent defence industry.
In September nearly two years later, he called officials of the factory and gave them a task of making submachine gun, and dispatched specialists, technicians and skilled workers together with its sample.
Looking at the prototype submachine gun made by the workers of the factory in a short period of 20 days, he said a weapon was not something mysterious. He stressed that they could manufacture more developed and powerful weapons than the submachine gun when they had firm faith and patriotic enthusiasm to make weapons by themselves.
Thanks to their devoted efforts, the factory mass-produced the submachine gun from the beginning of 1948 and began to produce bullets and shells.
On December 12, 1948, Kim Il Sung went to the firing range in Phyongchon Plain for the test-fire of the submachine gun.
Expressing his satisfaction at the submachine gun, he said that today it would demonstrate the might of the resourceful and talented Korean people to the whole world.
Then, he personally test-fired the submachine gun.
After examining the marks of targets, he spoke highly of the submachine gun for its good concentration and high rate of hits.
The day of significant test-fire is recorded in the history of the DPRK’s defence industry.
KCNA
