Rodong Sinmun Saturday says this in an editorial marking the 18th anniversary of his election as chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission.

It goes on:

The election of Kim Jong Il as chairman of the National Defence Commission provided a sure guarantee for the prosperity of Kim Il Sung's Korea and the accomplishment of the revolutionary cause of Juche.

Kim Jong Il is the greatest-ever commander with literary and military accomplishments, talent and noble virtues and general type great statesman. He has made long journeys for the Songun guidance for several decades, regarding arms as the best weapon for the revolution since his early years, and performed shining feats in the building of a powerful country in the era of independence by skillfully combining politics and military affairs.

He has left giant footprints for Songun revolutionary leadership, shouldering upon himself the heavy responsibility as chairman of the NDC. This long period remains shining as an ever-victorious history in which the country has held aloft the socialist red flag of Juche, standing all tests of history, and as a course of leap forward in which the country's overall national power has dramatically grown strong and a great heyday for prosperity has arrived at this land.

The DPRK led by Kim Jong Il is an independent power powerfully demonstrating the dignity and spirit of the nation by relying on the matchless military capability, the country characterized by single-minded unity where the headquarters of the revolution and all the servicepersons and people are single-mindedly united and the country pulsating with uninterrupted leap forward and changes.

The army and the people of the DPRK feel confident of the victory in the revolutionary cause of Juche, when seeing the stirring reality of the country making a long drive under his Songun leadership, concludes the editorial.