In this period the servicepersons and people of the DPRK have hardened their will to perpetuate the memory of the leader, sorely missing him.

When a decree and a decision on conferring the title of DPRK Hero and the title of Generalissimo on him were issued, they expressed regret at the failure to present such honor in his lifetime, with tears in their eyes.

On January 12 the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea made public, reflecting their unanimous desire and ardent request, a special report that Kim Jong Il would be laid in state at the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, the sacred temple of Juche, and his statue would be erected. The report also said that his birthday (Feb. 16) would be instituted as the Day of the Shining Star and his smiling portraits and towers to his immortality built across the country.

The period is, in fact, the days when the Korean army and people's intense loyalty to leader Kim Jong Il and their will to hold him in high esteem forever were fully displayed.

They are now working harder to build a thriving country and accomplish the revolutionary cause of Juche, true to his behests.