Heroic Feats Performed by Defenders of 38th Parallel in Fatherland Liberation War

Pyongyang, July 24 (KCNA) -- People in the DPRK still remember the great feats performed by soldiers of the security brigades under the Security Bureau of the Ministry of the Interior by reliably defending the 38th parallel in the early days of the victorious 1950-1953 Fatherland Liberation War. At dawn of June 25, 1950, the south Korean puppet army launched a surprise attack against the DPRK all along the 38th parallel under the direct command of military advisors of the U.S. imperialist aggression forces, according to an already worked-out scenario. At that time, some 10 soldiers of the security brigades defending a route to Height Ongjin fought a bloody battle to frustrate the attack of a battalion and create a favorable condition for liberating the Ongjin Peninsula. Other defenders also repulsed the enemy and switched over to a counteroffensive through a close joint operation with units of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in all directions. Han So Hwan, who was an officer of the then 17th regiment headquarters of south Korean puppet army, recalled those days as follows: "At dawn of June 25, the army headquarters gave a top-secret order to advance toward areas north of the 38th parallel all at once. But, as soon as the advance started, we met a fierce counterattack of the security brigades. The clash along the 38th parallel was the harshest battle ever recorded in the past. The counterattack of the security brigades was so fierce that all officers and soldiers could hardly think what to do in that case, but were terrified out of wits." Thanks to the popular heroism and matchless self-sacrificing spirit displayed by the soldiers of the security brigades, the armed invasion launched by the U.S. imperialists was shattered from its beginning. Their heroic struggle afforded a decisive opportunity to the KPA units to make an instant counterattack upon the enemies all along the front. -0-