PYONGYANG - The top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Friday that the Korean People's Army (KPA) air force "will be given new strategic military assets and entrusted with a new important duty," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday.

Kim Jong-un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, attended celebration events held on Friday to mark the 80th founding anniversary of the KPA air force, the report said.

Kim said that the expectations of the WPK and the country for the air force which "will play a role in the exercise of the nuclear war deterrent" are very high, adding that the air force "should resolutely repulse and control all sorts of espionage acts and possible military provocations of the enemies to encroach upon the sovereign airspace of the DPRK with the overwhelming spiritual strength and offensive spirit."

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The top DPRK leader also watched the demonstration flight by the air force and conferred the Order of Kim Jong-il, the highest order of the DPRK, on the KPA air force, the report added.