Sunday 31 July 2011

LET US ACHIEVE THE GREAT UNITY OF OUR NATION-KIM IL SUNG

Align LeftKIM IL SUNG

LET US ACHIEVE THE GREAT UNITY OF OUR NATION

Talk to the Senior Officials of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland and

the Members of the North Side’s Headquarters of the Pan-National Alliance for the Country’s Reunification

August 1, 1991

The Pan-National Rally for the Peace and Reunification of the Fatherland was held last year on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of national liberation, and this year the second Pan-National Rally is to be held on August 15, too. I think it is a good thing that the Pan-National Rally and the various joint national festivals for reunifica­tion are held on the memorable occasion of the anniversary of national liberation. We must work hard to make the forthcoming events a success and a major occasion for achieving great national unity and hastening the reunification of the country.

Achieving the reunification of our country means linking the nation’s severed blood vessels, bringing about national harmony and gaining national independence across the country. In other words, it concerns the fate of our fellow-countrymen; it is a matter vital to our nation.

As is well known, our country was divided not because of contra­dictions within our nation; its division was imposed upon it exclu­sively by foreign forces. After the end of the Second World War the Korean question was dealt with to suit the interests of the great pow­ers, contrary to our nation’s desire and will to be independent, and the United States occupied south Korea. As a result, Korea was divided into north and south. It is because of continued interference and obstruction by foreign forces that Korea has not yet achieved her reunification.

In the half a century since our country was divided not a day has passed without our nation’s misfortunes and sufferings weighing on my mind, and without my thinking how the country can be reunified. We must not leave the task of national reunification to the younger generation. We must reunify the country in our lifetime. National reunification is the supreme desire of the Korean people and there is no more pressing task for them than to reunify their country.

The reunification of our country must be achieved independently and in a peaceful way, and this calls on us to achieve the great unity of the whole nation. The realization of the independent and peaceful reunification of the country is inconceivable without great national unity. Great national unity is a fundamental precondition for the achievement of the independent and peaceful reunification of our country, as well as the most essential aspect of it. The first and fore­most task in achieving national reunification is to achieve the great unity of our nation.

Whatever movement we may join, we can emerge victorious only when we strengthen the driving force and increase its role. This is an essential revolutionary truth which has been our philosophy and faith throughout the long revolutionary struggle.

The driving force for national reunification is the entire Korean nation. The reunification of the country is our nation’s cause of inde­pendence, and it can be achieved by the efforts of our nation alone. Every Korean person is responsible for national reunification and must bear his or her responsibility and play his or her allotted role in the struggle to reunify the country. If our nation, as the driving force for national reunification, is to fulfil its responsibility and role, it must be united firmly as one. The strength of the driving force is precisely the strength of its unity. The decisive guarantee for the independent and peaceful reunification of the country lies in the achievement of the unity of the whole nation and in strengthening the driving force for reunification.

All the Korean people must unite closely under the banner of great national unity, in the spirit of patriotism and national indepen­dence.

A nation is a solid community which has been formed and devel­oped historically, and it is a unit of social life. Historically, people have lived with their country and nation as a unit and have shaped their destiny through a combined effort. The question of a nation essentially means the question of achieving and defending its inde­pendence. Independence is the lifeblood of the people as well as of their country and nation. If a man is deprived of his independence, he is as good as dead; likewise, if a nation is deprived of its indepen­dence, its existence and development is inconceivable.

It is only when the independence of a country and a nation is achieved that the independence of individuals can be realized; no one can escape the fate of slavery if his country and nation is enslaved, for the life of an individual as a member of the nation exists in the life of his or her country and nation. It is precisely for this reason that, although a nation consists of different classes and strata, people love their country, value their nation’s independence and fight in unity for the independence of their country and nation. People love their fatherland and value the independence of their nation. These feelings are common to every member of a nation.

Originally, nationalism came about as a progressive idea promot­ing national interests. Under the banner of nationalism, the newly-emergent bourgeoisie took the lead in the nationalist movement, yet nationalism could not be regarded as an ideology of the capitalist class from the outset. During the period of the bourgeois nationalist movement against feudalism the interests of the popular masses were basically identical with those of the newly-emergent bour­geoisie and, accordingly, nationalism reflected the common interests of the nation. Subsequently, as capitalism developed and the bour­geoisie became the reactionary ruling class, nationalism was reduced to the ideological means for the capitalist class to defend its inter­ests. Bourgeois nationalism conflicts with genuine nationalism which truly promotes the interests of the nation. For idlers, who may be called the parasites of the nation, to pose as nationalists is nothing but a deception. Only he who does some work, mental or physical, which is beneficial to the nation, can be a genuine nationalist.

In our country, the land of a homogeneous nation, genuine nationalism means precisely patriotism. Our nation, which has inher­ited the same blood generation after generation and built up a bril­liant national culture with the same language on the same territory, is a nation with a strong spirit of patriotism and independence. Our people have always loved their fatherland ardently and fought strongly to defend the independence of their country and nation. This is a proud tradition of our nation.

My father put forward the idea of Jiwon (aim high—Tr.) and educated me in patriotism and in the spirit of national independence. So I set out on the road of struggle with a resolution to dedicate my whole life to saving the country and nation. My revolutionary activi­ties began with the struggle for national liberation and in the course of the struggle to establish the identity of the nation, the identity of the revolution, I have evolved the Juche idea, the guiding idea of our revolution. I have been fighting all my life for the independence, sovereignty and prosperity of our nation, for the independence of the masses of the people. I am fighting for the independence not only of our people but also of people throughout the world, and for the abo­lition of exploitation and oppression of man by man not only in our country but also throughout the world. Just as it is inconceivable for a person who does not love his parents and brothers to love his coun­try and nation, so it is unthinkable for a person who is indifferent to the destiny of his nation to be loyal to the world revolution. As I always say, only a genuine patriot can be a true internationalist who is loyal to the world revolution. I can say that, in this sense, I am a communist and patriot as well as an internationalist.

At the present stage of historical development, when the destiny of the popular masses is being shaped with the country and nation as the basic unit, the whole nation must firmly establish the identity of the nation and fight in unity for its common interests and prosperity. We must not only achieve national reunification on the basis of great national unity but also, after the country is reunified, build an ideal society by relying on the united efforts of the entire nation so that all the people enjoy equally unbounded happiness on this land.

A nation must regard its independence as its lifeblood, advocate and realize its independence by united effort and achieve its com­mon prosperity. I can say that this is our Juche view on the nation.

We have firmly adhered to the principle of always believing in and relying on the combined strength of the people both in the strug­gle against imperialism and in the struggle for the building of social­ism. We have always given top priority to national interests and relied on the combined strength of the people in the struggle. We can say that this is the secret of the victory we have achieved in the revo­lution and construction.

We emerged victorious from the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle for national liberation because the guerrillas and the people forged ties of kinship and all the anti-Japanese patriotic forces fought in close unity. During the anti-Japanese revolutionary strug­gle we brought together patriotic people from all walks of life into the anti-Japanese national united front and fought Japanese imperial­ism with the united strength of the nation. The Association for the Restoration of the Fatherland, formed in 1936, was an anti-Japanese national united front comprising broad sections of patriotic people who opposed Japanese imperialism and aspired to national indepen­dence. This association united all the anti-Japanese patriotic forces from all walks of life including communists, nationalists, workers, peasants, intellectuals, young people and students, as well as consci­entious national capitalists and religious men. We established the tradition of national unity in the course of waging the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle, relying on the broad-based anti-Japanese national united front.

In the struggle to build a new society after national liberation, too, we channelled our efforts firstly into achieving great national unity. In the speech I addressed to the people after national libera­tion, I called upon all the people who loved their country and nation and democracy to unite as one and make a positive contribution to nation-building, those with strength giving their strength, those with knowledge contributing their knowledge and those with money offering their money. We have pushed forward dynamically with the building of a democratic new state and with socialist construction, relying on the combined strength of all the people. Our socialist con­struction aims at enabling all our people to lead happy and worth­while lives in a society free from exploitation and oppression. The socialist society we are building is socialism centred on the popular masses. Socialism centred on the popular masses means a genuine society for the people where all the people are the masters of the country and everything in society serves the popular masses. We need not build socialism which does not serve the popular masses, and we cannot build socialism centred on the popular masses with­out uniting the popular masses.

The aim of the reunification of our nation is to realize the inde­pendence of our nation, to achieve the common development and prosperity of the nation and to ensure that all the Korean people lead happy and worthy lives in one reunified land. It is natural, therefore, that all the people should combine their will and rally as one in the struggle for national reunification, and this is fully possible.

The Joint Conference of the Representatives of Political Parties and Social Organizations of North and South Korea was held in Pyongyang in 1948. We called this conference to discuss the pressing save-the-nation measures and national reunification. The conference was attended by representatives of almost all the political parties and social organizations of south Korea , except Syngman Rhee’s party. Kim Ku, the leader of the “Korean Independence Party”, too, attended the conference. In pre-liberation years when he was in the “Provi­sional Government in Shanghai ” Kim Ku had regarded communists as his enemies. But he attended the conference having accepted our just proposal to meet and have a heart-to-heart discussion on impor­tant questions concerning the destiny of the nation as members of the same nation, and he eventually took the road of alliance and coalition with us communists. He had no clear idea of what a gen­uine communist was, but he was a patriot. He made a fine speech at the north-south joint conference and after his return to south Korea he fought for national unity and reunification before being assassi­nated by the Yankees and their stooges. The historic April north-south joint conference served as clear proof that despite differences in ideologies and ideals, political views and religious beliefs all peo­ple can unite in the struggle for the common cause of the nation.

If the whole nation fights in concert, drawing on the traditions and experience of national unity built up in the course of the struggle to realize our nation’s independence, we shall not fail to achieve national reunification, the supreme task of the nation.

The concert and unity of the whole nation means the national reunification we desire. What is most important in national reunifi­cation is not the procedures or methods but the achievement of the genuine harmony and unity of the whole nation. If all Korean people in the north, south and overseas unite their minds and, on this basis, attain great national unity the most important problem in achieving national reunification will have been solved and then other problems can be resolved easily.

In recent years signal progress has been made in our efforts to bring about national unity. Last year, after the August 15 Pan-National Rally, the Pan-National Reunification Concert was held; also the north-south reunification football matches and art festival took place. This year the north and the south formed unified teams and participated jointly in the World Table Tennis Championships and the World Youth Football Championship. This was a result of our people’s desire for reunification that was stronger than ever before and the intensified trend towards national concert and unity. This delighted all the brethren in the north, south and abroad and led them to gain national pride and confidence. If the minds of all our compatriots are united as one, the great unity of the whole nation will be achieved and the country reunified. It is in this sense, I think, that the Rev. Mun Ik Hwan in south Korea said that our nation had been reunified now, that the reunification was in the perfect tense.

It is also for the sake of genuine national concert and reunifica­tion that we have advanced proposals on national reunification through confederation based on one nation, one state, two systems and two governments. Since there exist two different ideologies and systems in the north and south of our country, the confederation for­mula is the only way to achieve national harmony and reunification. In the light of the situation prevailing in our country it is wrong for either side to attempt to attain reunification by conquering the other. An ideology and system should be chosen by the people themselves of their own accord, not through coercion from outsiders. If one side were to try to impose its ideology and system on the other, it would be impossible to realize national reunification; it would rather aggra­vate the confrontation within our nation and cause further national calamity. The ideological and institutional differences within our nation should be gradually overcome not by coercive methods but by strengthening national unity based on the common interests of the nation. The most essential interests of our nation lie in the nation’s reunification free from any foreign domination and interference. In spite of the ideological and institutional differences within our nation we, as a single people, can bring about reunification and work together for the common prosperity of the nation.

Whether they are in the north, south or abroad, whether they are workers, farmers, intellectuals, young people, students, politicians, businessmen, religious men, or soldiers, Koreans must all unite and strive to achieve the reunification of their country, the common cause of the nation. Just as our people did in the days of building a new country, compatriots from all strata in the north, south and abroad must join hands in the cause of national reunification; those who have strength should contribute their strength, those who have knowledge their knowledge and those who have money their money.

The workers, farmers and intellectuals form the major force of the nation. If they cooperate and unite, while maintaining their own characteristics, they can form a mighty, independent driving force of the nation and achieve reunification. Workers and farmers should join hands with intellectuals, while intellectuals should cast in their lot with workers and farmers and thereby fulfil their role as the motive force in the struggle for the country’s reunification. It is unfair to underestimate the role of intellectuals or to adopt a narrow-minded attitude towards them. When founding the Party, we defined intellectuals, along with workers and farmers, as one of its compo­nents. Our Party’s emblem consists of a hammer, a sickle and a writ­ing brush. These symbolize the workers, farmers, and intellectuals who make up our Party. When we began to build a new society immediately after liberation, we did not leave out the intellectuals, arguing that they had served Japanese imperialism. We believed in their patriotism and spirit of national independence and generously brought them to our side. We regarded the intellectuals scattered across the country as the nation’s treasure and searched for them one by one. We positively encouraged them to play an important role in the building of a new country. Our intellectuals trusted and followed our Party and have thrown in their lot with it. They dedicated all their efforts and talents to the building of the new democratic Korea . They also fought courageously in the Fatherland Liberation War against US imperialist aggression, and after the war they worked for socialist revolution and construction.

Today the south Korean intellectuals, too, are fighting well for the reunification of the country. The young people and students of south Korea are ardently patriotic and have a strong spirit of inde­pendence against the US . They are playing a central, leading role in the struggle to make south Korean society independent and demo­cratic and to reunify the nation. The south Korean young people and students who are struggling heroically, dedicating their precious youth without hesitation for independence, democracy and national reunification are the pride of our nation.

In addition to the workers, peasants and intellectuals, there are many people in south Korea from different backgrounds who live in different conditions. We must not neglect them. We must achieve national unity on the principle of welcoming everyone without hesi­tation, who is not a traitor to the nation.

It is very important to have a correct understanding of religions and to work properly with religious believers. People believe in a religion because they take their sufferings and misfortunes in this world as predestined, and they yearn for happiness in the next world. Therefore, we cannot call them bad. What is bad is the anti-popular politics that misleads people about the situation and reactionary rulers who misuse religions, making them an instrument for paralysing the people’s consciousness of independence and ensuring that the people obey their rule. Progressive religious believers wish the people to love one another and live in harmony. The south Kore­an men of religion are opposed to the foreign invaders who keep our nation artificially divided and who suppress the champions of reuni­fication at the point of the bayonet. We must be highly appreciative of the devoted struggle of the south Korean men of religion for national reunification and unite with them.

It is mortifying that in south Korea young people, the sons and daughters of the nation, serve in the “ROK army” under the com­mand of Americans who use it as a tool for their neo-colonialist domination and for the implementation of their policy of keeping our nation divided. We must awaken the officers and men of the “ROK army” to the anti-national and anti-popular nature of the imperialists and their minions so that they stand firmly by their own nation and people and cooperate with their parents and brothers in the struggle for independence, democracy and national reunification.

As I always say, reunification means patriotism and division means treason. Those Koreans who desire national reunification and strive for it are patriots, whereas those who are opposed to reunifica­tion and accept division in league with foreign forces are traitors. By this criterion we must unite with all those who support reunification and advance with them in the same ranks. Even one who may have once been opposed to reunification and have committed crimes against the country and the nation, if he repents of his mistake and takes part in the struggle for patriotism and reunification, must be allowed to start with a clean slate and join hands with us.

There are many people who once led a dishonourable life in the eyes of the nation but have broken with their past and taken the patriotic road of national unity and national reunification. Mr. Choe Tok Sin was one of them. As you all know, he served as a corps commander of the “ROK army” and “foreign minister” in south Korea . While he was pursuing the road of pro-US, anti-communism at important military and political posts, he gradually began to feel disillusioned about the traitorous and anti-reunification acts of the ruling authorities and took refuge in a foreign country with the aim of living an honest life for the nation. While in exile he engaged in patriotic activities for bringing about the independence and democ­racy of south Korean society and reunifying the country. He became clearly aware of which was the patriotic way to follow during many visits to the homeland. He was moved by the fact that our Republic, which is independent, self-sufficient and self-reliant in defence, is displaying the pride and dignity of the Korean nation. He also sym­pathized with our consistent, just policy of embracing and joining hands with all those who love their country and nation, regardless of differences in political views, ideas and religions without asking about their past, and the policy of great national unity. He said he had found a paradise on Earth in the homeland, the land of bliss which he, as a nationalist and Chondoist, had aspired to and sought all his life. With a determination to dedicate the rest of his life to the just cause of the country and the nation, he applied for permanent residence in the homeland. Although he had opposed us in the past, we positively supported his decision and agreed to join hands with him for the sake of great national unity and the reunification of the country since he was resolved to break with the past and make a fresh start for the sake of the country and the nation. After being taken into the embrace of the homeland, he worked with devotion to the last moment of his life as the Chairman of the Central Commit­tee of the Chondoist Chongu Party and the Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland; he did so for the prosperity and development of the country, for great national unity and for the country’s reunification. He passed away, failing to see the day of national reunification to which he had looked forward. But in his last years he joined the ranks of the national reunification movement and marched forward with his fel­low countrymen. As a result, he came to enjoy immortality as a patriotic martyr who is held in affection by the people, and who helped his compatriots at home and abroad to understand the real meaning of national concert and great unity.

For the realization of great national unity compatriots from all social strata in the north, south and abroad must place their common national interests above all else and subordinate everything to national reunification, transcending differences in ideas, social sys­tems and religious beliefs. We must regard this as a fundamental principle in achieving great national unity and firmly adhere to this principle.

Our national community which has been formed and consolidat­ed over a history of five thousand years is greater than transient dif­ferences in social systems, ideals and ideologies which have come about owing to national division; the common national desire to achieve reunification as a homogeneous nation is incomparably more important than the interests of individual social classes and social strata. Although the defence of the ideals and ideologies of individual classes and strata and the realization of their interests are important, it is even more important to realize the common cause of the nation. Classes and strata form part of the nation. Therefore, no class and no stratum can realize its own interests apart from the common national interests. Only when there is a nation can there be classes, and only when national interests are guaranteed can the interests of the classes be ensured.

Today when the independence of our nation is being trampled upon by foreign forces, no class or stratum, if it belongs to the Korean nation, should hamper the achievement of national reunifi­cation, the common cause of our nation, by putting its interests to the fore. There should be no practice of placing class interests ahead of national interests, or of setting the struggle to satisfy class demands against the struggle for national reunification, swayed by minor interests and prejudices. Moreover, for fellow countrymen to reject or repress one another on the strength of government authority because of differences in political views, isms and assertions or for them to be hostile to one another because of differences in ideas and social systems—these are fun­damentally contrary to the principle of great national unity jointly agreed upon between north and south, and such acts are intolera­ble for the nation. Our people will never be able to achieve their reunification if the two sides reject and are hostile towards each other, putting differences to the fore instead of uniting on their common ground as a single nation.

If the great unity of the nation is to be achieved, contacts and vis­its should be widely encouraged among the fellow countrymen in the north, south and abroad and dialogue be promoted actively among them.

If the whole nation is to act in concert and pool its strength for the common purpose, an atmosphere of understanding and confi­dence should be created within the nation. Because our country has been divided and the north and the south have been alienated from each other for a long time, some people misunderstand their fellow countrymen, believing them to be their enemy, and some people hes­itate to go hand in hand with their fellow countrymen because of a lack of confidence, although they wish to see national unity. In order to remove such misunderstanding and distrust within the nation and realize national concert and unity, it is necessary to encourage free visits, contacts and talks.

What is important in realizing free travel and contact and wide-ranging dialogue is to pull down the barrier of division and remove all political and legal obstacles to it. We have already made propos­als for removing the barrier of division, ensuring free travel and opening all doors between north and south and have been making untiring efforts to realize them. The point in question is that the south Korean authorities should pull down the barrier of division and remove all obstacles that hamper free travel, contact and dia­logue among the fellow countrymen in the north, south and abroad. Today the “National Security Law” of south Korea is a major obsta­cle to free travel, contact and dialogue between north and south. In south Korea those who have been to the north or who have discussed reunification in foreign lands with people from the north are pun­ished under the “National Security Law”. The Rev. Mun Ik Hwan, who is over 70, a young girl student Rim Su Gyong and other visi­tors to the north, as well as a large number of those working for reunification, are currently imprisoned under this law. If this wicked law is not repealed, there can be neither free travel and contact nor free dialogue between north and south. That is why the “National Security Law” must be abolished as soon as possible.

In order to achieve great national unity we must strengthen nationwide solidarity in the struggle for national reunification.

Great national unity cannot be achieved only by words. It can be achieved and consolidated in the course of developing joint action by uniting minds and efforts in the struggle to reunify the country. All political parties, organizations and compatriots from all walks of life in the north, south and abroad must support one another and take concerted action in the struggle for the country’s reunification.

The cardinal task here is to check and frustrate the schemes of the forces which are opposed to reunification and working to keep the nation divided for ever and provoke another war. In order to isolate and weaken these forces and defeat their divisive moves, the compatriots in the north, south and abroad must develop an active joint struggle in various forms. The tens of thousands of US troops and more than 1,000 nuclear weapons of various types deployed in south Korea are the root cause of tension on the Korean peninsula and pose the threat of a nuclear war. We must have the US troops and nuclear weapons withdrawn from south Korea as soon as possible and thus remove the danger of a nuclear war that threatens the exis­tence of our nation; thus we shall provide a firm guarantee for peace on the Korean peninsula. All our compatriots in the north, south and abroad must launch a nationwide struggle to compel the US to with­draw its troops and nuclear weapons from south Korea and make the Korean peninsula a nuclear-free, peace zone.

In order to achieve great national unity all the political parties, organizations and compatriots of all strata in the north, south and abroad that are struggling for the reunification of the country must ally themselves with one another organizationally.

It is only when all our compatriots who adhere to the patriotic cause of reunification are organized into an allied force that solid national unity can be achieved and unity of action and unanimity ensured in the struggle for the country’s reunification.

For the organized unity of the whole nation, there must be an organization that can ensure the voluntary association of our compa­triots of all strata in the north, south and abroad. I believe that the Pan-National Alliance for the Country’s Reunification which was inaugurated in accordance with the decision of the Pan-National Rally last year can be such an organization. The Pan-National Alliance for the Country’s Reunification was formed through the joint efforts of the patriotic organizations and public figures of all strata in the north, south and abroad that aspire to the independent and peaceful reunification of the country. It is a patriotic organiza­tion for reunification, whose mission is to reunify the country on the three principles of independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity, and which represents the common will of Kore­ans in the north, south and overseas. It has the important duty and responsibility of achieving great national unity and hastening the reunification of the country. It will have to work hard, conducting a variety of activities, to expand and strengthen its ranks steadily among our compatriots and to hasten national reunification.

Many obstacles and difficulties still lie in the way of the reunifi­cation of our country, but we are looking forward with confidence to the bright future of national reunification.

Our nation’s move towards reunification is now stronger than ever before. Our compatriots in the north, south and abroad are working hard with a firm determination to reunify the country with­out fail in the 1990s. Nobody can break our people’s will to reunify their country, and no force can ever check our nation’s strong move towards national reunification. Through the united efforts of the whole nation, our people will overcome the obstacles and difficulties in their way to national reunification and reunify their country, come what may.

Once the country is reunified, our nation will be a dignified and strong nation and our country will emerge on the world stage as an independent and sovereign country with more than seventy million people, a brilliant national culture and a powerful economy. Our nation is industrious and resourceful, and our country is a beautiful land of three thousand ri in which it is good to live. When the whole nation is united as one, and when the country is reunified, there will be nothing for us to fear or envy. Our people will proudly display the resourcefulness and greatness of the Korean nation and nobody will dare to encroach upon our sovereignty. If the whole nation com­bines its efforts and talents and develops the economy and culture after the country’s reunification, our country will be more prosper­ous and civilized, and it will make a more effective contribution to the common cause of the people in Asia and the rest of the world for peace and prosperity.

For the Korean people to devote themselves to national reunifica­tion is most honourable and worthwhile. Those who have contribut­ed to the noble cause of national reunification will be held in love and respect by the nation and will be highly appreciated by the reunified nation.

I believe that you comrades, who are at the forefront of the strug­gle for national reunification, will carry out the honourable duty entrusted to you by the country and the nation.

Thursday 28 July 2011

Free Medical Care System Introduced in DPRK in Wartime

Pyongyang, July 28 (KCNA) -- The DPRK introduced a universal, free medical care system in the country in the period of the hard-fought Fatherland Liberation War (1950-1953).

One January day in Juche 41 (1952), an official of the Ministry of Public Health, was summoned by President Kim Il Sung to the supreme command of the Korean People's Army.

Some days ago, the official had submitted to the President a suggestion that a large amount of money should be allocated to killing germs spread by the U.S. through bombs.

When he arrived at the supreme command, the President told him that the Korean people were fighting at the cost of their lives in both front and rear for the victory in the war and that a free medical care system should be applied to them.

The official was surprised by what the President said because he knew well that the country, though it was at war, should allot a huge amount of money for a universal, free medical care system.

The President went on to say though the economic situation of the country was difficult, a free medical treatment system was necessary to promote public health. Nothing is more important than the people's health, he added.

The cabinet made public a decision on November 13, 1952, to introduce a universal, free medical care system in the country.

The landmark decision stirred up the hearts of all people. -0

Anniversary of Sinking of 'General Sherman' Observed

Pyongyang, July 28 (KCNA) -- A seminar in the field of social sciences took place in Pyongyang on Thursday to mark the 145th anniversary of the sinking of the U.S. imperialist aggressor ship "General Sherman".

Present there were Thae Hyong Chol, president of the Academy of Social Sciences, officials concerned, researchers, teachers, journalists and editors in social sciences, education and media.

Prof. and Dr. Jo Hui Sung, director of an institute of the Academy of Social Sciences, proved at the seminar that the intrusion of "General Sherman" which was a curtain raiser to the aggression of Korea was the first armed invasion carried out by the U.S. reactionary government under its long-term premeditated preparations.

Dr. Kim Pyong Chol, head of a department of Kim Il Sung University, said that Koreans started an all-out attack in September 1866 under the command of ardent patriot Kim Ung U, sending the ship into the bottom of the Taedong River through a large-scale fire-attack. The sinking of the ship was the fruition of the patriotic self-sacrificing struggle waged by people of the Walled City of Pyongyang, he added.

The floor was also taken by Associate Professor Kim Tok Song, head of a department of Kim Hyong Jik University of Education, Hwang Yun Ju, teacher of Kim Chol Ju University of Education, Prof. and Candidate Academician and Dr. Ri Yong Hwan, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences.

They referred to the facts that the U.S. imperialists, far from drawing a proper lesson from the incident of "General Sherman," got more frantic in their aggression of Korea as it was evidenced by their exhumation of Prince Nam Yon's Tomb and their large-scale armed invasion in 1871.

They noted that the U.S. imperialists' aggression which was kicked off with the intrusion of the ship is still going on and their forces' presence in south Korea is bringing unspeakable misfortune and sufferings to the Koreans.

If the U.S. imperialists ignite another war in Korea, the army and people of the DPRK will wipe them out with decisive and deadly retaliatory blows and achieve the historic cause of national reunification, they stressed. -0-

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Report of July 23rd seminar on Fatherland Liberation War

Report of meeting of the Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK and the Juche Idea Study Group of England which was held on the 23rd of July in the Fox Room Conway Hall central London. The meeting was attended by members of the ASSPUK , JISGE andalso the UK KFA . An independent councillor of Breckland district council was introduced to the meeting.
The president of the ASSPUK spoke on Songun Politics and the Fatherland Liberation War . The speaker explained the significance of Juche and Songun in the Fatherland Liberation War. He quoted the speech of the great leader Marshal Kim Il Sung "Go All Out for Victory in the War " which said
"If they do not want to become the slaves of foreign imperialists again, the entire Korean people must rise as one in the national-salvation struggle to overthrow and smash the traitorous Syngman Rhee "regime" and its army. We must, at all costs, win ultimate victory.

I call upon the entire Korean people to unite more closely around the Government of the DPRK in order quickly to destroy the armed forces and the police system of the traitorous Syngman Rhee clique. "

The speaker explained that "Original Juche-orientated tactics were applied at different stages of the war . As I said that purpose of this paper is not to give every twist and turn of the war or a potted history of it . One such tactic was the idea of forming a second front , of course some will say what about the second world war. However there was one crucial difference in the second world the second front was meant to be formed in several countries ,however in Korea you had a second front formed within one country . Some retreating units formed combined units with KPA units that had penetrated the enemy’s rear and attacked the US forces from behind their own lines . US general Walker of the 8th army was killed by such a unit ."

The 1st Secretary of the DPRK embassy introduced himself to members . He spoke about the World Juche idea conference in Pyongyang in April 2012 and hoped that the group
would send a delegation.

The secretary of the JISGE spoke on the struggle for Korea's independent reunification , the By Our Nation Itself " idea and the struggle against the south Korean puppets . He pointed out that all foreign troops were withdrawn from the DPRK by 1958 but US troops have remained in south Korea for many decades . The DPRK is totally independent , a creation of the people's will whereas the south Korean regime is a puppet of the US. The DPRK has successfully launched 2 artificial satellites in 1998 and 2009 . Both used 100 % DPRK technology and resources. South Korea tried to launch a rocket using foreign made components and designs and it was not launched from south Korea but from Kazakhstan and even then it blew up.
The DPRK under the leadership of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung struggled for reunification . The 1972 north-south joint statement was a great breakthrough. The great leader comrade Kim Il Sung published the 10 plan for Korea's reunification in 1993. The great leader comrade Kim Jong Il developed the concept of "By our nation itself" which was embodied in the agreements of June 15th 2000 and October 4th 2007. However the reactionary conservative Lee Myung Bak puppet regime in south Korea shouting about the "lost decade" is breaking agreements and inciting confrontation . Worse still many pro reunification patriots have been arrested in the south .
Participants in the seminar pointed out that south Korean jaebols such as Samsung are 82% foreign owned. The Cheonan case was denounced as a fake .

The chairman of the JISGE spoke about the Songun revolutionary leadership of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il over 5 decades which resulted in great victories. He also spoke about the work done for the cause of global independence . A university lecturer from the University of London recalled his meeting with the great leader President Kim Il Sung . He said the president was a deeply conscientious man who looked after everyone and had remarkable intelligence . The President personified the will of the Korean people.

Questions were asked about DPRK-GDR Friendship . Participants said that the DPRK is the only socialist state holding out against US imperialism all its own.

The meeting adopted a message to the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il and also to the AINDF of south Korea and to Norway KFA .

Meeting closed at 5pm Some participants then went on the birthday celebrations of the JISGE chairman. This was a lively event with food and music including the "Internationale " , " July 27th our Victory " , "A Nation Once Again " , "Merry Ploughboy" and " Soldiers Song".

Speech on Songun Politics and the Fatherland Liberation War made to July 23rd Seminar

July 23rd Speech


Comrades and friends
it is not the purpose of this paper to provide a blow by blow account of the war that occured in Korea between June 1950 and July 1953 nor is a Phd style in depth paper analysing every factor involved . This is aimed at explaining the significance of July 27th in DPRK and world history and also within the context of the DPRK ‘s Songun (military first politics) and the Juche idea.

July 27th means the day of the second liberation for the army and people of the DPRK as they defeated the U.S. imperialists and honorably protected the sovereignty of the country under the leadership of President Kim Il Sung. The first liberation day being the liberation from Japanese imperialism on August 15th 1945 .July 27th is when the Korean Armistice Agreement was concluded at Panmumjom in Korea . July 27th is a public holiday in the DPRK . History books published in certain countries like to gloss over the fact that this was indeed a victory for the people of the DPRK and that the armstice agreement actually included the proviso that the US was to withdraw from Korea and a political conference for Korea;’s reunification would be held but as I am sure we all know Americans aren-’t very good at honouring agreements and the such like.
So July 27th in the DPRK is celebrated proudly as is, at the same time, the day of glory that makes the generations of Korean people to come cherish the precious legacy of victory to be glorified by them, always remembering it.

The above-said victory constitutes a shining victory won thanks to the outstanding military idea, strategy and tactics and extraordinary commanding art of the President, the founder of the Songun idea and the pioneer of the revolutionary cause of Songun. The Songun idea is the idea of giving priority to the military and national defence and is based on the concept that the revolution is defended and advanced by the force of arms.

The victory in the Fatherland Liberation was won thanks to the heroic struggle of the Korean People's Army, the heir to the Songun traditions established in the period of the anti-Japanese struggle, and the army-people unity attained on the road of Songun . It was a victory for the Juche-orientated revolutionary military strategy of the great revolutionary Marshal Kim Il Sung.

When the war started in June 1950 . The DPRK was only just under 2 years old . It is main priority was economic construction and the improvement of people’s living standards . It had not wanted a war but was not afraid of it. The allies of the DPRK , the USSR and China were not in a good position to give much help as the USSR was still recovering from the devastation of World War 2 and the People’s Republic of China had only been founded 9 months before . The great revolutionary leader Marshal Kim Il Sung explained ““We must solve our problems no matter who is helping us and what help we get...... Victory must be won by our strength”.


It was the severe test for the DPRK that was only 2 years old at the test to fight the United States . The DPRK’s population was less than /15th the size of the US population . The US was the victor of the Second world war . They had emerged as the strongest imperialist power and the king of the capitalist world. Unlike other imperialist countries such as the UK and Germany , the mainland territory of the US had not been bombed . Its armed forces were formidable having defeated Nazi Germany and imperialist Japan . From 1948 the US had started increasing military expenditure . During the war the DPRK not only to face the war machine of the US empire and the south Korean puppet forces but troops from 15 satellite countries and also Japan participated in the war in secret , in some cases wearing south Korean uniforms.

The KPA and the people of the DPRK led by the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung based themselves on the Juche-orientated military theory that the outcome of war is simply determined by weapons but by those who hold those weapons-humans. This is an application of the core philosophical concept of Juche that people are the masters of everything and decide everything.
When the DPRK was attacked on the 25th of June 1950 although it initially called for south Korea to cease hostilities ,when this was not forthcoming the KPA under the command of the great leader Marshal Kim Il Sung went over to the counter-offensive.
To quote from the historic speech of the great revolutionary leader Marshal Kim Il Sung titled “Go All Out for Victory in the War June 26th 1950

“If they do not want to become the slaves of foreign imperialists again, the entire Korean people must rise as one in the national-salvation struggle to overthrow and smash the traitorous Syngman Rhee "regime" and its army. We must, at all costs, win ultimate victory.

I call upon the entire Korean people to unite more closely around the Government of the DPRK in order quickly to destroy the armed forces and the police system of the traitorous Syngman Rhee clique.
The history of mankind shows that a people that defies death and rises in the struggle for freedom and independence is always victorious. Ours is a just struggle. Victory for our people is certain. I am confident that our just struggle for the country and the people will triumph.
The time has come to reunify our country. Let us march forward valiantly with firm confidence in victory!
Go all out to assist our People's Army and the front!
Go all out to defeat and wipe out the enemy!

This was immensely stirring speech,full of militant revolutionary optimism that inspired the KPA and Korean people to great victories . It should also be added that the speech called for the workers in south Korea to organise strikes and riots against the decaying Syngham Rhee regime .
Thus the DPRK went over to an immediate counter -offensive smashing the invasion of the Sygnham Rhee puppet troops . The KPA under the command of Marshal Kim Il Sung
liberated Seoul on the 28th of June , the third day of the war and 2 days after the historic speech “Go All for Victory in the War “ . Rather than “ taking breakfast in Haeju , lunch in Pyongyang and Dinner in Sinuiji ( Haeju being a town near to the 38th parallel and of course Sinuiji being near the Chinese border) as they had bragged the south Korean puppets found themselves overwhelmed by the strong and decisive counter-offensive of the KPA .
The KPA smashed General Smith’s US infantry unit on the 7th of July , this was the first decisive battle between the KPA and the US army . The KPA then went on to carry out a successful encircling operation against the so called invincible US 24th infantry division commanded by General Dean . This took place at Taejon . It was an example of the military strategic genius of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung .Dean was captured, trying to ran away , by a 16 year old KPA soldier . It you visit the splendid Fatherland Liberation War museum in Pyongyang you can not only see the grand diorama of the Taejon liberation battle but also General Dean’s stars and a pair of his boots . I believe this was the first time that a US general was captured by the opposing side .
It can be added as an aside here that in the first stages of the war the KPA liberated 90 % of south Korean territory on their own . In the liberated south the people’s committees were restored . On July 4th 1950 land reform was carried out in the south with peasants receiving land free of charge. Many other progressive measures were implemented.

Original Juche-orientated tactics were applied at different stages of the war . As I said that purpose of this paper is not to give every twist and turn of the war or a potted history of it . One such tactic was the idea of forming a second front , of course some will say what about the second world war. However there was one crucial difference in the second world the second front was meant to be formed in several countries ,however in Korea you had a second front formed within one country . Some retreating units formed combined units with KPA units that had penetrated the enemy’s rear and attacked the US forces from behind their own lines . US general Walker of the 8th army was killed by such a unit .

The KPA used tunnel warfare . Korea was indeed as some said the war before Vietnam and later the Vietnamese liberation forces employed tunnel warfare against the US in their war. The KPA which was the successor to the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army had accumulated guerrilla warfare tactics and turned this to good account against the US .
During the Fatherland Liberation War the concept of army-people unity , which is one of the pillars of Songun, came into full force. The people supported the KPA in all sorts of ways , by increasing industrial and agricultural production and by forming guerrilla units hitting the enemy hard .
After 3 years of war the US fell to it knees and signed the Armstice Agreement on 27th July 1953 . General Mark Clark who signed the agreement for the US could only conclude “ -"I gained the unenviable distinction of being the first United States Army Commander in history to sign an armistice without a victory," . The US’s own narrow and curtailed statistics for its losses in the was showed it lost nearly the same number in 3 years in Korea than it did in 10 years in Vietnam . Overall the US imperialists lost over : 1,567,128 men including 405,498 US soldiers, 1,130,965 south Korean puppet troops, and 30,665 soldiers of their satellite states were killed, wounded or captured; 12,224 airplanes includ­ing "air fortress B-29" were downed, damaged or captured, 7,695 guns, 3,255 233 tanks and armoured cars were lost; and 564 warships and vessels including the heavy cruiser Baltimore and the flagship of the Seventh Fleet Missouri were sunk or damaged. The loss suffered by the US imperialists was nearly 2.3 times greater than what they had suffered in the four years of the Pacific War during World War II. It was an appalling loss and a serious military defeat unprecedented in the US history of war.
It was the first defeat for US imperialism . The scheme to attack China and destroy the socialist camp was shattered .US imperialism was stopped its tracks . The defeat of the US in the Fatherland Liberation War showed that small countries not just big countries can win against US imperialism The US defeat in Korea was followed by the successful Cuban revolution and the Bay of Pigs fiasco , and then the defeat in the Vietnam war.
Field Marshal Costa Gomes who had been president of Portugal after the 1974 carnation revolution but more significantly had been a NATO commander and head of Portugese armed forces in Macao during the 1950s said that the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung thwarted all the plans that had been worked by the US general and military policy makers. The OSPAAL(Tricontinental ) said “ under the superb leadership of Marshal Kim Il Sung and the People’s Army and the people of Korea who inherited the traditions of glorious anti-Japanese armed struggle fought heroically and defeated US imperialism in defence of the liberty of the fatherland and the gains of the revolution ,thereby making a great contribution to anti-imperialist national liberation struggle of the peoples throughout the world and the struggle for peace in Asia and the world”

Thus in the Fatherland Liberation War commanded by the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung reactionary bourgeois military theory was smashed by the Juche orientated revolutionary military strategy and theory.The Fatherland Liberation War ended in victory due to the Juche orientated military tactics and Songun revolutionary leadership of the great leader supreme commander Marshal Kim Il Sung.It inspired national liberation and revolutionary movements all over the world.

JISGE
ASSPUK

The Strength Unknown

The Strength Unknown

Fifty-eight years ago on July 27, 1953 the Korean People’s Army and the Korean people led by President Kim Il Sung won the 3 year-long Korean war provoked by the US imperialists.
It was a great victory of the outstanding military wisdom of President Kim Il Sung over the strategy and tactics of the US military experts who were alleging to have ever been victorious with their numerical and technical superiority.
War is a face-off between strength and strength.
In the early 1950s, when Korea stood face to face against the US armed with the latest equipment, the world public was deeply concerned for her future.
The aggressive plan of the US to occupy Korea at a dash, however, was frustrated from the outset.
Dwight Eisenhower, who assumed the US presidency in 1953, put out a plan of “new offensive” after his trip to south Korea for front inspection.
Van Fleet, the then Commander of the 8th US Army, contrived a battle on T-shaped Height as a prelude to the “new offensive”.
The height is a low hill less than 300 meters high 16 kilometers northwest of Cholwon.
Van Fleet mapped out an elaborate operation plan and stealthily massed huge armed forces of over a division equipped with modern heavy armored combat and technical equipment.
Large-scale bombing and shelling were poured on the height for over 10 days before attack.
After making every preparation Van Fleet turned up before correspondents from the US, Britain, Japan and other capitalist countries and announced that he would show a model battle breaking through the front.
President Kim Il Sung was informed of it on January 24, 1953 at 5 p.m. the day before the battle.
If the line had been broken through, it should have moved far north and Height 1211 too might have been besieged.
In fact, on T-shaped Height there were only two regiments of the Korean People’s Army at that time. Therefore reinforcements along with artillery had to be dispatched in order to thwart the attack of the heavily armed enemy division.
President Kim Il Sung summoned operation officers and gave an instruction to bring some units to the height to deal a smashing strike at attacking enemies.
The operation officers tried to map out various plans, but they could not make time: Since the US army was expected to launch an attack at 5 to 6 a.m. the next morning, reinforcements had to be brought there till at least twelve midnight or one o’clock. But the units were too far off to cover the long distance in time, if they march as usual.
It was just what Van Fleet calculated.
One day much later in December 1986 President Kim Il Sung, looking back upon the battle, said in a meeting with officials that he had really been pressed for time.
He said he had thought that if he should believe in the men of the People’s Army who were faithful to the Party and the leader, there would be nothing impossible and called up the commanders of the units concerned, telling them to bring their units to such and such place until a specified time.
On the order of President Kim Il Sung the units ran 40-80 kilometers at the maximum speed and got to the designated place at midnight.
Informed at 5, meeting at 6 for operation plan and order released at 7-this meant that they ran 80 kilometers in 5 hours.
Unaware of it, the US army launched an attack on January 25, 1953 in the presence of correspondents of different countries under cover of hundreds of aircrafts and artillery pieces and scores of tanks.
In response to the enemy attack People’s Army soldiers dealt a fierce strike at the enemy positions even by mobilizing long range cannons. When the enemies were attacking, some People’s Army combatants made a detour to strike the enemy from the rear.
The “model battle” of Van Fleet thus turned out a complete failure, leading to the fiasco of the “new offensive”.
The world mass media gave wide publicity to it and it became a world laughingstock.
A US publication said: Clark and Van Fleet showered 300, 000 shells every day in order to gain a hill of tactical importance and hurled the excellent mechanized forces, only to fail completely.
Remembering the days, President Kim Il Sung said the US at that time did not realize Korea’s strength.
Of course, the US didn’t know what a great strength Korea had.
In the last Korean war the United States mobilized a third of its army, a fifth of its air force, the greater part of its Pacific Fleet and the forces of 15 satellite countries, not to mention of the south Korean puppet army and the Japanese forces, squandering 165 000 million US$ on military expenditure. However it gained nothing but a loss of manpower surpassing 1 657 000 including 405 490 US soldiers and lots of military equipments, and sustained an ignominious defeat.
It was out of their wit to understand the strength of Korea led by President Kim Il Sung with a gift of military wisdom and supported by the army and the people united rock-firm behind him.
Just herein lay the tragedy of the United States and the cause of its defeat.
The US, unable to draw lessons from the war 58 years ago, is still stepping up political, economic and military pressure, intervention and sanctions in a bid to stifle Korea with strength.
The Korean People’s Army that has grown into an invincible force under the leadership of Supreme Commander Kim Jong Il, brilliant Songun general, will always emerge victorious in showdowns with the imperialists.

Saturday 23 July 2011

Juche and the Euro-zone crisis

(this is not nessecarily the opinion of the ASSPUK and JISGE but the perspective of an
individual Juche and Songun idea follower)

Now the headlines are full of talk of the Eurozone crisis . For a long time many urged support for the EU and the EMU and deeper intregration . Now the Eurozone is in deep crisis and the EMU is on the brink of falling apart . Those who believed that Britain should have never joined the EU have been proved right. On the one hand the EU had in theory the potenial to achieve European independence , however in reality it is the embryo form of an undemocratic superstate ruled by monopoly and finance capital.
Also the Euro has caused high prices in some countries.
The Eurozone crisis proves the validity , correctness and vitality of the line of the independent national economy and self-reliance. Britains needs to establish Juche and build an independent national economy.

Lee Myung Bak Group of S. Korea Indicted for Human Rights Abuses

Pyongyang, July 22 (KCNA) -- The Democratic Lawyers Association of Korea and the DPRK Association of Human Rights Studies on July 22 issued a joint indictment to disclose the criminal contents and anti-human rights nature of south Korea's "National Security Law" and the Lee Myung Bak group's violations of human rights.

According to the indictment, the "National Security Law", which consists of four chapters and 25 sections and annex, is the most fascist law against human rights unprecedented in its contents.

Every section of the NSL contains expressions hostile to fellow countrymen such as "anti-state organization" and "its members." The first sentence of paragraph 2 of the first sub-section of Section 4 in particular stipulates the north as "an enemy state."

The NSL is the most draconic law applicable to all activities of those going against the requirements and interests of the ruling quarters on charges of "state disturbance" and "threat to state existence".

The course of its enactment and retrogressive revision makes it possible to clearly know about the ulterior purpose and nature of those who instituted this evil law.

The NSL is a legal and institutional mechanism the Syngman Rhee clique of traitors set up on December 1, 1948 to justify the puppet colonial regime installed through the "separate election" and freeze the national split.

At that time the NSL had six sections. It was an imitation of "The Maintenance of the Public Order Act" in the period of the Japanese imperialists' colonial rule. It was also a copy of a "decree" of the U.S. military administration which called on it to suppress the independent rights of the south Korean people.

This law has steadily undergone a retrogressive revision to be a tool of the puppet ruling quarters for maintaining the fascist dictatorial system and escalating the confrontation with compatriots.

The indictment cites concrete data to prove that since the very day it took office the Lee Myung Bak puppet group revived the NSL and fascist dictatorial system and has savagely violated the rights of the south Koreans.

According to the data, the group has harshly suppressed on the strength of the NSL the people who rose up demanding independence and democracy of the south Korean society and national reunification.

The puppet conservative group is steeped in sycophancy towards the U.S. to the marrow of its bones. No sooner had it come to power than executed by invoking the NSL those people who called for the end to the U.S. domination and interference. On the contrary it has called for "priority to south Korea-U.S. relations" and "strategic alliance in the 21st century."

It thus disclosed its true colors as A-class stooge and henchman serving the U.S. imperialists whose military presence in south Korea is root cause of the Korean nation's misfortune and sufferings.

The Lee group's suppression of personages of different social standings and organizations calling for reunification through alliance with the north and the implementation of the north-south joint declaration are typical of its human rights abuses.

The group is punishing those standing for national harmony and reunification and the implementation of the north-south joint declarations, treating them as criminals. It asserts that "it cannot live with the north in the bright world," "the south should not consider the north as fellow countrymen with whom it can live together" and "the north should be regarded as the target of confrontation."

In 2009 alone the group deleted off at least 14 000 articles praising the north from Internet, charging that they violated the provision "appraisal and encouragement" of the NSL and arrested those related to it.

It arrested Rev. Han Sang Ryol, who visited the DPRK last year marking the 10th anniversary of the publication of the June 15 joint declaration, by dint of the NSL.

Recently the Lee group let the puppet Intelligence Service and the Security Investigation Group search houses and offices of more than 10 personages of workers, political and academic organizations on absurd charges that they "conducted espionage and built an underground party" at the "instruction of the north".

Such suppression is aimed to calm down the people's resentment caused by the group's domestic and foreign policy failure, economic bankruptcy, people's destitution and anti-reunification policy for confrontation. This is also aimed to divert elsewhere the people's criticism of the group and prolong its remaining days.

The group even invokes NSL to suppress the people demanding basic rights including the right to existence and the right to learning.

According to data underreported by the puppet group, the number of the people arrested or put behind bars on charges of the violation of the NSL increased to 350 percent after the emergence of the present regime as against the preceding regime.

However, the group tries to enact the "North Korean Human Rights Act" while taking issue with the "human rights issue" in the DPRK. It is also kicking up an anti-DPRK human rights row not only in south Korea but in foreign countries.

The indictment urged the puppet group to face up to the trend of the times and immediately abolish the NSL and stop anti-DPRK human rights row. -0-