KIM JONG
IL
THE
DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF KOREA IS A
JUCHE-ORIENTED
SOCIALIST
STATE
WITH INVINCIBLE MIGHT
Discourse Published in Rodong Sinmun, Organ of the
Central Committee of
the Workers’ Party
of Korea, and Minju Joson, Organ of the DPRK
Government
September 5, Juche 97
(2008)
In this historic
period, when we are entering a golden age of national prosperity under the
Songun-based revolutionary leadership of the Workers’ Party of Korea, we will be
greeting the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People’s
Republic of
Korea, the glorious country
of Kim Il Sung.
The great leader
Comrade Kim Il Sung was the founder of the DPRK and the
father of socialist Korea, and he is the eternal
President of State. The founding of the Republic under his leadership brought
about a fundamental change in the shaping of the destiny of our country and its
people.
Guided by his
Juche-oriented philosophy on State building, and under his seasoned and
sophisticated leadership, our Republic has been established and developed as a
genuine country of the people, as a Juche-oriented socialist country, the first
of its kind in history, and our people, who were oppressed and maltreated for
centuries, have become able to enjoy, in the embrace of the Republic, the pride
and happiness of a genuine life in which they exercise full rights as masters of
the State and society.
The mountains and
rivers, which are getting more and more beautiful with each passing day, the
vast expanses of farmland, the urban and rural areas, the streets and villages,
the defence lines and frontline posts that have been built up to be impregnable,
and the many factories, enterprises, economic and cultural establishments and
monumental structures, all bear the imprints of President Kim Il Sung’s great and sacred leadership; and every aspect of the
most dignified, prestigious and fulfilling life that our people are enjoying
generation after generation, century after century, is associated with his
benevolent, fatherly affection and solicitude.
As we greet the
60th anniversary of the founding of the Republic, our Party members, service
personnel and people solemnly look back upon the great revolutionary career and
immortal revolutionary exploits of President Kim Il
Sung, who devoted his whole life to the country and the people, and bestow on
him the highest gratitude and glory. The immortal exploits he achieved for the
country and the people constitute the eternal cornerstone of our country and
revolution and an unshakable foundation on which to build a great, prosperous
and powerful socialist country and carry forward and accomplish the Juche
revolutionary cause.
By holding
President Kim Il Sung in high esteem as the Sun of Juche, and developing his
philosophy on and exploits in State building, our Party is opening up the road
of building a thriving country in the Songun era, the road of fresh victory for
our revolution. Thanks to our Party’s leadership and advance in the Songun-based
revolution, our Republic has risen as a Juche-oriented socialist State with
invincible political and military might, demonstrating its prestige and dignity.
Our Party members, service personnel and people are now firmly determined to
glorify, in answer to the Party’s call, this meaningful year as a year of
historic change that will be recorded in the history of the country and to
accomplish, under the banner of Songun, the successful building of both a great,
prosperous and powerful socialist country and the Juche revolutionary
cause.
1
The 60-year
history of our Republic is a history of great struggle and victory, a history of
great creation and transformation, in which, braving the tempest of the
revolution under the leadership of the great leader and the great Party, the
independence and honor of the country were defended and a thriving socialist
country was built.
Our Republic, in
the whole period of its history from the first days when the foundations for
State building were laid up to the present, when we are building it up into a
great, prosperous and powerful socialist country, has followed a road covered
with victory and glory, braving unprecedented difficulties and trials amid a
sharp confrontation with the imperialist forces of aggression. Our struggle to
build a new country, a new society, has been grim and arduous, as we have had to
overcome every manner of hardship. However, our country blazed a trail in
accomplishing the cause of anti-imperialist independence, the cause of
socialism, and created historic miracles in this course, thus accumulating great
and imperishable exploits and valuable experiences. This is why the 60-year
history of our Republic has come to shine with such brilliance and our socialist
country, Songun Korea, to demonstrate such prestige
and dignity today as the citadel of independence, the bulwark of
socialism.
The anti-Japanese
revolutionary struggle the great leader organized and led was a historic
struggle that laid the basis for the founding of our Republic and ushered in the
era of socialist State building.
It was a sacred,
patriotic struggle to defeat the Japanese imperialist aggressors, who had
occupied our country by force of arms, and liberate the country, and the
fiercest of revolutionary wars fought against the heavily-armed Japanese
imperialist aggressor forces.
The great leader
led the 20-year bloody struggle against Japanese imperialism and crowned the
anti-Japanese war with victory, thus accomplishing the historic cause of
national liberation. In the flames of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle
he put forward the policy of building a people’s government, accumulated
valuable experience in this regard and created our glorious revolutionary
traditions, which are the eternal wealth of the country and the
revolution.
The struggle of
our Party and people to build an independent and sovereign State on the land of
our liberated country was conducted in very complicated and difficult
circumstances and conditions. Owing to the US imperialists’ occupation of south
Korea, the country’s territory was divided into
two, and the imperialist and reactionary forces at home and abroad resorted to
every manner of vicious scheme to thwart our Party and people in their efforts
to build a new country.
President Kim Il
Sung established the people’s power and regular revolutionary armed forces that
inherited the traditions of the anti-Japanese revolution and, by enlisting the
high patriotic enthusiasm of the liberated people and all other patriotic
forces, laid solid foundations for the building of an independent and sovereign
State through democratic reforms in the northern half of Korea, thus frustrating
the schemes of the imperialist and reactionary forces.
On this basis, he
founded our Republic.
He wisely led the
work of strengthening the power organs, developing the people-oriented State and
social system of the Republic and bringing its advantages and vitality into full
play in all areas of State building.
The Fatherland
Liberation War against the armed invasion of the US imperialists
was the first and grimmest trial faced by our young Republic; it was a fierce
war that would decide the fate of the country and nation. The
US imperialists made
desperate efforts to crush our Republic in its cradle, hurling into the war a
huge force of their own aggressor army and of their 15 vassal States, as well as the latest military
hardware and other means of waging war, only to suffer ignominious
defeat.
Under the
leadership of President Kim Il Sung, the ever-victorious and iron-willed
brilliant commander, our soldiers and people turned out as one in the just
Fatherland Liberation War and fought in a self-sacrificing manner, giving a full
demonstration of their unparalleled mass heroism at the front and in the rear.
Consequently, they defeated the US aggressor armed forces that had
been boasting of being the “mightiest” in the world, defended the freedom and
independence of their country with honor, encouraged the oppressed peoples of
the world in their anti-imperialist national liberation struggle, and made a
great contribution to safeguarding world peace.
The historic
victory of our Republic in the Fatherland Liberation War was a clear testimony
to its invincible might, to the strength of our State and social system, to the
confidence of our army and people in sure victory, and to their indefatigable
fighting spirit. It also demonstrated that no force can conquer a people who
have taken their destiny in their own hands and are united solidly behind their
party and leader. For its victory in the war, in which it shattered the myth of
the US imperialists being the “strongest” and inflicted a crushing defeat on
them for the first time in the world history of war, our Republic won a
worldwide reputation as a heroic country, its army as a heroic army and its
people as a heroic people.
Not only did our
Korea, the land of Juche, emerge victorious from the military
confrontation with the formidable imperialist aggressor forces, but it also
worked miracles and made innovations in the ensuing postwar reconstruction,
socialist revolution and socialist construction. Starting from scratch on the
war debris, we achieved epoch-making development in the revolution and
construction.
Under the
seasoned leadership of President Kim Il Sung, our
country completed its postwar reconstruction in a matter of just a few years and
carried out the cooperative reorganization of the rural economy and the
socialist transformation of private trade and industry perfectly in the Korean
style and without any deviation. In response to the call of the leader, our
people embarked on the grand Chollima march in the spirit of taking ten or a
hundred steps when others were taking one, thus effecting a great revolutionary upsurge that was
unprecedented in socialist construction. Through the gigantic struggle to create
and construct socialism, our country, having been backward for centuries,
emerged as a most advantageous and powerful people-centered socialist country, a
socialist power, that is independent in politics, self-supporting in the economy
and self-reliant in defence, a country called Chollima Korea, a model for
socialist countries throughout the world.
The Songun era, a
new era in the Juche revolution, occupies a special position in the history of
our country and revolution.
It is a great era
of the Juche revolutionary cause in which the ideas, leadership and cause of
President Kim Il Sung are inherited and carried
forward, and it constitutes a new, higher stage in the development of our
country and revolution.
Long ago our
Party put forward modeling the whole society on the Juche idea as its ultimate
program, and it has held fast to it as the basic line
in building the Party, the State and the army, true to the noble idea of
President Kim Il Sung.
It concentrated
all its efforts on building and developing the Party, the State and the army as
the Party of the leader, as the State of the leader, and as the army of the
leader, and on remolding man and transforming society and nature as required by
the leader’s revolutionary idea, the Juche idea, thus laying strong foundations
for carrying out the cause of modeling the whole society on the Juche
idea.
In the 1990s the
situation took a sudden turn, and grim trials and hardship, the rigors of which
were unprecedented in history, were laid in the way of our country and
revolution. Taking advantage of the collapse of socialism in several countries,
the imperialists and reactionaries clamored about the “end of socialism,”
directing the spearhead of their attack against our Republic, which was holding
high as ever the banner of socialism. Their anti-DPRK, anti-socialist maneuvers
put the sovereignty and right to existence of our country and nation at
jeopardy; our country was turned into a theatre of the fiercest confrontation
between socialism and imperialism and our people found themselves at a crossroads, where remaining as an independent
people lay in one direction and becoming colonial slaves once again in the
other.
To cope with the
prevailing situation, our Party raised high the banner of Songun, under which it
frustrated every scheme of the imperialists and reactionaries against the DPRK
and socialism by dint of our invincible political and military might, thus
safeguarding the sovereignty of the country and nation and our style of
socialism with honor. It is a great victory of international significance for
our small country to have defended itself, its nation and its socialism in
single-handed confrontation with the US-led imperialist reactionaries. Our
country has, without firing a shot, registered one victory after another in its
political and military confrontation with the US imperialists,
facing down and smashing the aggressive moves of an enemy that had been behaving
in a high-handed and arbitrary manner in every part of the world. These
achievements of our Songun-based revolution are literally a
miracle.
In spite of the
grim trials we have faced in the struggle to defend socialism, we have achieved
tremendous development in all spheres of politics, the military, the economy and
culture.
Thanks to the
Party’s Songun-based revolutionary leadership, our country has occupied the
position of a politico-ideological and military power, paved the way for
building a great, prosperous and powerful nation and brought about a fresh turn
in the revolution and construction. Our Republic has now secured a fundamental
guarantee for building a great, prosperous and powerful socialist country and
accomplishing the revolutionary cause of Juche, and it is stepping up the
general march of the Songun revolution for building the country into a socialist
economic power.
Socialist Korea,
which is winning victories and displaying its might by dint of Songun, has
become a beacon of hope and a banner of victory for the people of the world who
aspire to independence.
The 60-year
history traveled by the Republic under the leadership of President Kim Il Sung and our Party, instills in our people the deepest
pride and self-confidence and hardens their faith in sure victory.
Our army and
people prize their Juche-oriented socialist country more than their own lives,
love it infinitely and are working more vigorously to defend and add luster to
it, their motherland.
2
A great leader
and a great party build a great nation.
If a leader and a
party are great, their country, even though it may be small and once backward,
can become a developed and dignified, powerful one.
The greatness of
a leader and a party is precisely the greatness of their ideology and
leadership. Our Republic has been able to rise as a Juche-oriented socialist
State with invincible might because it is guided by the Juche idea that was
authored by the great leader and because it embodies this idea fully in State
building and State activities under the leadership of our
Party.
The immortal
Juche idea is a man-centered outlook on the world, and an ideology of
independence; it is a great guiding ideology of our era that sheds scientific
light on the way of championing and realizing the independence of the masses and
of the country and nation. Our Republic, which incorporates the great Juche idea
in its State building and State activities, is a people-centered socialist
country in which the people are regarded as God, an independent socialist State
with a strong Juche character and national identity, and an invincible socialist
power that prevails over any enemy, however formidable, and overcomes every
manner of trial and hardship by dint of Songun.
Our Republic is a
genuine people’s country, a people-centered socialist State that upholds the
masses of the people as the masters of the State and society, and serves
them.
Although the
masses of the people are the driving force of social history, it is not true to
say that their position and role are always identical in any society or country.
Never before in history has there been a country like our Republic that
guarantees the position and role of the masses at the highest level by embodying
the doctrine “The people are my God,” which was President Kim Il Sung’s dictum.
This philosophy
is permeated with the noble love for the people that is expressed in upholding
the masses of the people as the most valuable and powerful beings in the world,
serving them faithfully and solving everything by relying on
them.
The dictum “The
people are my God” is our Party’s fundamental principle in State building and
the basis of all its lines and policies, as well as the starting point of the
activities of the State.
Everything in our
Republic–the socialist system of the State and society, the Socialist
Constitution and other State laws, as well as all the lines, policies and
activities of the Party and the State–is geared to defending and ensuring the
independent rights and interests of the masses.
The basis of
socialism is the people. Our politics, which regards the interests of the people
as the foremost concern, is genuine socialist politics and the politics of
infinite love for and trust in the people, that is, noble, benevolent politics.
Every line and
policy of our Party and the government of our Republic reflects the opinions and
demands of the masses and is successfully implemented by their voluntary zeal
and struggle. In our country, promoting the people’s well-being is regarded as
the supreme principle in the activities of the Party and the State, the slogan
“We serve the people!” is fully incorporated in State activities, and the
infringement of the people’s interests and lording it over them by the abuse of
authority and bureaucratic behavior are never tolerated.
Since the masses
of the people are regarded as the most valuable beings, the State, the army, the
public security organ, many monumental edifices and various honorary titles are
named after “people,” and this is a powerful symbol of the people-oriented
character of our State, our system and our politics.
Our people, who
hold the position of masters of the State and society in the embrace of the
people-centered socialist country, are enjoying a worthwhile and fulfilling life
and performing their responsibilities and roles as such.
Each of them
takes part in the exercise of State power and State administration with equal
rights and leads a valuable political life in a particular political
organization. The State bears responsibility for the people’s livelihood; all
the people study to their hearts’ content, promote their health and enjoy a
revolutionary cultural and recreational life that is full of optimism thanks to
the systems of free education and medical care and various other people-oriented
policies.
Now our Party and
State, despite the strained conditions in which everything is in short supply,
are concentrating all their efforts on stabilizing and improving the people’s
livelihood, with their primary attention focused on it, and stepping up the
building of an economically powerful socialist country so as to ensure in the
near future that our people live a rich life with no reason for envying anyone
in the world. The independent and creative life our people are enjoying in the
embrace of the Republic is a genuine human life, dignified, worthwhile and
happy, which is something unimaginable in a capitalist
society.
Our Party and our
Republic are the most affectionate motherly party and motherly country that lead
the people and take care of them with love and trust, and their embrace
constitutes the cradle of the genuine life and happiness of the people.
For this reason,
our people have sacrificed themselves in the defence of their country, their
motherland, and, firmly united behind the Party, waged a heroic struggle for its
prosperity, invariably trusting and following our Party and the government of
the Republic both in days of glory and in days of grim
trials.
The
single-hearted unity of the whole society constitutes a priceless achievement in
State building that could only be made by our socialist country under the
leadership of President Kim Il Sung, who was endowed
with love for and trust in the people, and of our Party, which faithfully
carries forward his ideas and will. This is the proud face of our society, the
like of which cannot be witnessed elsewhere in the world. Based on the relations
of revolutionary comradeship, and the inseparable blood ties by which the Party
and the leader boundlessly love and care for the people and the latter
absolutely trust and loyally support the former, the single-hearted unity of the
leader, the Party and the masses was formed and has developed despite the
complicated and difficult circumstances and conditions, and the whole society
has become a great harmonious family in which its members help and lead one
another forward.
Today our
single-hearted unity has been further strengthened at a new height of unity in
which the entire Party, the whole army and all the people are joined together
rock-solid, centered on the revolutionary leadership and based on one ideology
and faith, comradely love and revolutionary obligation.
No force can
break its great unity. Our single-hearted unity is the fundamental guarantee of
the strength of the socialist system and social stability in our country, the
inexhaustible source of the invincible might of our socialist motherland and the
powerful driving force of the victorious advance of the revolution and the
building of a thriving nation.
The
US imperialists are most fearful of
the single-hearted unity of our entire army and the people behind the great
Party, and resort to every conceivable scheme to break it. While persisting with
their aggressive military maneuvers, the US imperialists
and their acolytes try to slander us under the signboard of “human rights” and
“democracy,” but this is wild dream. The “defence of human rights” and
“democracy” the imperialist reactionaries advocate are nothing other than
sophistry to hide their intervention in and hegemonic moves towards other
countries. It is preposterous to slander our Republic, which is the motherland
of the people, and our society that is united single-heartedly, with such
far-fetched sophistry. It only serves to trigger the unanimous indignation of
our people, and can never be tolerated.
This country of
the great people, this people-centered socialism of our own style, which enjoys
the absolute support and trust and ardent love of the masses, will forever add
brilliance to its noble image and dignity, overcoming every manner of
trial.
Our Republic is
an independent socialist State that absolutely maintains its Juche character and
thoroughly preserves its national identity in its development and
activities.
The Juche
character and national identity are the independence and lifeline of a country,
a nation and the masses of the people. The struggle of the masses for
independence is waged with the country and nation as a unit, so the party, the
government and the masses of each country should conduct the revolution and
construction independently and creatively as masters.
It is only when
they hold fast to the Juche character and national identity and maintain the
line of independence in the revolution and construction that they can defend the
sovereignty of the country and nation, guarantee their independent development
and realize the independence of the masses successfully.
Having put
forward such original ideas on the Juche character, the national identity and
the line of independence for the first time in history, President Kim Il Sung
blazed the trail for the independent development of the Korean revolution and
guaranteed, by dint of his iron faith and will and seasoned leadership, that the
principle of Juche, the line of independence, was maintained consistently in the
revolution and construction.
True to his idea
of State building, our Party and State regarded preserving the Juche character,
the national identity and the line of independence as the fundamental principle
in accomplishing the cause of the masses’ independence, the cause of socialism,
and strictly adhered to it, and thus built our country into a highly dignified
and prestigious independent country, a socialist State embodying noble love for
the people and nation.
We have solved
all the problems arising in the building and activities of the State and in the
revolution and construction by our own efforts and in our own way on the
principle of self-reliance, in accordance with our ideology and faith, our
determination and will and the actual situation in our country, and in line with
the interests of our revolution. By holding fast to the principle of Juche, the
principle of independence, in all fields of politics, the economy, military
affairs, culture and external relations, we have resolutely opposed great-power
worship, dogmatism and all other ideas advocating dependence on outside forces,
and categorically rejected any form of intervention and pressure by the
imperialist reactionaries and other foreign forces.
We are also doing
everything we choose and decide in conformity with our own ideology, demands and
interests, regardless of the existing theories or formulas, and despite what
others may say.
Our Party long
ago put forward the slogan of “Let us live our own way!”; this is Juche, independence and self-reliance, and herein lie our dignity,
pride and honor.
President Kim Il
Sung, based on the Juche stand, shed a fresh, scientific light on the essence of
the issue of the nation and its position and role in social development and, on
the basis of this, linked class character with national identity, and the
destiny of socialism with that of the nation; thus he made it possible to
preserve the national character in the revolution and construction while
maintaining the class character and to open up a vista for achieving the
prosperity of the nation while advancing the socialist
cause.
Our Party and
State treasure and preserve the nation’s identity in the revolution and
construction and in all fields of social life in line with President Kim Il Sung’s Juche-oriented idea and
theory on the issue of the nation. Since a man is a member of a class and at the
same time a member of a nation, he embodies a national identity along with a
class character and entertains national demands along with class demands. If the
national identity and national demands are neglected and suppressed, it will be
impossible to rally the broad sections of the masses and other patriotic forces,
build a truly independent and sovereign State, or successfully carry out the
cause of the masses’ independence, the cause of socialism.
Ours is a proud
nation with a time-honored history of 5 000 years and a brilliant culture.
Reflected in our people’s national identity are their nation’s resourcefulness,
talents, firm character, patriotic spirit and outstanding cultural
traditions.
Our Party and
State have made valuing and preserving the excellent and beautiful traditions of
our nation a major policy, and have fully implemented it.
While preserving
the excellent features of our nation that have been handed down throughout its
history, we are creating new excellent features of the nation along with the
advance of the times and the revolution; on the basis of this, we are educating
the people in the Korean-nation-first spirit, the spirit that our leader, our
Party, our ideology and our system are the best, and adding brilliance to the
greatness of our nation.
The socialist
cause of Juche is a cause for realizing the independence of the working class
and other working masses and at the same time a cause for guaranteeing the
independence of the country and nation and achieving the nation’s
prosperity.
Our Party and
State have, while stepping up socialist construction, enriched the excellent
qualities of the nation and added a new chapter of national prosperity to
history.
Because we
properly maintained the Juche character and preserved the national identity of
the revolution and construction under the leadership of the great leader and the
great Party, no form of intervention or pressure from the imperialist
reactionaries could cut any ice with us, no modern revisionism or other
ideological trend towards opportunism could make inroads into our country, and
our people have been able to cherish a uniquely high level of national pride,
self-confidence, consciousness of national independence and self-respect, and
give fuller play to the spirit of socialist patriotism.
Our Republic,
which has developed under the banner of the Juche idea, is demonstrating its
pride in being a people-centered socialist country that fully embodies class and
revolutionary principles, and at the same time, a socialist State, independent,
self-supporting and self-reliant in defence, strong in the Juche character and
national identity, and the genuine motherland of the whole nation. Our
Juche-oriented socialist motherland has stood firm amid the worldwide great
political cataclysms, and will win victory after victory by following the road
of development, the road of Juche, as ever.
The imperialist
reactionaries are now slandering our Republic, the motherland of Juche, claiming
that it is “closed” and “isolated,” and are making futile attempts to lead us to
“reform” and “openness.”
Our country has
never closed its doors, and it maintains good relations with many countries,
home to billions of people, around the world, based on mutual respect. As for
reform, we reformed the outdated social system in a revolutionary fashion
decades ago, and have been constantly creating the new and renovating what is
old and backward. In actual fact, the imperialists and reactionaries are hostile
towards our country and are blockading it and trying to isolate it.
The “reform” and
“openness” they are advocating represent a move to destroy and put down our
style of socialism. Such moves will only worsen their relations with us and are
doomed to failure.
Our Republic is
an invincible socialist power that demonstrates its dignity by dint of
Songun.
The history of
the revolutionary activities of President Kim Il Sung
and our Party is the history of Songun-based revolutionary leadership, and our
country and revolution have traveled a road covered with victory and glory by
displaying their invincible might under the banner of Songun.
President Kim
Il Sung liberated the country by dint of Songun and
guaranteed its sovereignty, independence, prosperity and development by force of
arms. True to his Songun idea and line, our Party has, since long ago, grasped
military affairs and Party work as the key, and concentrated its efforts on
strengthening our revolutionary armed forces politically, ideologically,
militarily and technically, thus laying a firm foundation for developing its
Songun-based revolutionary leadership at a new, higher
stage.
The Songun-based
revolutionary line, Songun politics, that our Party is pursuing now, is a great
revolutionary line of our era, the basic mode of socialist politics, that gives
top priority to military affairs over all other affairs of State, that
safeguards the country, the revolution and socialism by strengthening the Korean
People’s Army to the maximum, and that builds up the driving force of the
revolution and pushes ahead with socialist construction with the army as the
core, as the main force. With regard to the system of State administration, we
ensured that the authority of the National Defence Commission was strengthened
and a system was established whereby the Commission guides and administers
defence affairs overall, so that all work in the revolution and construction was
conducted strictly on the principle of giving precedence to military affairs.
Our Songun
politics, because it is rooted in the Juche idea and fully embodies and
encompasses the Juche-oriented principles, strategy and tactics of the
revolution and its methods and art of leadership, is the ever-victorious banner
of our country and revolution and an all-powerful sword in the revolution and
construction.
The paramount
strength of a nation rests with its military might. Our anti-imperialist,
anti-US struggle is waged fiercely on all fronts of politics, the military, the
economy, ideology and culture, and the main front that decides the destiny of
the country and nation is the anti-imperialist military front. The confrontation
with the imperialist aggressive forces is, in essence, a showdown of strength,
and strength alone can make sense in relations with the imperialists. Without
our own strength, our own powerful self-defensive military might, we can neither
win the fight against the imperialists, nor defend the Party and the State, nor
guarantee the safety of the people.
This is the stark
reality of today.
By dint of its
Songun-based revolutionary leadership, Songun politics, our Party has
strengthened and developed the Korean People’s Army as the army of the Party and
the leader, as the invincible revolutionary armed forces, both in name and in
reality.
The monolithic
leadership system of the Party, the command system of the Supreme Commander and
revolutionary military traits have been firmly established in the People’s Army,
and the entire army–from the Supreme Commander down to the rank and file–now
forms an integral whole based on revolutionary comradeship. All the men and
officers of the People’s Army, cherishing an unshakable ideology and faith,
constitute an invincible armed force that has acquired a mastery of our style of
strategy and tactics and is equipped with up-to-date military hardware.
Our
Juche-oriented defence industry has become able to produce every type of
powerful state-of-the-art weaponry and military hardware and means, and the
spirit of giving importance to military affairs has been established throughout
society, with the result that the work of arming all the people and fortifying
the whole country is proceeding at a higher
phase.
Thanks to the
Songun politics, our Republic has frustrated all the challenges of the
imperialist reactionaries and all their schemes to isolate and stifle it, and
demonstrated its invincible military might to the world, and our socialist
country, Songun Korea, has risen as a world-class
military power that no aggressor dares to attack.
As a result of
the Songun-based revolutionary leadership, Songun politics, of the Party, the
politico-ideological position of our Republic has been made rock-solid, and
great progress has been made on the economic and cultural fronts. On the road of
Songun our army and people have successfully achieved great unity–oneness of
ideology and work style on the pattern of the revolutionary spirit and the work
style of the soldiers–and the politico-ideological might of the country and the
revolution has been enhanced beyond any comparison.
Under the Party’s
Songun-based leadership the army and the people have carried out all their
undertakings in socialist construction in a revolutionary and militant manner by
forming an integral whole, and have in this way implemented grand projects to
transform the appearance of the country, build numerous monumental structures,
develop science and technology by leaps and bounds, and usher in a new golden
age of culture and the arts of the Songun era.
Thanks to our
Songun-based policy of national reunification and the concerted efforts of the
nation, the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration (2000) and the October 4
Declaration (2007) were adopted and made public, and this opened up an
epoch-making phase in the reunification of the country.
The national
spirit for reunifying the country independently has been raised to an
unprecedented height in the north, the south and abroad, and the movement for
national reunification is developing as a nationwide movement under the banner
of “by our nation itself.”
Our Songun
politics, which stands against the imperialists’ policies of invasion and war
and for the independence of the country and nation, arouses great sympathy among
the progressive peoples of the world and greatly contributes to global peace and
the cause of mankind’s independence. Our Songun politics and independent foreign
policy have made it possible to raise the prestige and influence of our Republic
to an unprecedented level in the international arena and to develop its external
relations rapidly.
Under the
leadership of President Kim Il Sung and our Party the DPRK was built and
developed into a Juche-oriented socialist State with invincible might and
achieved world startling victories and changes by overcoming every manner of
historical challenge. The glorious country of Kim Il Sung, socialist Korea, that
shines with brilliance by dint of Juche and Songun, is displaying its might as a
great socialist country, and for this it is warmly loved and held aloft by our
people as their great motherly country, is highly regarded by all Koreans as the
pride and honor of the whole nation and as the fortress of national
reunification, and is attracting the attention and admiration of people the
world over.
3
Our Republic has
traveled a long, long revolutionary path under the unfurled banner of the Juche
idea, the banner of Songun, but our revolution is yet to be accomplished.
We must build a
great, prosperous and powerful socialist country on this land and realize the
cause of national reunification through the great unity of the whole nation. We
must make proactive efforts, shoulder to shoulder with all countries and
progressive peoples that aspire to independence, to defend world peace and
accomplish the cause of human independence.
To build a great,
prosperous and powerful socialist country true to President Kim Il Sung’s lifelong wish is a sacred
duty our Party and State have assumed before the times and the revolution. Under
our Party’s Songun-based revolutionary leadership, the whole Party, the entire
army and all the people must, with firm confidence in victory, step up with
vigor the general march of the Songun-based revolution towards building a great,
prosperous and powerful country.
We must, first of
all, build up the political and ideological position of our socialist
country.
The might of
socialism is its political and ideological might, and consolidating the
political and ideological position of the socialist country is essential for
building a great, prosperous and powerful country. In keeping with the
development of the revolution and construction, we must conduct ideological work
proactively so as to display to the maximum the inexhaustible spiritual strength
of our soldiers and people and give fuller play to the dignity of socialist
Korea as a political and ideological
power.
We must intensify
education in the Juche idea, the Songun idea, among cadres, Party members and
other working people, so that they can work and live in a revolutionary and
militant fashion as befits revolutionary people of the new era of the
Juche-oriented revolution, the Songun era.
We must give them
in-depth and effective class, revolutionary, socialist and other forms of
education so as to ensure that they are imbued with high class and revolutionary
awareness, a firm conviction in socialism and the spirit of socialist
patriotism.
We must
consolidate the single-hearted unity of the revolutionary ranks so that it is
like steel. The core of our single-hearted unity is the leadership of the
revolution. All cadres, Party members, soldiers and people must defend the
leadership of the revolution politically and ideologically even at the risk of
their lives, in the spirit of performing death-defying deeds in defence of the
leader. All the men and officers of the People’s Army and all the people must be
united more solidly around our Party in ideology and purpose, morality and
obligation, and loyally support its ideas and leadership.
Single-hearted
unity is the great foundation of our revolution, and public sentiment is the
great foundation of our single-hearted unity. We must fully understand the
public sentiment and work effectively with people so as to constantly strengthen
the single-hearted unity of our revolutionary ranks.
We must remain
vigilant against the enemy’s attempts to shatter our political and ideological
position and undermine our single-hearted unity, and deal resolutely with them.
We must wage a strenuous struggle to frustrate the maneuvers of the imperialists
and reactionaries to infiltrate us ideologically and culturally and wage a
psychological smear campaign against us, and we must intensify the ideological
campaign in such a way as to prevent every element of the bourgeois ideology and
way of life, however insignificant, from infiltrating our
country.
We must continue,
under the banner of Songun, to invest great efforts in strengthening the
country’s defence capabilities. Its defence capabilities represent the
sovereignty of Songun Korea, its right to existence, and
its authority, dignity and destiny. It is only by continually strengthening our
defence capabilities that we can defend the security of the country and people
and provide the decisive military guarantee for building a great, prosperous and
powerful socialist country.
The People’s Army
is the main force of our revolution and the core force of our national defence.
In our Songun politics, military affairs are given top priority and enhancing
the People’s Army is the key element.
What is most
important in strengthening the People’s Army is thoroughly to establish the
monolithic leadership system of the Supreme Commander, his command system, in
the army.
The entire army
must loyally support its Supreme Commander’s ideas and leadership, share its
destiny with him and move as one under his orders and
instructions.
We must enhance
the People’s Army’s political, ideological, military and technical preparedness.
The People’s Army must intensify the political work of the Party so as to ensure
that all service personnel acquire political and ideological traits befitting
the army of the Party and the leader, the army of the Supreme Commander, and it
must give fuller play to the traits of unity between men and officers based on
revolutionary comradeship.
The soldiers and
the people must share life and death on the road of Songun under the leadership
of the Party, and consolidate their great unity. By carrying out Party policy on
training, all service personnel must train themselves into a-match-for-a-hundred
combatants who are well versed in our particular strategies, tactics and art of
warfare and who can skillfully apply them in actual
combat.
The armaments and
other equipment of the People’s Army must be modernized constantly based on the
latest science and technology.
The men and
officers of the People’s Army, fully aware of the importance of the duty they
have assumed before the Party and the revolution, the country and the people,
must make the defence lines of the country impregnable and play a vanguard role
in socialist construction.
An atmosphere
must be created in which military affairs are given importance throughout
society, and then all the people must learn military affairs earnestly and the
entire Party, the whole country and all the people must make thorough
preparations to cope with any emergency and, by building ever-stronger defences, turn the whole country into an impregnable
fortress.
We must build our
country into an economically powerful State by stepping up socialist economic
construction.
Today economic
construction is at the forefront in the building of a great, prosperous and
powerful nation. Only by building our country into a socialist economic power by
accelerating economic construction can we further strengthen the political and
military might of Songun Korea, make it rich and strong and
radically improve the people’s standard of living.
We have set
ourselves the ambitious goal of opening the gate of a great, prosperous and
powerful country in 2012 when we will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of
the birth of President Kim Il Sung. If we are to
achieve this goal, we must bring about a new revolutionary turn in socialist
economic construction, and thus strengthen the country’s economic might and
solve once and for all the problem of the people’s living. The entire Party, the
whole country and all the people must turn out to launch a general economic
construction offensive.
In order to bring
about a revolutionary turn in economic construction, we must thoroughly
implement the line of economic construction for the Songun era put forward by
the Party. As demanded by this line, we must give priority to the development of
the defence industry and develop light industry and agriculture simultaneously
so as to effect a drastic turn in improving the people’s standard of
living.
Giving precedence
to the vanguard sectors of the national economy, the basic industrial sectors,
is the key to developing the defence industry, light industry and agriculture
quickly and simultaneously. We must concentrate nationwide efforts on these
sectors so as to shore up the power, coal-mining and metallurgical industries
and rail transport, and thus open wide the road of advance in building an
economically powerful country.
By carrying out
the Party’s line of attaching importance to science and technology, we must push
forward the frontiers of cutting-edge science and technology and raise the
country’s science and technology to a high level. All sectors of the national
economy must proactively push ahead with the modernization of factories and
enterprises as required in the IT age and based on the latest science and
technology.
We must improve
the management of the socialist economy. In economic management it is essential
to strictly observe socialist principles, to apply the method of collective
management correctly, to strengthen the central and coordinated guidance of the
State and, on the basis of this, to give full play to the creativity of the
lower units. We must enlist all potential and all the latent resources to the
fullest and effectively on the principle of self-reliance and thus step up the
building of an economic power by drawing on our own efforts, technology and
resources.
We must
comprehensively develop education, the health service, art and literature, and
all other fields in the building of socialist culture. We must train
revolutionary talents in greater numbers and more qualitatively and give full
play to the advantages of the people-oriented public health system by improving
educational and public health work, and also bring into fuller bloom
Juche-oriented art and literature, the art and literature of the Songun
era.
We must, by
vigorously stepping up the general march of the Songun revolution, build a
great, prosperous and powerful socialist country on this land and thus achieve a
decisive victory in carrying out the cause of President Kim Il Sung, the socialist cause of Juche.
Reunification is
the supreme task of the Korean nation, and it brooks no further delay. The
Korean nation, which continuously handed down its tradition as a homogeneous
nation throughout history, has been divided into north and south for over 60
years. We must reunify the country at the earliest possible date, and thus put
an end to the tragic history of national division and pave the way for the
coordinated development and prosperity of the country and nation.
The banners that
our nation must hold up in achieving the independent reunification of the
country are the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration and October 4
Declaration.
These
declarations are declarations of national independence and great national unity
and great programs for national reunification. The standpoint and attitude
towards these historic declarations constitute a standard by which to
distinguish collaboration from confrontation, reunification from division
between north and south. Whoever earnestly desires national reunification must
support these declarations and implement them faithfully.
The basic ideal
of national reunification as stated in the declarations is “by our nation
itself,” and this is, to the core, the ideal of national independence, the ideal
of national unity. All the compatriots in the north, the south and abroad must
achieve national unity on the principle of national independence and frustrate
all the maneuvers of the anti-reunification forces and accomplish the cause of
national reunification without fail through the united efforts of the Korean
nation itself.
We must make
vigorous efforts to expand and develop the country’s external relations and
realize global independence.
The government of
our Republic must conduct its external activities briskly in accordance with the
ideals of independence, peace and friendship and as required by the changing
situation, so as to increase the number of supporters of and sympathizers with
our revolution and create an international environment that is favorable for
building a great, prosperous and powerful socialist nation and achieving
national reunification. By strengthening friendship and unity with all countries
and all progressive peoples who aspire to independence, we must wage a vigorous
struggle to frustrate the war policy and hegemonic moves of the imperialist
aggressive forces, defend peace and realize global
independence.
In order for our
Party and State to fulfill their mission and duty before the times and the
revolution, it is important to strengthen the government of the Republic and
enhance its role.
We must carry out
President Kim Il Sung’s ideas
and theories on State building and our Party’s line of State building in the
Songun era, and thus continuously develop the government of the Republic.
The government of
the Republic, based on the lines and policies of the Party, must consolidate and
develop our State and social systems and forcefully push ahead with all the work
of the revolution and construction.
The people’s
government organs and their officials must fulfill their missions and
responsibilities and perform their duty as the servants of the people by
achieving further improvement in their style and method of work, as required by
the times and the developing revolution.
The Workers’
Party of Korea is the supreme leading political organization in our society, and
its leadership is the basic guarantee of all the victories of the country and
the people. We must firmly establish the monolithic leadership system across the
Party, further consolidate the unity and cohesion of the Party, build up its
ranks organizationally and ideologically, improve the functions and role of its
organizations, and thus enhance its organizing ability, fighting capacity and
might in every way possible.
We must ensure
comprehensive leadership by the Party over the revolution and construction. We
must establish the Party’s monolithic leadership across society so as to ensure
that all types of work in the revolution and construction are conducted on the
basis of the lines and policies of the Party and in accordance with the ideas
and intentions of the Party. In particular, Party organizations must give the
people’s government organs effective political guidance, in other words,
policy-based guidance, and render them active support in order to help them
fulfill their mission and duty.
Our Republic is a
great achievement of the Juche revolution, and the government of the Republic is
a powerful weapon in the revolution and construction. The government of the
Republic must step up the revolution and construction with greater vigor under
our Party’s Songun-based leadership, and thus accomplish the cause of President
Kim Il Sung, the revolutionary cause of
Juche.