Library:Report to the 7th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea on the work of the Central Committee

Report to the Seventh Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea on the work of the Central Committee
Source	Korean Books

Dear comrades,

The decades since the Sixth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea have been a period of the most severe struggle and a glorious era of victory when a great turn has been brought about in the long history of our Party.

During the period under review, in circumstances of unprecedented harshness, the Workers’ Party of Korea put forward Juche-oriented lines and policies at every stage of the revolution. It advanced the revolution and construction dynamically by relying on our great people, and thus achieved brilliant victories in implementing the cause of socialism and ushered in a new era of national prosperity. In following an arduous and thorny path of revolution that has never been trodden by any other party or people in history, our Party has been firmly convinced of the validity and invincibility of its ideology and cause, and our people have hardened their will and resolve to advance for ever along the road of Juche indicated by the Party.

Today, our Party members and all other people are celebrating the Seventh Party Congress, with indelible memories of the proud exploits they have performed on the strength of their indomitable spirit and through a heroic struggle, and with great pride in being victors. The Seventh Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea will be a historic watershed in further strengthening our Party, stepping up the building of a powerful socialist country and hastening the final victory of the Juche revolution, all of which will be achieved by holding aloft the banner of modelling the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism.

The great victory of the Juche idea and Songun politics

Comrades,

During the period under review the Workers’ Party of Korea, holding fast to the banner of the great Juche idea and the Songun-based revolutionary line, mobilized Party members and all other people to carry out the cause of the Juche revolution.

The Juche idea served as the ever-victorious banner guiding our revolution along the road of Juche in the face of worldwide political upheavals and manifold hardships, and Songun politics served as the priceless sword of victory enabling our Party and people to perform miracles of history in overcoming the severe difficulties.

Thanks to the great Juche idea and Songun politics of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the devoted struggle of our service personnel and other people who are unfailingly loyal to the Party, proud victories have been achieved in socialist construction and lasting foundations for accomplishing the cause of the Juche revolution have been laid.

The struggle for the victorious advance of the socialist cause

Comrades,

Socialism is a sacred cause for realizing the demand and desire of the masses of the people for independence; it is a revolutionary cause that advances amid a fierce struggle against imperialism and all other counterrevolutionary forces.

During the period under review the Workers’ Party of Korea, in the face of ordeals and hardships that were more trying than anything it had ever encountered before, waged a struggle to advance the socialist cause.

The Sixth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea was a historic milestone in building up the political, military and economic strength of our revolution and victoriously advancing the socialist cause by transforming all aspects of social life in conformity with the requirements of the Juche idea, holding aloft the banner of modelling the whole society on the Juche idea.

Our Party, by pushing ahead with the efforts to model the whole Party and the entire army on the Juche idea and make all members of society revolutionary, working-class and intellectual in line with the programme, put forward by the Sixth Party Congress, of modelling the whole society on this idea, strengthened the motive force of the socialist cause. It held fast to the strategic line of putting the national economy on a Juche-oriented, modern and scientific footing and mobilized the people in the effort to implement it. In this way great progress was made in attaining the ten long-term objectives for socialist economic construction. The brilliant victories and successes achieved by our Party in the struggle to implement the decisions of the Sixth Party Congress amid the fierce flames of the movement for creating the speed of the 1980s, created a solid foundation on which full play could be given to the advantages of socialism and the complete victory of socialism could be hastened.

The struggle of our Party and people to achieve the complete victory of socialism under the banner of modelling the whole society on the Juche idea was confronted with a grave challenge when the anti-socialist and counterrevolutionary whirlwind blew across the world at the end of the last century.

In the international arena socialism collapsed in one country after another owing to the manoeuvres of the imperialists and renegades of socialism. Taking underhand advantage of this tragic turn of events, the imperialists concentrated their anti-socialist offensive against our country, the bulwark of socialism. They resorted to vicious schemes in trying to stifle our socialism in all fields of politics, military affairs, the economy, ideology and culture.

To cope with this grave situation the Workers’ Party of Korea organized and conducted a daring struggle to defend and advance the socialist cause with a resolute determination to smash the imperialists’ counterrevolutionary offensive by means of a revolutionary offensive.

Through the revolutionary ideological offensive our Party succeeded in safeguarding the socialist ideology and ideals from the imperialists’ onslaught and abuse and in firmly consolidating our politico-ideological position. In the face of the adverse wind that brought the collapse of socialism and the anti-socialist ideological trend, it demonstrated scientifically and theoretically that socialism represents the people’s ideal of independence and justice, and that its triumph is inevitable. It thereby instilled confidence in socialism into the people and dealt a telling blow to the imperialists and reactionaries who had been clamouring about the “end” of socialism.

We intensified politico-ideological education among Party members and other working people to ensure that all of them kept the firm faith that they can emerge victorious when they defend socialism and will be as good as dead if they abandon it, and that they took an active part in the struggle to make the socialism of our own style more brilliant.

In consideration of the change in the international environment and by drawing on the lessons of history gained in building socialism our Party, while comprehensively consolidating the politico-ideological position, sustained the original features of socialism in all fields of socialist construction and social life and gave full play to the advantages of the socialism of our own style.

Our Party dynamically carried on the socialist cause, holding aloft as ever the banner of the Juche idea, the banner of socialism, with firm faith in the validity of the socialist cause of Juche and in its victory, and based on absolute trust in our people who steadfastly followed it.

At a time when our socialist cause was advancing triumphantly along the road of Juche and bright prospects for national reunification were opening up in the rapidly changing situation, our Party and people were plunged into national mourning by the sudden loss of Comrade Kim Il Sung, the leader whom they believed in as in heaven and had followed. The demise of Comrade Kim Il Sung was the greatest sorrow and loss to our Party and people and the bitterest trial for our revolution.

After the period of national mourning, the imperialists and their vassal forces went to extremes in trying to strangle us by means of political and military pressure, war moves and an economic blockade. In addition, the country suffered a series of severe natural disasters, all of which subjected our people to indescribable difficulties and ordeals in economic construction and their everyday lives. The security of our country and the destiny of socialism were in jeopardy and our people were compelled to undertake the Arduous March and forced march, trials which were unheard of in history.

At this juncture, when there was worldwide concern over the future of our country and the imperialist reactionaries were absurdly trumpeting our possible “policy switch” and “system collapse,” Comrade Kim Jong Il resolutely declared his iron determination invariably to defend and carry forward to completion the cause of the Juche revolution pioneered by Comrade Kim Il Sung, however thorny the road of the revolution might be, and he wisely led the revolution and construction entirely as Comrade Kim Il Sung had intended and done.

Under his wise leadership the Workers’ Party of Korea firmly maintained the Songun-based revolutionary line, the ever-victorious path of the Korean revolution, and enforced Songun politics in a comprehensive way by carrying forward the cause of Comrade Kim Il Sung.

Songun politics is the main socialist political mode of Comrade Kim Jong Il’s style. It gives precedence to military affairs above all else on the principle of attaching importance to arms, the principle of prioritizing military affairs, strengthens the motive force of the revolution with the Korean People’s Army as the core and main force, and advances the socialist cause victoriously by relying on it. It embodies the fundamentals of the Songun revolution that the dignity of the country and nation and the victory of the revolution hinge on the arms of the revolution, and incorporates both the spirit of self-reliance and self-development by which one makes revolution by one’s own efforts by building up one’s strength and our Party’s thoroughgoing stand of anti-imperialist independence, as well as its revolutionary principles.

Songun is a glorious tradition of the Korean revolution, and Songun politics is based on the history and experience of our revolution which was started and advanced by force of arms under the banner of Juche. The mode of Songun politics is deeply rooted in the great Juche idea, and thanks to it and the politico-ideological and military strength built up in the course of the struggle to model the whole society on the Juche idea, the might of Songun could be brought into full play and the Songun era, a new era of the Juche revolution, ushered in.

Comrade Kim Jong Il, by continuing the march of Songun without interruption and with absolute trust in our service personnel and other people who were faithful to the Party’s cause, led the socialist cause of Juche along the road of victory. While comprehensively building up the People’s Army, the main force of the Songun revolution, our Party established a system of state administration in which national defence is given priority and reorganized and readjusted all fields in line with the principles and requirements of Songun.

Our Party, on the principle of prioritizing and giving precedence to military affairs, channelled primary efforts into developing the defence industry.

In the rigorous period when the enemy went to extremes in trying to isolate and stifle the DPRK and the whole nation had to tighten their belts, Comrade Kim Jong Il displayed the iron will to increase the country’s defence capabilities at any cost and further strengthened and developed our defence industry into an industry that is powerful and self-reliant. The Juche-oriented defence industry created by Songun politics constituted a guarantee for foiling the imperialists’ aggressive moves and safeguarding the security of the country and the bulwark of socialism.

The Workers’ Party of Korea firmly maintained the stand of anti-imperialist independence and socialist principles in the whole process of implementing Songun politics. This stand and these principles are fundamental for a revolutionary party in implementing the socialist cause, and a touchstone distinguishing revolution from counterrevolution and socialism from opportunism. For our Party and people, maintaining this stand and these principles had never been such an acute, vital question as it was in the period of the Arduous March, when the question was whether they would lead a dignified life as an independent people or become the slaves of imperialism once again. As the situation got more serious, our Party raised the banner of Songun even higher and maintained its stand and principles more firmly on the strength of arms. In this way it led our revolution confidently along the road of victory.

Our Party resolutely overpowered the imperialists and crushed their outrageous pressure and challenges by responding with the tougher countermeasure of wielding a sword when the enemy were drawing a knife and levelling a cannon when they were pointing a gun. With the spirit of the arms of Songun it raised a shield to the indecent wind of bourgeois liberalism and “reform” and “opening-up” blowing in from around us, allowing us to advance straight ahead along the road of socialism, as we chose.

Following the end of the Cold War, several countries abandoned their principles and opted for compromise and submission, overawed by the US military pressure and high-handedness. But the Workers’ Party of Korea maintained the stand of anti-imperialist independence and socialist principles without the slightest vacillation. Its fighting experience shows that still now, during the showdown of strength with imperialism, the principles of anti-imperialist independence and socialism can be defended and maintained by powerful arms alone, not by rhetoric.

The Workers’ Party of Korea victoriously led the struggle to defend the destiny of the country and people and safeguard and advance socialism on the strength of invincible arms.

Our Party smashed the mounting military pressure and aggressive manoeuvres of the imperialists and their vassal forces at every step by relying on its powerful military might.

The imperialist reactionaries, in an attempt to hinder us and stifle the socialism of our own style, resorted to international sanctions and a blockade and went wild in their pursuit of aggression by designating our country a target of a preemptive nuclear strike. But they failed utterly to browbeat our Republic, which has built an iron fortress on the strength of Songun.

Our Party resolutely resisted the enemy’s naked military blackmail and aggressive manoeuvres designed to violate our country’s sovereignty and our people’s destiny and to stifle our system, and inspired all its members, the entire army and all the people to join the just struggle for defending the country and socialism.

Thanks to the heroic struggle of the officers and men of the People’s Army and other people who rose up as one in single-hearted unity behind the Party, we won victory after victory in the protracted and fierce anti-imperialist, anti-US confrontation and completed the Arduous March and forced march with credit, thereby defending our national security and sovereignty and socialism with honour.

Our Party, by thwarting the imperialists’ ceaseless moves to start a war and saving the people from the holocaust of war, fulfilled its mission and duty as the protector of the destiny of the country and people. At present various parts of the world are still being devastated by war and people in a number of countries are still wandering in search of a means of survival. But the gunfire of war has not been heard in our country for several decades, and our people, though they are not well-off, are leading a peaceful and stable life, free from war. This is thanks entirely to Songun politics, and herein lies the greatest achievement of our Party.

Even in the severe struggle to defend socialism our Party, looking forward to a future of national prosperity with firm confidence in victory, set the ambitious goal of building a powerful socialist country and steadily strove to advance the socialist cause to a new stage.

The building of a powerful socialist country was the intention of Comrade Kim Il Sung and is the ideal and desire of our people. Our Party put forward a new line of economic construction in which the defence industry would be developed on a priority basis while boosting light industry and agriculture simultaneously, which was in keeping with the requirements of the Songun era, and mobilized our service personnel and all other people for a general onward march to build a powerful socialist country. The Kanggye spirit embodying the revolutionary soldier spirit was created, the torch of Songgang was kindled, and miracles and exploits were performed ceaselessly on all fronts of socialist construction. All this was done under the Songun-based leadership of our Party that had identified the People’s Army as the main force of the Songun revolution and the architect of the people’s joy and encouraged the whole society to learn from the revolutionary soldier spirit displayed by the army.

By bringing about a great turn in building a powerful socialist country through its Songun-based revolutionary leadership, our Party corroborated the truth that we can build our country into a world power in any adversity by relying on the force of arms, and it opened up a new, higher stage in the independent development of the nation and the fulfilment of the socialist cause.

It is a miracle of history, and also a great victory for the Juche idea and Songun politics, that our army and people, under the leadership of the Workers’ Party of Korea, could safeguard socialism and victoriously advance the socialist cause, standing alone against the US-led allied imperialist forces.

Comrades,

At a time when a historic turn was being effected in implementing the cause of the Juche revolution, and when the socialism of our own style was making a dynamic advance along the road of victory opened up by Songun politics, our Party and people were suddenly bereft of Comrade Kim Jong Il and went into national mourning once again.

Even as they wept tears of blood over the loss of Comrade Kim Jong Il, all our Party members, service personnel and other people, his soldiers and devoted followers, turned their sorrow into strength and courage and rallied firmly behind the Party Central Committee, turning out with determination in the struggle to translate into reality the intentions and wishes he had pursued in his lifetime.

The Workers’ Party of Korea, true to his ideas and intentions, organized and led the struggle to create a new turning point in fulfilling the socialist cause.

At the historic Fourth Party Conference our Party made clear its revolutionary faith and will to hold the great Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in the highest esteem as the eternal leaders of our Party and revolution and to maintain the great Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism as its eternal guiding ideology. It also mobilized its members and other people in a campaign to implement the instructions they had given in their lifetime. In line with the requirements for a crucial, historic turning point in carrying forward the cause of the Juche revolution, we further strengthened the Party organizationally and ideologically as befits the guiding force of the revolution, waged an intensive Party-wide struggle to root out abuses of power, bureaucratism and corruption, and established iron discipline and order within it. In this way we increased the Party’s fighting efficiency and might in a comprehensive way.

The Workers’ Party of Korea, as required by the prevailing situation and developing revolution, set out the strategic line of simultaneously promoting economic construction and the upbuilding of the nuclear forces, and made strenuous efforts to this end. Our Party’s new line is not a temporary countermeasure adopted to cope with the rapidly-changing situation, but a strategic line to which we should hold fast permanently in view of the supreme interests of our revolution. It is also an absolutely correct and revolutionary line aimed at building a prosperous socialist power as soon as possible by stepping up economic construction while making the country’s defences impregnable, with the nuclear forces as the backbone. Thanks to the vigorous struggle waged by our army and people to implement the Party’s strategic line, a strong guarantee has been furnished for putting a final end to the anti-imperialist, anti-US showdown and hastening the final victory of our cause.

The Workers’ Party of Korea, as the great leaders had planned and wished, launched a general all-people onward march to build the country into a thriving people’s paradise, thus ushering in a new era of national prosperity.

We made sure that Party organizations and government organs held fast to the principle of giving the highest and absolute priority to the people’s interests and comfort and strove with devotion to bring all the benefits of socialism to our people, the finest people in the world.

Our army and people, fully supporting the Party’s leadership, staged a daring campaign to carry through the leaders’ lifetime instructions and defend Party policy. By thus creating a new Korean speed in socialist construction, they have ushered in a Mallima era when, by racing against time, they reduce ten years to one.

The startling reality in our country at present has fully convinced Party members and all other people that they can build a powerful socialist country by their own efforts without fail, as the great leaders wished, and that the day of final victory for the cause of the Juche revolution is not far off.

The socialist cause of Juche is a science, and invariably adhering to and thoroughly embodying the revolutionary line and mode of independence maintained by the great leaders is precisely the way to achieve the victory of our revolution and eternal prosperity of the nation–this is the basic conclusion to be drawn from the struggle of our Party and people for advancing the socialist cause during the period under review.

The heroic struggle of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the Korean people in carrying forward the socialist cause to victory, holding aloft the banner of Juche and the banner of Songun in unprecedented adversity, will go down for ever in the sacred history of our Party and the history of the masses’ struggle for independence.

Splendid successes in building a thriving country

Comrades,

During the period under review brilliant victories were achieved in socialist construction and lasting foundations were laid for the prosperity of the country.

It is a proud success of our Party and people in building socialism that they established a politico-ideological power based on single-hearted unity, and an invincible military power. Ideology and politics play a leading role in social life. Accordingly, it is a primary task in building a powerful socialist country to solidify the politico-ideological position of socialism and strengthen its politico-ideological might.

The Workers’ Party of Korea, by embodying the Juche-oriented ideological theory, the revolutionary philosophy of single-hearted unity and the political line of independence, turned our country into a dignified socialist country that is powerful politically and ideologically.

During the period under review our Party consistently held fast to ideology as a key element and gave decisive precedence to ideological education and political work, thus training its members and all other people into staunch revolutionary fighters with the firm faith that their Party, system, ideology and cause are the best in the world. The imperialist reactionaries viciously manoeuvred to infect and undermine our revolutionary ranks by infiltrating into them the alien bourgeois ideology and culture, but they could not break our people’s faith in socialism and their will to adhere to it, as they were educated and trained in the embrace of the Party. Today our country is demonstrating its might as an invincible ideological power, the whole society of which is imbued with the Juche idea and the Songun idea, and whose service personnel and all other people, equipped with the thoroughgoing spirit of safeguarding the revolution and the resolute spirit of defending socialism, are creating a history of sea changes on the strength of the great spirit of Kim Il Sung’s nation.

The great success and exploit achieved by our Party during the period under review are that it realized the single-hearted unity of the whole society in which the entire Party and all the people are firmly rallied around the leader in ideology, purpose and moral obligation.

The single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party and the masses of the people is part of the revolutionary philosophy of Comrade Kim Jong Il. He advanced the idea of single-hearted unity based on one ideology and one centre, and, through his seasoned leadership, united the whole Party and society.

Our Party, having raised the slogan “Everything for the people, everything by relying on them!” made sure that the whole Party loved the people, served them with devotion and worked by relying on them. Its politics of love for the people, its benevolent politics, deepened their trust in it, guaranteed political stability in society and consolidated the harmonious whole of the Party and people. The leader, the Party and the masses are firmly bound together by one ideology and faith and by comradely love and obligation, and the whole society forms a great harmonious family whose members help one another and lead one another forward, sharing the same destiny–these are the genuine features of the socialism of our own style.

The invincible might of our country as a politico-ideological power is clearly manifested in the supreme brilliance it has added to its national sovereignty and dignity; it has achieved this by means of independent politics embodying the Juche idea. We solve all the problems arising in the revolution and construction in the interests of our people and in keeping with the specific situation in our country; we firmly adhere to revolutionary principles and the stand of independence in Party and state activities; and we proudly exercise our country’s authority and influence as a dignified political power in the international political arena.

In the whole course of its leadership of the revolution, the Workers’ Party of Korea has maintained the strategic line of prioritizing young people and trained them as staunch successors to the revolution who carry forward the lineage of Juche. In this way it has built the sole youth power in the world.

It channelled great efforts into the education of young people, based on the view that their ideological education is essential in settling the youth problem. It put them forward as the masters of the times and gave the youth league immense assignments so as to train them into stalwarts in the practical struggle. Our young men and women, by completing the construction of the magnificent Paektusan Hero Youth Power Station, a task assigned by the Party, demonstrated to the world the might of the indomitable spirit, self-reliance and self-development of Korea’s youth and struck a hard blow against the US imperialists and their vassal forces. The spirit of the Paektusan hero youth, created by the young vanguard in the Paektu area where the Juche revolution started, is the spirit of the present times. That they have been fully prepared as the reliable vanguard and giants of creation who defend the prestige of the Party and go through fire and water in response to its call, is a clear demonstration of the validity and vitality of our Party’s idea and line of prioritizing young people.

It is a source of pride for our Party and a great victory that it has so satisfactorily resolved the youth problem, the problem of the successors to the revolution, which is such a challenge around the world, and built a youth power we can boast of internationally. The building of this youth power has enabled our country to give fuller play to its might as the viable and promising Juche-oriented politico-ideological power.

A remarkable success achieved by the Workers’ Party of Korea during the period under review is that it developed our country into an invincible military power by implementing the Songun-based revolutionary line, the self-defensive military line. Our Party, proceeding from the fundamentals of the Songun revolution, set creating a military power as an important strategic task in building a powerful socialist country, and directed great efforts to doing so.

Under the leadership of the Party, our People’s Army was prepared as the main force in carrying out the cause of the Juche revolution and as a powerful revolutionary army in which the unified command system of the Supreme Commander is thoroughly established and which is firmly armed with the spirit of defending the Party Central Committee to the death and the spirit of acting as human bullets and bombs.

The People’s Army today has developed into a force of true comrades and comrades-in-arms who are firmly united around the Supreme Commander on the basis of revolutionary comradeship and obligation; it is demonstrating its might as an elite combat force in which a revolutionary military climate and steel-strong discipline have been established and which has assumed the features of a splendid regular armed force. Because the entire army seethed with enthusiasm for training as the anti-Japanese guerrillas had done on Mt Paektu, the officers and men could develop into a-match-for-a-hundred combatants who are firmly armed with Kim Il Sung’s and Kim Jong Il’s military ideas, strategies and tactics and possessed of the highest capability for fighting a war. Our People’s Army was strengthened into an invincible revolutionary armed force that is equipped with modern means of attack and defence of our own style. As a result it can destroy and annihilate at a single stroke any imperialist forces of aggression that dare to violate our country’s sovereignty and dignity. By giving full play to the revolutionary soldier spirit, it is making a breakthrough on every major front of socialist construction for achieving national prosperity and improving the people’s well-being; it is demonstrating the mettle and might of a powerful revolutionary army that does not know the word impossible.

Under the leadership of our Party, the Korean People’s Internal Security Forces grew in strength as a revolutionary armed force that is faithful to it and into the dependable guardian of the country and people, thus fulfilling with credit its mission and duty of defending the leader, system and people.

During the period under review the defence industry and sector of defence science and technology made rapid progress, to the admiration of the world.

True to the Party’s idea of prioritizing national defence, officials, scientists and technicians in these sectors strove to develop new, Juche-oriented weapons of our own style, thereby opening up prospects for surpassing the cutting edge in the development of the defence industry. Our defence science and technology have now attained the highest level and the defence industry is readily manufacturing cutting-edge military hardware of our own style that is precise, light, unmanned and intelligent. Our nuclear weapons research sector succeeded in three rounds of underground nuclear tests and the first hydrogen bomb test. In this way it achieved a proud victory by placing our country in the front rank of world nuclear powers and ending the history of the US imperialists’ bloody aggression and nuclear threat.

Ours has developed into a self-supporting defence industry, a revolutionary industry that produces and supplies powerful military hardware capable of destroying any of the enemy’s modern military hardware at a stroke. The enemy are trembling with fear in the face of the power of our cutting-edge Juche-oriented defence industry, and our people are taking an active part in socialist construction without worries about their livelihood and full of confidence in victory under the protection of our powerful defences and war deterrent.

The climate of prioritizing arms, military affairs, was established throughout society and a turn was brought about in rounding off the combat preparedness of our paramilitary forces. The whole country now subordinates everything to military affairs, regarding them as the most important of all state affairs. The hearts of all the people are burning with a do-or-die spirit to achieve the sacred cause of national reunification through all-out resistance in the event of a decisive showdown. Our paramilitary forces, including the Worker-Peasant Red Guards, were strengthened into a revolutionary armed force whose members are capable of defending their provinces, counties and villages by themselves, and an all-people, nationwide defence system was established.

It is a source of great pride for our Party, army and people that they have built an invincible military power admired by the world by tightening their belts and working hard in such difficult conditions and environment. This is a historic exploit that has made it possible to provide a sure military guarantee for the country’s prosperity and for the victory of the cause of the Juche revolution and to safeguard peace on the Korean peninsula and in the region.

Now that this splendid politico-ideological and military power has been built, the motive force of our revolution has been made incomparably stronger. The people, equipped with the revolutionary ideology of the Party, united around it single-heartedly and armed with powerful weapons, form the most powerful motive force of the revolution, and the sacred cause of such a people is ever-victorious.

During the period under review great progress was also achieved in developing the economy and culture.

Our Party and people strove to implement the strategic line of socialist economic construction, so as to solidify the material and technological foundations of our independent national economy and provide a springboard for building an economic giant. Proactive efforts were made to put the national economy on a Juche-oriented, modern and scientific basis.

The raw materials, fuel and power bases of our self-supporting economy were consolidated, Juche-oriented production lines established in key sectors and the industrial infrastructure further improved. The Anbyon Youth Power Station, Huichon Power Station, Paektusan Hero Youth Power Station and other large- , medium- and small-scale power plants were built, and promising coal and ore mines developed. The Juche-based system of producing iron and lines for producing fertilizer and vinalon were built, and new production bases established in different sectors of the national economy, further consolidating its independence and Juche character.

Amid the flames of the industrial revolution in the new century, factories and enterprises pushed ahead with the modernization of their equipment and production lines and the national economy reached a higher standard in terms of its overall technical equipment. Modern machine-building bases and production bases for electronic and automation elements and instruments guaranteeing the country’s economic development were built, with the result that our industry attained such a high level of development that it can produce cutting-edge equipment in reliance on domestic resources. Innovations were achieved in developing telecommunications, and production lines, technical equipment and the means of operation were further modernized in the transport, building-materials and other sectors.

During the period under review our Party devoted the greatest importance to the people’s livelihood and put great efforts into the struggle to improve their material and cultural standards of living.

In the agricultural sector guarantees were provided for increasing the production of cereals by launching a campaign to improve seeds, making a radical turn in potato farming, two-crop farming and scientific farming, realigning over 320 000 hectares of farmland as befits the land of socialist Korea, and building some 10 000 km of gravitational waterways. Modern animal husbandry bases, fish farms, vegetable greenhouses, mushroom cultivation bases and vast stretches of “youth” orchards sprang up across the country under the leadership of the Party; these are invaluable assets for improving the people’s living standards. In the fishing sector a breakthrough for its further development was made in the course of the struggle to implement the Party’s plan for creating a new history of “gold seas.” Factories and enterprises in light industry, by making proactive efforts to upgrade themselves technologically and make use of domestically-produced raw and other materials, became able to turn out quality consumer goods in larger quantities.

A large number of monumental structures of the era of the Workers’ Party which embody the Juche-oriented idea on architecture were built, according to the Party’s grand plan for construction. These served to solidify the foundations for socialist economic construction and for improving the people’s living standards.

Notable achievements were recorded in the development of socialist culture.

With the implementation of the Party’s line of prioritizing science and technology, outstanding scientific and technical personnel were produced, the material and technological foundations of the scientific research sector were consolidated and epochal progress was made in science and technology, despite the severe economic difficulties in the country. Our dependable scientists and technicians frustrated the vicious obstructive moves of the US imperialists and their vassal forces, and achieved world-startling miraculous successes in the core, basic technology, space technology and other branches of cutting-edge science and technology. They thus demonstrated the resourcefulness and talents of the Korean intellectuals who have grown up under the care of the Party. In the run-up to the historic Seventh Party Congress our space scientists, admirable heroes of Juche Korea, achieved a signal success by launching the earth observation satellite Kwangmyongsong 4 before the eyes of the whole world, thus exalting the prestige of our state and demonstrating the indomitable mettle of our great people.

During the period under review fresh progress was made in education, in line with the requirements of the IT era, including the introduction of universal 12-year compulsory education and the establishment of a distance education system. This was in accordance with our Party’s idea and line of prioritizing education. The splendid Sci-Tech Complex was built as a great temple of learning for all the people in the 21st century and a centre for disseminating the latest science and technology, and Mirae digital libraries and other sci-tech learning spaces were set up across the country, providing the launching pad for a leap to the pinnacle of a sci-tech power, a talent power.

Thanks to our Party’s Juche-based idea and policy on public health, medical services for the people were improved; such modern medical institutions as the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital Breast Tumour Institute, Okryu Children’s Hospital and Ryugyong Dental Hospital were built; and a nationwide telemedicine system was set up.

In accordance with the Party’s policy of prioritizing sports, a powerful sports wind was raised, sports facilities were renovated and a fresh turn was brought about in the development of sports in the country. Our dependable sportspeople exalted the honour of Juche Korea in international competitions including the Olympic Games and world championships, inspiring the people with strength and courage.

During the period under review a model of Songun culture was created in the People’s Army; the State Merited Chorus, a pride of our state, and many other art troupes played their part as buglers on the revolutionary advance; the multi-part feature film The Nation and Destiny and the grand mass gymnastics and artistic performance Arirang were produced, becoming hits of Juche-oriented art and literature and world-class masterpieces; and mass cultural and artistic activities were conducted briskly among the service personnel and working people, with the result that the whole society was brimming with revolutionary optimism.

Fully aware of their mission as faithful spokespersons, staunch advocates and powerful disseminators of Party policy, journalists, editors and others in the mass media supported the ideology and cause of the Party with loyalty by wielding the “pen” of the revolution.

A nationwide campaign was conducted to turn towns and countryside, streets and villages into a socialist paradise, and several magnificent scenic attractions and facilities for pursuing cultural and leisure activities were built in order to improve the conditions and environment for the people to lead a cultured life.

The proud successes our army and people achieved in socialist construction by faithfully following the great Juche idea and the Party’s Songun-based leadership and giving full play to the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance and fortitude and patriotic ardour are the invaluable wealth of the nation. Being associated with the precious sweat and blood of the service personnel and all other people, they are priceless assets guaranteeing that a thriving country can be built and the socialist cause accomplished.

Brilliant succession to the revolutionary cause

Comrades,

The secret to all the victories and successes achieved by our Party and people in the course of implementing the cause of the Juche revolution during the period under review lies in the fact that they held the great Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in the highest esteem as their leaders and worked hard under their wise leadership, and that they brilliantly carried forward the revolutionary cause of the leader from one generation to the next.

The revolutionary cause of the masses of the people, the socialist cause, is a sacred one which is launched and advances under the guidance of the leader, and a long-term one that continues from one generation to the next. Victory in the revolution and the future of a country and nation hinge on whether or not they are guided by a great leader and whether or not the cause of the leader who launched and advanced the revolution is invariably carried forward through the generations. Written into the history of the struggle of the masses of the people for independence is the serious lesson that a party without a great leader cannot emerge victorious in a revolution and a party that fails to carry forward the cause of its leader properly is bound to degenerate, resulting in the revolution being frustrated.

Our Party and people held up Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at the highest post of the revolution throughout their revolutionary struggle.

Comrade Kim Il Sung was the great leader of our Party and people who created the immortal Juche idea and led the cause of the Juche revolution along the road of victory.

After embarking on the road of revolution in his early years he led the uncharted Korean revolution through numerous difficulties and ordeals along the road of victory for a long period, thus exalting the dignity and honour of the nation, and built on this land a socialist state that is independent, self-supporting and self-reliant in defence. In this way he laid lasting foundations for the victory of the cause of the Juche revolution. Experiencing all manner of hardships from the historic time when he fought for national liberation in the forests of Mt Paektu to the final moments of his life, he worked energetically, solely for the people’s well-being, the country’s prosperity, national reunification and the cause of global independence, and did everything in his power for his country, people and nation.

Comrade Kim Jong Il was the outstanding leader who strengthened and developed the Workers’ Party of Korea into a revolutionary party of Juche and guided the cause of the Juche revolution along the road of victory by faithfully continuing the ideology and cause of Comrade Kim Il Sung.

He made it his lifelong mission to carry through the revolutionary cause pioneered on Mt Paektu and wisely led our Party, state, army and people to create a new history of miracles and change in all fields of the revolution and construction; during the unprecedentedly grim years for our revolution he saved the revolution, country and people from crisis through his original Songun-based revolutionary leadership and ushered in a new era of national prosperity, a new golden age in the implementation of the cause of the Juche revolution.

His revolutionary career was the most brilliant life of a great revolutionary, one who performed undying exploits for the times and revolution, the country and people, by battling his way along the thorny path, holding aloft the red flag of the revolution; it was the noblest life of a peerless patriot and great man, one who devoted his whole life for the good of the country and people, as Comrade Kim Il Sung had entrusted him.

Because they were striving under the wise leadership of Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, holding them in the highest esteem as the leaders of the revolution during the period under review, our people could become the most independent and dignified people, our country could demonstrate its might as the socialist power of Juche, and our revolution could follow the road of victory and glory, weathering the storms of history.

The Workers’ Party of Korea, by following the road of victory under the leadership of the great leaders, could brilliantly resolve the theoretical and practical problems arising in the succession to the revolutionary cause and faithfully carry forward their ideology and cause.

It found effective solutions to the problem of carrying forward the revolutionary cause, thereby setting an example for the world in defending and adding brilliance to the revolutionary cause of the leader from one generation to the next.

Comrade Kim Jong Il held up Comrade Kim Il Sung as the eternal leader of our Party and people, consistently defended and added lustre to his ideology and cause, and thus originated the cause of immortalizing the leader. He instilled in the service personnel and all other people the belief that Comrade Kim Il Sung will always be with them, and ensured that they added eternal glory to his great revolutionary career and immortal exploits.

The Workers’ Party of Korea, on the basis of its steadfast revolutionary faith and moral obligation, holds Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il in the highest esteem as the eternal leaders of our Party and revolution, and is faithfully carrying forward their ideology and cause.

Our Party saw to it that the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, where the great leaders are kept in their lifetime appearance, was developed to make it more solemn, as befits the supreme sanctuary of Juche, and that bronze statues of the leaders and portraits of them smiling were set up with reverence in all parts of the country, so that they will always be with our people and live in the hearts of our people and progressive mankind. It ensured that all sectors and all units implemented their ideas and intentions thoroughly and without any deviation or concession by regarding the struggle to carry out their lifetime instructions as their main task and lifeline, so that their sacred revolutionary history could keep developing, along with the country’s prosperity.

In the course of their struggle to defend and add lustre to socialism under the unfurled banner of the Juche idea and banner of Songun, our Party and people confirmed beyond question the priceless philosophy that the leader plays the decisive role in implementing the revolutionary cause of the masses of the people to achieve independence, and that the inheritance of the cause of the leader is fundamental to the destiny of the revolution and the future of the people.

The Workers’ Party of Korea has followed the road of victory for decades. It is a highly dignified and glorious party that is blessed with its leader and is ever-victorious as it brilliantly carries forward the ideology and leadership of the leader.

For accomplishing the socialist cause

Comrades,

Today we are faced with important tasks of advancing the Korean revolution onto a higher stage and carrying through the socialist cause with the ideology and exploits of Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il as the eternal cornerstone.

The great leaders devoted their whole life to the socialist cause of Juche, and accomplishing it is a historic mission entrusted to our Party, army and people.

We should hold aloft the banner of modelling the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism and make dynamic headway along the road of continuous revolution so as to carry the socialist cause to brilliant fruition.

Modelling the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism

Comrades,

In order to accomplish the socialist cause and realize the full independence of the masses of the people, the whole society should be modelled on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism.

The cause of independence of the people, the socialist cause, can successfully be accomplished only by modelling the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism and guided by this great ideology.

Modelling the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism is the ultimate programme of our Party.

It is the revolutionary continuation of modelling the whole society on Kimilsungism, which Comrade Kim Jong Il put forward in his early years and worked to translate into reality, and its comprehensive development onto a new, higher level. Today our revolution has entered the historic stage of realizing the people’s ideal and desire for independence in full measure under the unfurled banner of the great Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism. In the course of the struggle to safeguard socialism and advance it victoriously, the motive force of our revolution has been built up and made rock-solid, and the strategic position and influence of our country have been markedly enhanced.

We should step up the modelling of the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism and increase our political, military and economic might in every way, if we are to win final victory in the showdown with the allied imperialist forces, build a people’s paradise that is reunified and prosperous on this land as soon as possible, and play a pivotal role in achieving the cause of global independence.

Modelling the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism means advancing our revolution with this great ideology as the sole guideline and, on this basis, building and perfecting an ideal society for the people. In other words, it means training every member of society to be genuine Kimilsungists-Kimjongilists and transforming politics, military affairs, the economy, culture and all other fields in line with the requirements of this ideology, thereby realizing the people’s complete independence.

Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism is an integrated system comprising the Juche idea created by Comrade Kim Il Sung and developed in depth by Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, and the theories and methods of the revolution and construction elucidated by this idea.

It scientifically explains the true features of society where the independence of the people, the ultimate goal of our Party, has been fully realized, the law-governed process by which it is built, and the strategy and policies for the struggle that should strictly be adhered to in the whole course of carrying out the socialist cause. It makes a comprehensive and systematic presentation of the revolutionary theories and leadership methods for achieving the final victory of the socialist cause on the basis of the great Juche idea and the Songun idea, and clarifies how all domains of social life can be transformed in a revolutionary way to meet the people’s aspiration and demand for independence. Herein lies its unique historic position as the perfect guiding ideology for the revolution in our times, and its invincible might.

To imbue the whole society with Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism is a sacred struggle to advance the revolution and construction in line with the ideas and intentions of Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and add glory to the undying exploits performed by the great leaders for the country and revolution, the times and history. We should constantly step up our efforts to model the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism so as to implement their lifetime instructions thoroughly in all fields, and strengthen and develop our Party, state and army into the party, state and army of the great leaders for ever.

The major task facing us today in modelling the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism is to complete the cause of building a powerful socialist country.

A powerful socialist country means the best country in the world, one with great national strength that is ever-prospering and whose people are living happily without envying anyone in the world.

Building a socialist power is a struggle to accomplish the cause of building the powerful socialist state planned by the great leaders, and the lasting foundations of which were laid by them. The socialist cause, which is carried on with a country or nation as the unit amid a fierce showdown with imperialism, can be accomplished only by building a nation bearing the hallmarks of a power in all the fields of politics, military affairs, the economy, science and technology, and culture.

The building of a powerful socialist country is a historic phase in the struggle to model the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism. It constitutes the process of laying the foundations of socialism and achieving its complete victory.

Only through a struggle to attain the high goal of building a powerful socialist country will it be possible to consolidate the political and military forces and the economic, technological and cultural foundations that guarantee the complete victory of socialism, and to give full play to the advantages of our socialist system. By speeding up the building of a powerful socialist country we can consolidate our position as a political and military power and fly the flag of victory on the peak of a sci-tech power, economic giant and civilized power. Thus we can bring about a radical turn in the struggle to model the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism.

In order to build a powerful socialist country successfully under the banner of modelling the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, we must fully implement our Party’s general line of vigorously carrying out the three revolutions–ideological, technological and cultural–while strengthening the people’s government and enhancing its functions and role.

The people’s government is a powerful tool for building a socialist power. Only when we strengthen the people’s government and enhance its functions and role can we ensure the full right to independence and creative activities of the masses of the people, firmly defend the socialist system and give full play to the might of collectivism, and thereby step up socialist construction.

The ideological, technological and cultural revolutions are elements of the continuous revolution to be carried out in the whole course of socialist construction, and they are also the highest stage of the revolution aimed at realizing the independence of the people. Through the three revolutions, the whole society is imbued with one ideology and united at a high level on the basis of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, and rapid progress is made in economic and cultural construction. As a result, the goals for building a powerful socialist country can be attained.

Today a powerful socialist country is being built in the face of the vicious ideological and cultural infiltration and economic and technological blockade conducted by the imperialists and reactionaries, and one generation of the revolution is being replaced by the next. This situation requires us to carry out the three revolutions more thoroughly. While giving decisive precedence to the ideological revolution, we should speed up the technological and cultural revolutions so as to defend our ideology, system and culture firmly from the imperialists’ anti-socialist schemes and make socialism as different in all respects from capitalism as heaven is from earth.

We should uphold the spirit of self-development first.

The spirit of self-development first is the revolutionary spirit of strengthening the motive force of a nation and opening up the path ahead of it by relying on its own efforts, technology and resources.

The history of the Korean revolution is the one of self-development; the revolution was pioneered and has advanced victoriously by means of it. The basis of this spirit is the great leaders’ revolutionary idea that a country must carry out the revolution on its own, and the form of struggle for applying it is self-reliance and fortitude. The great leaders’ spirit of self-reliance and self-development, based on the principle that man is the master of his destiny and should carve out his destiny by himself, inspired our people to become stronger than anyone else in spiritual strength, not knowing the word impossible, and to develop theirs into an indisputably powerful nation.

Today we have nothing but our own strength to rely on. No one is willing to help us and see our country reunified, powerful, well-off and flourishing. It is only when we are possessed of the spirit of self-reliance and self-development that we can go through any trials and hardships and achieve the greatest success even in the worst conditions. We should reject big-power worship and dependence on foreign forces, and push ahead with building a powerful socialist country with our own strength, technology and resources and in the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance and fortitude. We should also achieve national reunification, the long-cherished desire of our nation, on our own by strengthening our motive force.

We should hold fast to the general line of socialist construction and the spirit of self-development first as the permanent strategic line for achieving great victory in the building of a powerful socialist country, and accomplish the historic cause of modelling the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism.

Building a sci-tech power

Comrades,

Becoming a sci-tech power is a key priority goal for us at present in building a powerful socialist country.

This is the age of science and technology, and its level of scientific and technological development is a criterion for judging the overall strength and status of a country. Scientific and technological strength is a state’s most important strategic resource and a powerful propellant for social development.

It is imperative, if we are to smash the imperialists’ economic and technological blockade, radically increase our capacity for self-development and make rapid progress in all sectors, to make science and technology our lifeblood.

By spurring the building of a sci-tech power, we should achieve a new leap forward in rapidly developing the country’s science and technology and usher in an era of prosperity by means of science, thus bringing about a revolutionary turn in socialist construction.

A sci-tech power is a country whose overall science and technology are at the most advanced level in the world, a country where science and technology play the leading role in ensuring the rapid development of all other sectors, including the economy, national defence and culture.

The goal of building a sci-tech power is to take an honourable place among the ranks of the most advanced nations in the world in the near future in terms of overall scientific and technological strength. When it comes to the development of science and technology, we should not simply follow the road taken by others but charge forward by leaps and bounds from one decade to the next by giving full play to our scientists’ patriotism and loyalty and our people’s resourcefulness and national self-respect. The sector of science and technology should conduct a vigorous campaign to surpass the cutting edge.

This campaign is an ideological offensive, a talent challenge, to acquire a complete grasp of the essentials of modern science and technology and beat the world in all fields of science and technology. Only by conducting this campaign dynamically can we rapidly develop the country’s science and technology overall and lay the foundations of a knowledge-based economy.

Great efforts should be made in the field of cutting-edge science and technology to develop technologies with a world-class competitive edge. We should make it our major thrust to develop such core, basic technologies as IT, nanotechnology and bioengineering, along with such pivotal and beneficial scientific and technological fields as new materials and energy, space and nuclear technologies, and concentrate our efforts on them. We should focus on the research projects with existing foundations and clear prospects so as to lead the world in those fields. By furthering our achievements in these projects we can rapidly develop science and technology. With the exploits Comrade Kim Jong Il performed in building a space power as our lasting foundation, we should further develop space science and technology with a view to manufacturing and launching more application satellites, which are a crystallization and highest form of cutting-edge technology.

It is important to speed up technological development in major fields such as mechanical, metal, thermal and materials engineering, and to apply the achievements proactively in different economic sectors.

The basic sciences are the cornerstone of a sci-tech power. A high level of basic sciences enables a country’s science and technology to make steady progress on a solid foundation. The sector of basic sciences, including mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, should, while consolidating the theoretical and methodological base for the development of science and technology, generate international-level research findings.

We should make great efforts to develop new branches of cross-disciplinary sciences in line with the trend of the comprehensive development of science and technology and the demands of socio-economic development. We should achieve one miracle after another in surpassing the cutting edge, confident that we can beat the world in general science and technology in the near future.

Science and technology should play the role of the engine in building an economic giant.

The scientific research sector, with the viewpoint and attitude that it must pave the way for economic development and lead the economy by means of science and technology, should work out concrete scientific and technological plans for promoting the independence and Juche character of our economy and improving the people’s living standards, and adopt and implement specific measures to this end.

Major efforts should be channelled into finding scientific and technological solutions to the key challenges in building an economic giant, namely energy, iron and steel, chemical products and food. Scientific and technological steps should be taken to ease the strain on the country’s electricity supply and give definite precedence to energy supply over economic growth. Scientific research should be stepped up with the aim of perfecting Juche-based iron-making techniques in line with the actual conditions in our country and ensuring the domestic production of raw and other materials, along with the equipment that are currently imported. Proactive efforts should be made to solve the scientific and technological problems arising in introducing scientific and industrial methods into agricultural production and in modernizing light industry, so that the people’s standard of living can be improved.

The sector of science and technology should play the leading role in speeding up the integration of science and technology with the economy and making the country’s economy modern and IT-based.

To raise the status of our country as a sci-tech power, we should value talented personnel and ensure that all the people are well-versed in science and technology.

Talented personnel are decisive in everything. We should build up the ranks of scientific and technical talents with a view to them shouldering the future of a sci-tech power, and raise their research and development capability to the world advanced level. In accordance with the national strategy for the development of science and technology, we should more than treble the number of research workers in the scientific and technological sector in the near future. People capable of managing technology-intensive industry and a modern economy should be trained in a planned way to meet the demands of the era of the knowledge economy. And factories and enterprises should build up proper scientific and technological development forces.

Ensuring that all the people are well-versed in science and technology is an important undertaking to prepare all the members of society as intelligent workers with the intellectual level of a university graduate, and as the developers of science and technology.

A nationwide dissemination network should be established centring on the Sci-Tech Complex, a great temple of learning for all the people and a multifunctional hub of scientific and technological dissemination, so that new scientific and technological information flows from the centre to the lowest level. Institutions, enterprises, factories and cooperative farms need to build good sci-tech learning spaces that are connected to the Sci-Tech Complex online and ensure their proper operation in order to help the working people raise their level of scientific and technological knowledge and encourage them to make a positive contribution to the technological development of their respective units.

The state needs to carry out proper planning, guidance and management for the development of the country’s science and technology, establish a well-knit scientific research and development system, and provide in full the conditions needed by this sector.

We should maintain strategic focus in our planning and guidance for the development of science and technology, and ensure that no scientific research institutes tend to conduct research separately in a dispersed manner. It is important to draw up practical plans for attaining the state’s strategic targets, especially for surpassing the cutting edge and introducing cutting-edge technology into industrial sectors, and carry them out without fail. A system and order should be established whereby the state supervises, guides and promotes planning and implementation for the integration of science and technology with the economy.

The dissemination and introduction of science and technology should be conducted properly and the methods of economic management improved so that all sectors and all units work hard to profit from developing and introducing new technologies. The advanced scientific and technological achievements of other countries need to be adopted promptly, and adapted to our specific conditions.

We should adjust and consolidate the national system of scientific research and development. It is important to improve the specialized scientific research institutes as required by the developing reality and to set up new institutes that can focus on core research projects at the frontiers of science and technology. We should also ensure that research into application technologies is undertaken by the research and development units of individual ministries, national agencies, factories and enterprises. Universities and colleges should play a pacesetter role in the research into basic sciences and the development of cutting-edge science and technology, while factories and enterprises should assume much of the burden for implementing national projects for developing priority technologies. Provinces, cities and counties should build up research forces and development units that can provide a scientific and technological impetus to their local economic development and the improvement of the people’s living standards.

The state should scale up its investment in the sector of science and technology. Expenditure on the development of science and technology should be increased systematically when working out the state budget, and local budgets and funding for factories and enterprises should be used as efficiently as possible for scientific and technological development in the relevant units. Scientific research institutes, universities and colleges should set up bases for producing hi-tech products and operate them efficiently in order to generate funds for research and development.

A climate of prioritizing science and technology should prevail throughout society.

Based on the viewpoint and attitude that no success can be achieved in any work without relying on science and technology, all sectors and all units should direct primary efforts to their development and solve all problems on their strength. Every sector and every unit should treasure talents, enhance the role of scientific and technical personnel, and plan, organize and implement all work in a scientific manner.

We should positively encourage scientists and technicians to challenge one another in terms of their talent and practical ability with a firm determination to beat the world, so that they can fulfil their responsibility and role as pacesetters in the age of the knowledge-based economy. We should value and give prominence to scientists and technicians and provide them with good working and living conditions so that they can apply themselves to their scientific research.

A climate of studying science and technology needs to be established across society and all the people made masters and developers of science and technology, so that they can devote their knowledge and skills to building a powerful socialist country.