Let us further strengthen the people's government (Kim Il-sung)

Let us further strengthen the people's government
Speech delivered at the First Session of the Sixth Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Author	Kim Il-sung
First published	15 December 1977
Type	Speech
Source	ProleWiki

Introduction

Comrade Deputies,

The elections to the Sixth Supreme People’s Assembly of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have been held successfully in an ebullient atmosphere; the three revolutions are in full progress on all fronts of socialist construction and the entire people are making great efforts to achieve the reunification of the country and the nationwide victory of the revolution.

The industrial and all the other workers and citizens went to the polls, displaying a high degree of political consciousness and revolutionary ardour as masters of the people’s state power and they voted one hundred per cent for the candidates. In this way they expressed their unequivocal and wholehearted support for the Government of the Republic and demonstrated once again to the world the unbreakable unity and cohesion of our society, based on the Juche idea.

I offer my heartfelt thanks to all the people for their unreserved support for and deep trust in the Government of the Republic which they expressed in the recent elections, and to the Deputies who have been elected to the Supreme People’s Assembly for entrusting us with the honourable, but enormous responsibility, in accordance with the will of the entire people, of forming a new Government of the Republic so that we can continue to conduct state affairs.

Nothing is more honourable and worthwhile than to enjoy the confidence of the people and to serve them faithfully. The new Government of the Republic will carry out its honourable mission faithfully and so live up to the deep trust and great expectations placed in it by the masses of the people, and will work energetically for the welfare of the people and the prosperity and development of the nation, for the victory of the cause of socialism and communism.

In the five years since the election of the Fifth Supreme People’s Assembly the revolution and construction in our country have made great progress. Because all our people, under the correct leadership of the Government of the Republic, worked with soaring revolutionary enthusiasm, the Six-Year Plan, the farreaching programme of socialist construction outlined at the Fifth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, was carried out with success and the three revolutions–ideological, technical and cultural–developed further. As a result, the material and technical foundations of socialism have been strengthened and the might of the Republic has increased markedly in all spheres.

Our people are now in a position to push on with building socialism and communism, with the pride of being victors and believing fully that the future will be bright.

Today our people are confronted with the solemn tasks of attaining the ambitious targets of the Second Seven-Year Plan and achieving, at the earliest possible date, the complete victory of socialism and the independent, peaceful reunification of the country.

We should carry out our honourable revolutionary tasks successfully by further strengthening the people’s government, a powerful instrument of the revolution and construction, and enhancing its functions and role in all spheres.

The Masses of the Working People are the Genuine Masters of the State and Society

Comrades,

The masses of the working people are the subject of history and the motive power behind social progress. The history of mankind is the history of the struggle of the working masses for independence; the creative activities of the masses of the people underlie the development of history and social movement. The masses of the people change nature and improve society, and also create material wealth and develop culture. There can be no society without the masses of the people and history cannot develop unless the masses of the people play their proper role.

Ever since their appearance on the stage of history the working masses, as the subject of history, have been the focal point of all social movement. In spite of this, their position and role have not been identical in every society. With the class differentiation of society and the rise of the state, the position and role of the people came to be determined by whether or not they held power in the state.

State power is political authority and the primary factor that determines the position and role of the people. In exploiter society only the exploiting classes which wield state power have authority and they exercise total power, while the masses of the working people that are deprived of state power enjoy no freedom or rights whatever, and remain mere objects of exploitation and oppression. Only in a socialist society where they hold power in their own hands, do the working masses become the true masters of the state and society. In a socialist society their right to independence is fully assured, their great creative ability is brought into full play and everything in society serves them.

The revolution is a struggle for independence, and independence is guaranteed by state power. The people’s right to independence finds full expression through state power. Accordingly, if the working masses are to gain complete independence, they should become the masters of political power before anything else. It is only by becoming the genuine masters of the state and society with power in their hands that they can successfully solve every problem that arises in the revolution and construction. That is why the question of power is the fundamental question in the revolution.

In the past our people waged a hard and unswerving struggle for their right to be masters of the state and society, for their sovereign power, and found a brilliant solution to the question of power by establishing the people’s government.

Our people’s government is a precious revolutionary asset gained only after a prolonged and bloody struggle. Although it was established 30 years ago, the historical roots of the people’s government in our country lie way back in the days of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle.

The glorious anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle fought by our people under the guidance of the Korean communists was a struggle for national liberation and independence and, at the same time, a struggle to establish the power of the working people. In the days of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle we laid down, on the basis of a scientific analysis of the tasks facing our revolution and the social-class relations in our country, the Juche-oriented line of building a government–to establish the people’s government based on the worker-peasant alliance led by the working class and resting on the united front of the broad sections of the masses. Following this line, we set up the people’s revolutionary government, a unique form of power, in the guerrilla bases, thus gaining precious experience in setting up the people’s government.

Drawing on this experience, we found a fine solution to the power problem in a short space of time after the liberation of the country, by successfully frustrating all the obstructive moves of the enemy, both at home and abroad. The people’s government that was established amid the high revolutionary enthusiasm of the people after liberation was a splendid embodiment of the line of building the people’s government outlined during the antiJapanese revolutionary struggle and was the direct successor to the people’s revolutionary government formed in the guerrilla bases.

Our people’s government is a Juche-based revolutionary government which we have chosen, set up and run for ourselves to suit the actual situation in our country in accordance with the requirements of the Korean revolution and the desire of the working masses.

With the establishment of the people’s government our people became the true masters of the state and society, taking power into their own hands for the first time in history and so they gained control of a powerful weapon for the revolution and construction.

Ever since its foundation, the people’s government has stoutly defended the freedom and rights of the working masses and guided the revolutionary struggle and construction work of our people towards glorious victory.

The main task facing our people’s government was to set up a new, progressive social system. The people’s government drew up its fighting programme which consisted of the tasks of the anti-imperialist, anti-feudal democratic revolution and carried out democratic reforms with success, including the agrarian reform. It thus abolished the old colonial and semi-feudal social system and set up the people’s democratic system. Following up the democratic revolution, the people’s government embarked on the socialist revolution. Within a short space of time after the war, it completed the socialist transformation of production relations in town and country areas and built, in the northern half of Korea, a solid, advanced socialist system free from exploitation and oppression. Our country’s socialist system is the best social system and it effectively guarantees the working people their rights as masters of the state and society and safeguards their interests in every way.

One of the major revolutionary tasks the people’s government must carry out is economic construction. Holding high the slogan of self-reliance in economic construction, our people’s government carried out with honour the Party’s Juche-oriented line of building an independent national economy. In this way it put an end to the economic backwardness inherited from the old society and successfully built a powerful independent socialist national economy on the ruins of war, transforming our country into a socialist industrial state with a modern industry and developed agriculture. The independent socialist national economy built through the heroic efforts of the working masses is the solid material foundation that fully guarantees the political independence of our Republic and a happy life for our people.

From the very outset, our people’s struggle to build a new society was conducted under difficult circumstances. The US imperialists and their minions continued their aggressive moves and provocation. Implementing our Party’s revolutionary line of self-reliance in national defence, the people’s government created the revolutionary armed forces in good time and established a reliable all-people system of defence with the People’s Army as its core. By relying on this system, national defence was fully safeguarded. When the US imperialists launched an aggressive war against our young Republic, the people’s government, as the banner of national freedom and independence, the banner of the people’s struggle, aroused the People’s Army and the people throughout the country to perform heroic deeds and in this way the great victory in the Fatherland Liberation War was assured. After the war it crushed every one of the enemy’s moves in his unceasing efforts at provocation and fully defended the security of the homeland and our revolutionary achievements.

Ever since it was established, our people’s government has travelled a road of relentless struggle and glorious victory and registered immortal achievements which will shine for ever in the history of our country.

Through this difficult and complex revolutionary struggle, the people’s government has grown in strength and developed into an indestructible, militant and powerful revolutionary government.

As the revolution and construction have progressed, the political and economic foundations of the people’s government have been further strengthened and its functions and role markedly enhanced. As the most revolutionary and independent socialist power, our people’s government is today leading the just cause of our people confidently along the road to a magnificent victory.

Now that the people’s government has been established, our working masses are firm in maintaining their position as masters of the state and society and play their role properly in the revolution and construction. Under the people’s government, the working people’s right to independence is guaranteed in full and their creativity is given full scope.

All our people—workers, peasants and working intellectuals—have a deep awareness and sense of responsibility as masters of the state and society, and are working today with complete devotion for the prosperity and development of the country and the victory of the socialist and communist cause. With the position and role of the working masses being raised, the strength of the people’s government is increasing further and the revolution and construction are making rapid progress.

Now that the masses of the working people have become the genuine masters of the state and society they are working with a high degree of independence and creativity. Herein the superiority of our socialist system and the firm guarantee for all our victories can be identified.

With the foundation of the people’s government the true dignity and rights of man were restored. Having enjoyed an independent and creative life to their heart’s content under the tender care of this government, our people have become keenly aware of its advantages and value from their own experience in life. Today all our people have implicit trust in the people’s government and place their whole destiny in its hands. They are filled with a firm resolve to fight on unyieldingly to the last, united firmly around this power, for the final victory of the revolution.

The People's Government Should Serve the Masses of the Working People

Comrades,

Our people’s government is a genuine people’s power; it represents the interests of the working people and serves them.

In our country sovereign power is vested in the workers, peasants, soldiers and working intellectuals, who exercise it through the organs of the people’s government. The organs of power at all levels up to the Supreme People’s Assembly are elected directly by the people and made up of representatives of the working people. Therefore, the organs of the people’s government can never be ruling organs that dominate and rule the people, but must, as a matter of course, be the servants of the people that are devoted to the interests of the working masses.

It is the honourable mission of the people’s government to serve the working masses faithfully. The people’s government should recognize its duty to be to safeguard and protect the interests of the working masses, and the officials of the people’s government bodies should be the servants of the people.

In order to discharge its mission as the servant of the people, the people’s government should give full scope to democracy in state activities.

Democracy is the basic mode of state activity that serves the masses of the working people. It is only by introducing democracy fully in state activities, that it is possible for the working masses to maintain their position securely as masters of the state and society and to enhance their role in the revolution and construction.

In short, democracy is a form of government through which the will of the masses of the working people finds full expression. In other words, democracy precisely means that the state formulates its policies in compliance with the will of the broad sections of the working masses, particularly the workers and peasants, carries them out according to their interests and provides them in practice with genuine freedom and rights and a happy life.

The masses of the working people play the decisive role in the development of society; in any society they make up the overwhelming majority of the population. Therefore, true democracy consists in government which ensures that the will of the working masses formulates state policy and that everything is dedicated to their interests. Government which safeguards the interests of a small, privileged circle without regard for the interests of the working masses can, under no circumstances, be identified with democracy. The world knows only one genuine democracy and that is democracy for the working masses, socialist democracy.

In capitalist society, where state policy is decided according to the will and interests of the exploiting classes, there can never be true democracy. Capitalist society is a society in which the minority rules the majority. The so-called democracy in capitalist society, bourgeois democracy, is “democracy” for the minority and, therefore, is not democracy in the true sense of the word.

In capitalist society there can be no democratic freedom and rights at all for the working masses. The imperialists go on about “equality for all men” and “freedom of the individual,” but, in reality, these are downright lies. How, in capitalist society, where all state power and the means of production are concentrated in the hands of a few capitalists and money decides everything, can there possibly be equality between the billionaires and the poor working people and what kind of freedom can there be for the oppressed and exploited working people? The “democracy” loudly proclaimed by the imperialists is a sham democracy, and the “equality,” “freedom” and everything they come up with are nothing but camouflage designed to hoodwink the working masses and hide the reactionary nature of their bourgeois dictatorship and the anti-popular nature of the capitalist system.

Genuine democracy can only be effected in a socialist society where the working masses are the masters of the state and society.

The socialist democracy that exists in our country today is the best form of democracy which affords genuine freedom and rights, extensively and in practice, for the masses of the working people in all spheres of state and social activity.

In our country all state policies accord with the will and interests of the working masses, and the workers, peasants and all the other people enjoy a most dignified and happy life to the fullest degree.

Our working people take an active part in state administration as masters of the country, and all share the equal right to elect and to be elected, irrespective of sex, occupation, property status, education, political views and religious beliefs. Furthermore, they enjoy wide freedom and rights of speech, the press, assembly, demonstration and all other social and political activities.

Our working people are granted the right to work and rest by the state, and everyone chooses his occupation according to his desire and abilities, works to the top of his bent in a secure position, and displays all his energies and talents in doing useful work for society and for himself. Our state bears the responsibility for providing all the material conditions for the people to obtain food, clothing and housing, and has introduced universal compulsory free education and free medical care. Thanks to these popular policies of the state, all our people are equally prosperous and free from any worries about food, clothing and housing and about education and medical treatment.

Full social and political rights and material and cultural welfare are not only legally ensured for our people by the Socialist Constitution but also firmly guaranteed by an advanced socialist system and a sound independent national economy.

In our country, where socialist democracy has been realized extensively, all the working people, as equal members of society, work for the common good, mutually respecting and closely cooperating with each other.

Our people have become fully convinced from their actual experience that socialist democracy is the only true democracy that affords genuine freedom and rights and a prosperous and enlightened life for the working masses.

We should make the most of the advantages of socialist democracy, and give fuller scope to it.

In order to give full scope to socialist democracy, it is necessary to enlist the working masses widely in the work of the people’s government and steadily enhance their role in state and political life.

The working masses are entitled by right to participate in the work of the people’s government since they are the masters of state power. What is more, it is an important duty for them to do so. We should strengthen the organs of power at all levels with fine representatives of the workers, peasants, soldiers and working intellectuals, and further improve the system and method of work of the people’s government bodies so as to provide broad sections of the people with ample opportunity to participate in the work of the people’s government. Along with this, we should constantly educate the working masses and increase their political awareness so that they all conscientiously and enthusiastically take an active part in state and political life as masters of state power. Thus, we will ensure that the policies and activities of the people’s government accurately reflect the will and needs of the working people and thoroughly defend their interests. In other words, the policies of the people’s government should always be policies for the working people and of the working people.

The organs of the people’s government should have faith in the strength of the masses and rally them and arouse their revolutionary enthusiasm and creative wisdom. In this way the masses of the working people will be encouraged to defend their dignity and rights and achieve their desires and ideals through their own efforts.

In order to give full scope to socialist democracy, it is also necessary to build the socialist economy and culture efficiently.

Building the socialist economy and culture successfully is the practical guarantee for providing the working masses with democratic freedom and rights and a happy life.

We should improve the guidance and management of the national economy, steadily consolidate and develop the economic system of socialism and push ahead with socialist economic construction, so that output increases rapidly in industry, agriculture and all other fields of the national economy and the material and technical foundations of socialism are further.

We should step up the development of socialist culture and thus further consolidate and develop the advanced education and health systems already established in our country, and introduce a variety of new cultural measures for the people, so as to provide everyone with a more affluent and cultured life.

The organs of the people’s government, as the housekeeper in charge of the economic life of the country and the livelihood of the people, should improve and strengthen its guidance and assistance in economic and cultural construction and organize and carry out in a responsible manner the work of improving the material and cultural life of the people.

In order to give full scope to socialist democracy, it is essential to combat resolutely all manner of hostile acts detrimental to the interests of the masses and to socialist democracy.

Socialist democracy presupposes the dictatorship of the working people over their class enemies. Consequently, it is accompanied by an acute class struggle. Since the day when the world witnessed the emergence of socialist democracy, the imperialists and their minions and the overthrown class enemies have all along made, and are still making, every attempt to vilify and undermine socialist democracy.

Today the imperialists, particularly the bosses of the US imperialists, posing as the “champions” of democracy and human rights, are working more feverishly than ever to slander socialist democracy and stage an anti-communist campaign against the socialist system. Clamouring for the “defence of human rights,” the imperialists are attacking the socialist countries. This is as shameless and ridiculous an act as that of a thief crying “stop thief.”

In the world today, it is actually in the Western imperialist countries and the satellite states of imperialism where social inequality is most prevalent and the oppression of the people and violation of human rights are most shocking. It is only logical that in capitalist society, devoid of democracy, the masses of the people should enjoy no human rights. In capitalist society the working masses have no human dignity and political rights whatever. They are denied even the elementary right to survive. If there is any “human right” at all in capitalist society, it is the right enjoyed by a small privileged circle to bleed the working masses white for its own enrichment and prosperity and to oppress and despise the people.

As for the imperialists’ loud cries about the alleged “suppression of human rights” in the socialist countries, it is a justified step to defend democracy from its adversaries for a socialist state to take sanctions against hostile elements and villains who violate democratic order and try to wreck the socialist system. The “human rights” espoused by the imperialists are human rights not for the people but for the people’s enemy and the “freedom” they want is not the democratic freedom of the people but the freedom of the imperialists and their minions to continue their subversive activities.

Just as we communists do not conceal our Party loyalty, so we do not hide the class character of democracy. Socialist democracy is by no means a supraclass democracy that affords freedom and rights even to hostile elements who oppose socialism and to the villains who infringe upon the interests of the people. Socialist democracy means precisely ensuring the freedom and rights of the broad masses of the people–workers, peasants and working 15 intellectuals–while restraining the handful of class enemies.

We should adhere to the class stand and revolutionary principles in all spheres of social life and suppress the hostile and evil elements that encroach upon the interests of the people. In particular, we must deal a resolute counterblow at the imperialists’ anti-communist intrigues that they conduct under the plea of the “defence of human rights,” and should frustrate all attempts to defame socialist democracy at once.

When we defend socialist democracy stoutly from the mischief caused by the class enemies within and without and fully practise democracy in all fields of state activity, our people’s government will be further strengthened and the people will enjoy a happier and more prosperous life.

Let Us Fight against Bureaucracy

Comrades,

In order to strengthen the people’s government further and enable it to fulfil its mission, bureaucracy must be combated. Bureaucracy is an anti-popular method of government used by the officials of the old society to oppress and exploit the people.

Bureaucracy is the direct antithesis of democracy, and is not to be tolerated on any account in the activities of the people’s government which serves the people. It is only when the people’s government organs rid themselves entirely of bureaucracy that they can positively defend the interests of the people and serve the working masses faithfully.

Fighting against bureaucracy in the work of the people’s government is always an important matter because the government bodies are organs of power. The organs of the people’s government are of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and officials of government bodies conduct their work on the authority of the state. Therefore, there may appear among those government officials who lack a revolutionary world outlook, practices of infringing on the people’s interests by abusing their power and of acting in a bureaucratic manner.

From the very inception of the people’s government we made bureaucracy a major object of our struggle and have combated it persistently. Thanks to the proper guidance of the Government of the Republic and the efforts of the government workers, bureaucracy has generally been eliminated. But because the old way of thinking still lingers in the minds of officials, the danger of bureaucratic practices still remains. If we get carried away by the success we have achieved so far and neglect the struggle against bureaucracy to the slightest degree, bureaucracy may reappear at any time.

Bureaucracy is manifested in forcing upon the masses of the people anything that runs counter to their will and in acting to the detriment of the interests of the people. No matter what an official’s intention may be and how it may be expressed, if he imposes on the masses of the people anything that goes against their will and encroaches on the interests of the people, that is bureaucracy.

A leftover from the old society, bureaucracy presents an obstacle to the people’s government in fulfilling its mission and does considerable harm to the revolution and construction.

The harm of bureaucracy lies, above all, in paralysing the independence and creativity of the masses. By imposing unreasonable things willy-nilly on the masses, in disregard of their will and wishes, bureaucracy violates the people’s rights of independence and dampens their revolutionary ardour.

Bureaucracy also does serious harm by alienating the working masses from the people’s government. In giving peremptory 17 orders to the masses and shouting commands at them and acting against the interests of the people, the bureaucrats discredit the people’s government in the eyes of the masses and stand in the way of uniting the broad masses around the Government of the Republic.

When some individual officials act bureaucratically in socialist society, where all activity is organized and all branches are interlinked organically, it will have a serious effect on work in many fields and the consequences will be grave.

We should intensify the struggle against bureaucracy continuously and wipe it out thoroughly in the work of the organs of the people’s government.

The struggle against bureaucracy is a struggle to do away with what remains of the old society and to strengthen the people’s government further, a struggle to safeguard the interests of the masses of the people by giving full scope to socialist democracy. All the officials of government bodies should regard the struggle against bureaucracy as an important revolutionary task in fulfilling their duty as servants of the people, and conduct this struggle with a high degree of political awareness.

In order to eliminate bureaucracy the officials of the organs of the people’s government should mix with the masses of the people, lend a willing ear to their wishes and conduct all work in their interests.

It always goes against the will and interests of the people for an official to sit in his office and do his work from a subjective point of view without mixing with the masses of the people. It is only by mixing with the masses that an official can gain a correct understanding of the real situation and keep himself fully acquainted with the will and desires of the people.

The will and desires of the masses of the people represent the highest principles determining all the activities of the people’s government. The organs of the people’s government should keep in touch with the masses, listen attentively to the opinions of the people and shape all policies in conformity with their requirements. Before adopting any decision or issuing any directive, they must always visit the lower levels, conduct a detailed study of the true situation, hold close consultations with the masses, and make the people’s interests the first consideration in organizing and conducting all work.

If the officials of the organs of the people’s government are to mix with the masses of the people and work in their interests, they should apply the Chongsanri method thoroughly.

The Chongsanri method is the most popular and revolutionary work method based on the Juche conception of the masses.

The officials of the organs of the people’s government should have a correct understanding of the masses of the people and visit them to work, study and live with them. They should on no account be bureaucrats who lord it over the people, simply issuing orders and commands, nor should they be special beings who are detached from the masses. They should always live together with the people, eating and dressing alike, and be their partners through thick and thin. They should also listen to the voice of the people, satisfy their needs promptly, teach them and learn from them and educate them to rise up to carry out their revolutionary tasks. When they become one with the masses, working and living with them with one mind and one purpose, they will become better acquainted with the needs of the people and serve them more faithfully.

Guiding and managing the socialist economy properly is an important duty of the organs of the people’s government. In guiding and managing the economy, these organs should strictly observe the principle of collective leadership which reflects the will of the broad masses.

The socialist economy is a highly socialized, large-scale economy, and the masses of the people are its owners. Therefore, it is only by implementing the principle of collective leadership in the guidance of the economy to encourage the broad masses to take an active part in economic management that it becomes possible to manage the socialist economy on a scientific and rational basis in the interests of the people.

In order to avoid subjective, arbitrary decision-making and implement the principle of collective leadership in the guidance and management of the economy, it is necessary to apply the Taean work system. In conformity with the demands of the Taean work system, the organs of the people’s government should enlist the producer masses in economic management on a broad scale, mix with them to mobilize their collective wisdom and creative enthusiasm for the solution of all problems.

The elimination of bureaucracy requires that the officials of state and economic organizations should abide by socialist law.

Our socialist law is the basic implement of state administration that has been created by the people themselves to safeguard the interests of the working masses. In our country today all the people are fully guaranteed their democratic liberty and rights in all spheres of state and social life in accordance with socialist law. When the observance of socialist law is strengthened to make all state and economic cadres meticulous in their observance of it, bureaucracy which is prejudicial to the interests of the masses of the people will be eliminated and the democratic freedom and rights of the people ensured more fully.

The organs of the people’s government should ensure that the observance of socialist law is strengthened among state and economic cadres to make them observe the legal order of the state willingly, guard the interests of the masses of the people jealously and strive hard to become true servants of the people.

The basis of the observance of socialist law is the legal provisions and regulations. The organs of the people’s government should make legal provisions and regulations for the various fields of activity in accordance with the Socialist Constitution and constantly improve them as the. situation develops.

It is the sacred duty of every citizen to respect socialist law and observe it conscientiously. State and economic cadres should conduct all their work in accordance with the requirements of the laws and regulations and serve as models for the masses in observing the legal order of the state and the socialist way of life.

In promoting the observance of socialist law it is important to increase the role of the committee for guidance in law observance.

An important duty of this committee is to exercise legal control over the leading personnel of the state and economic institutions to prevent them from abusing their power and create a revolutionary atmosphere of law observance throughout society.

The socialist law-observance guidance committee should improve the education of the officials of the state and economic institutions to encourage in them the spirit to obey the law. The Socialist Constitution and other legal provisions and regulations of the state should be explained to heighten the law-abiding spirit of the officials in the state and economic institutions so that they observe laws and regulations of their own free will.

The socialist law-observance guidance committee should resolutely combat any instance of breaking the law. This committee should always supervise how the cadres of the state and economic institutions observe the legal order of the state and should take strict legal sanctions against any officials who break the laws and regulations, behave bureaucratically or infringe on the interests of the people. Thus, the law can be used to keep 21 bureaucracy in check and thoroughly protect the interests of the working masses.

Comrade Deputies,

Next year we will embark upon the Second Seven-Year Plan.

The main objective of this plan is to further strengthen the economic basis of socialism and raise the people’s standard of living still further by making the national economy Juche-oriented, modern and scientific at a rapid pace.

By the end of the Second Seven-Year Plan we shall be producing annually 56 000-60 000 million kWh of electricity, 70- 80 million tons of coal, 7.4-8 million tons of steel, one million tons of nonferrous metals, 5 million tons of engineering goods, 5 million tons of chemical fertilizers, 12-13 million tons of cement, 3.5 million tons of aquatic products and 10 million tons of grain; we shall have reclaimed 100 000 hectares of tideland; and we shall have more than doubled today’s production figures in many fields of the national economy.

The new Seven-Year Plan is a sweeping plan of economic construction for firmly equipping all branches of the national economy with modern technology and further increasing the economic strength of the country, and is a splendid blueprint for accelerating the historic cause of the building of socialism and communism.

When the new long-term plan is fulfilled, remarkable progress will have been made in our people’s struggle for the complete victory of socialism, and the people as a whole will enjoy a happier and more prosperous life in all aspects—political, economic and cultural.

The country and people should rise together in an all-out effort to carry out the Second Seven-Year Plan and launch a vigorous drive ahead throughout the nation to reach the ambitious targets of this new long-term plan.

In order to fulfil the Second Seven-Year Plan successfully, we should keep strictly to the line of the three revolutions– ideological, technical and cultural. The promotion of the three revolutions is a strategic policy pursued consistently by our Party in socialist construction; the thorough implementation of the line of the three revolutions constitutes the decisive guarantee for the brilliant fulfilment of the new Seven-Year Plan. Government bodies of all levels and the entire people should effect a new, great upswing on all fronts of socialist construction by continuing their energetic efforts in the three revolutions.

The economic foundations already laid in our country are strong indeed and their production potentials are enormous. If we make effective use of these economic foundations, we can boost production considerably, develop the country’s economy as a whole more rapidly and carry out the new long-term plan successfully without any need for large investment. We should further strengthen the existing economic foundations, equip the economy with modern technology and display its potential to the full.

We should apply the revolutionary principle of self-reliance more thoroughly over the period of the new Seven-Year Plan. All the working people should arm themselves fully with the Juche idea and display to the full the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance so that they discover what is in short supply and produce what we lack, and in this way successfully carry out the new Seven-Year Plan based on our own power, skill and resources. “Let us display more of the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance!”–this is our revolutionary slogan for the new Seven-Year Plan.

The entire people should turn out as one and fulfil the Second Seven-Year Plan, thereby demonstrating once again to the whole world the heroic spirit of our people.

Comrades, the Government of the Republic is a genuine defender of the democratic freedom and rights of our people and a revolutionary banner for the independence and prosperity of the country. With the strengthening and development of the people’s government, our people will become happier and more dignified and our country will prosper and develop without limit.

In the future, too, as in the past, all the people should place deep trust in the people’s government they have elected, implement its policies in every way and make every effort to strengthen and develop it.

Our people are invincible because, under the correct leadership of the Government of the Republic, they have taken power into their own hands and are continuing to fight for justice.

Let us all advance vigorously, holding up high the banner of communism, the revolutionary banner of the Juche idea, and rallied closely around the Government of the Republic, for the independent, peaceful reunification of the country and the victory of the revolution across the country, for the cause of socialism and communism.