Library:Exposition of the Principles of Juche Idea/The Torch of Juche That Illuminates Human Society
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Preface
"The Juche idea clarifies the laws of historical development and social revolution. This idea has thrown a fresh light on the fundamental principles of the social movement, the revolutionary movement, of the working masses who create and develop history."
Kim Jong Il
Along with nature, there is a large scope of society, in the world at present.
Nature and society have simultaneously existed for two million years in the world history.
History tells that humanity has survived, while taming ferocious nature and making it serve humanity.
Society has been the constant base of human life.
Human beings can not live, apart from society, just like fish can not live without water and bird can not fly without air.
As the society is the base in which human life begins and continues, we should value the society and build it in a beautiful way.
What, then, is necessary for its end?
In order to well build society, according to human desire, we need a great ideology and theory that clarifies its features.
For a long time since the beginning of human society, numerous thinkers have evolved various ideologies and theories, trying to elucidate the future of society and humanity. Humanity, however, did not find the genuine ideology that enables it to be full-fledged master of history.
Ushering in the 20th century, the world gave birth to a new philosophical thought which is called Juche.
A new torch was given to humanity; that is the Juche idea, the man-centred philosophical thought created by great Comrade Kim Il Sung, and further developed by respected Comrade Kim Jong Il, the geniuses of ideology and theory. The Juche idea created and developed by the peerlessly great thinkers brightly illumines anew the society as well as man and nature, adding luster to the scope of human society and accelerating human progress and development.
Thanks to the Juche idea, the history of human thought had new principles on nature, society and man.
This book explains new socio-historical principles of the Juche idea. This book explains the features of a society, the process of its change and development and who is the master of social history and how the society develops.
1. The Opening Door of Human Society
"The essence of society and the laws governing its change and development can be understood fully only by focussing on man. Society consists of people, the social wealth they have created and the social relations which link them. Here man is always the master."
Kim Jong Il
We try to open the door of society, in order to give a correct understanding of society to all the human beings who are living in the world. The socio-historical principles of the Juche idea have the essence of society, the motive force of social history and the essential characteristics of social movement as their component parts. In this chapter, you will read about the essence of society. This chapter has two parts; that is, the people live in collective and types of society that have existed in history.
1) The People Live in Collective
The Emergence of Society—Special Event of the World
A great event unprecedented in the world history took place 2 million years ago.
It was neither great eruption of volcano nor destructive collision between the earth and other planet.
It was the emergence of human society, unprecedented in the 20 billion-year long history of the universe.
The birth of human being and the emergence of society brought about a new change that nature and society keep pace with each other, eventually saying good-bye to the unchanged and spontaneous movement of the world.
With the emergence of society, it demonstrated its special power before the nature that was like permafrost, and left its special traces everywhere, awakening virgin lands that had been in a long slumber.
The rapid expansion of the social scope brought about new great changes not only in the use of the vast outer space but also in the human life and destiny on a worldwide scale.
It is none other than human being that has changed and developed the vast world including nature and society. Since the human beings lived and acted in society, the world has surely been changed into the human world in which man lives as master of the world.
For better understanding of this, it is necessary to understand the essence of society, as a special scope of the world and its change and development.
Social Collective—the "Home" in Which People Live in Collective
This part begins with the instructions of the great leader Comrade Kim Jong II.
With deep insight into the social phenomena, he gave a scientific elucidation to society in his work "The Historical Lesson in Building Socialism and the General Line of Our Party" published on January 3, 1992.
The great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Society, in a nutshell, is a collective of people. The community in which people live, linked together by social wealth and social relations—this precisely is a society."
This is an easy and correct saying that implicitly clarified the essence of society.
Society is a collective of people.
It is the first scientific formulation on the essence of society that remained unexplained by any philosophers, thinkers and politicians for two million years in human history.
As said by him, society is a community in which people live and act.
Let's have a detailed look on this.
Man cannot live alone.
A man who is divorced from society is just like a fallen leaf. Only in social collective, can man live as a true human being and dominate the vast world as he wishes, displaying his talents and strength to the full.
To live in social collective in unity is the only way to maintain his survival and development as a social being. This is man's special mode of life that is unlike the one of the other material beings including animals.
Of course in nature, there are many animals that live in groups. For instance, monkeys, ants and bees live in groups. Some animals attack their prey in "collective" and move according to their "order," sending "signals" to their groups in case of danger. Their movement seems to be quite resemblant to the movement of people.
Nevertheless, collective of people is fundamentally different from animals' group. The animals' group is a simple collection of individuals, linked blindly whereas people's collective is purposive and organizational combination, linked according to their life demand and interests.
The social collective is the main unit in which they shape their destiny, transforming and changing nature and society in social relations.
What should be clear here is that in society there is not only man, although it is the collective of people. As mentioned above, there are social wealth and social relations, along with man in society.
Man cannot survive in a bare-handed or isolated form. For survival, man needs social wealth necessary for food, clothes and shelter and should have cooperative relations through which they can exchange products in interrelations.
The production process tells this.
In producing vehicles, ships and planes, we need production tools such as cranes, robots and computers and various sorts of metal and chemical materials, and designers, engineers and manufacturers should cooperate. Cooperation does not confine itself to only production. The state political activities and cultural and artistic activities are also made in cooperation.
This being the social reality, the Juche idea tells that there are not only man but also social wealth and social relations in society. Social wealth is material and cultural means created and used by man whereas social relations are the relations made among the people in the process of social life.
Do these component parts, then, play an equal role in maintaining and developing society?
Although these three are all necessary for the maintenance and development of society, they share different positions and roles. Among them there is a "master," namely the core element that takes cardinal position and plays a pivotal role. Who, then, is the master that controls everything in society?
Man Is the Genuine Master of Society
All the components in society exist neither in an equal mechanic relations like the stars in the solar system nor in spontaneous survival relations.
Unlike nature, in society, there is master by whom all things and phenomena are changed and developed in links with each other
The great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Society consists of people, the social wealth they have created and the social relations which link them. Here man is always the master."
The Juche idea explains two reasons why man is the master of society.
First, man is the most important component part in society.
Apart from man, the emergence and development of society are inconceivable. According to the world archeological data scientifically proved so far, the emergence of man synchronizes with the emergence of society. The rise of society is inseparably linked with man.
Proceeding from this, the Juche idea claims that man is the genuine master of society, not the social wealth or social relations.
Secondly, man plays active role in all change and development of society.
Society has already accumulated numerous wealth that plays a big role in the development of society and man, with every passing day. Nevertheless, the change of social wealth and social relations totally depends on man, as they were created by man after his emergence.
The social wealth created so far is enormous and it plays bigger part in man's development as days go by. Social wealth and social relations are created and changed only by man as they are his production.
Role of social wealth gets bigger, but it doesn't mean that man's role is decreasing.
Some people exaggerate the role of information means, neglecting man, on the basis of the fact that production is impossible without computers in the IT era. But this is short-sighted mode of thinking. Ultimately, everything in society depends on man's intelligence and role.
So is the case of social relations.
Social relations are complicated but have big influence upon man's destiny and life and the increase of social wealth. Accordingly, social relations are not negligible in the existence and development of society. If so, how are the social relations made and what are the interrelations between them and man?
However complicated they are, the social relations are made through dialogues among people in a narrow scope and through the interrelations among countries and nations on a large scale, namely, through social collectives.
At present, the rapid development of Internet is well established on a worldwide scale, keeping the links among the people and countries closer. And different modern means play big role, making them more rational and convenient. However, they are all controlled by man. Apart from man, they are powerless means that play no role at all.
As mentioned above, it is man who creates, uses and changes social relations. This being the case, man is the creator, manager and user of society.
Man is none other than the master of society.
2) Types of Society That Have Existed in History
After birth, human being goes through babyhood, boyhood, adolescent days, middle-aged days and aging days. Likewise, humanity has gone through social systems in different stages of its development.
Since the rise of human society until today, history has witnessed many types of society. We can see those collapsed societies only in history museums or history books and the society that has influence upon human life and the change and development of the world, existing still now.
Humanity built different types of society, in which it has suffered twists and turns or struggled to create an independent life. In the historical process, human beings changed the societies unfavorable to them.
At large, strenuous efforts of humanity advanced history, and as a result history made progress instead of retreat.
Now, we will look back history to understand what the first type of society is and what kind of society makes his ideal come true.
Primitive Society—First Human Society
Primitive society was the first human society.
This society emerged about two million years ago, existing until 5 000 years ago. The rise of primitive society was the fundamental change in the development of unlimited material world, announcing the approach of a new history of the world development and a new era of human activities.
Before the primitive society, there had been no human society. The world had only nature in which there were living matters like fern and dinosaurs and non-living matters.
Through long-time research of the archeologists and researchers, we could have relatively scientific understanding of the primitive society.
In the primitive society, people had lived a communal life with primitive equality.
In this period, people had gone through the stages of Pithecanthropus, Paleolithic man and Neolithic man and then lived in primitive groups in matriarchal and patriarchal societies.
In this society, there had been no class or stratum and people led an equal life, though it was simple and immature.
This society had primitive political body like clan council and clan chief, headman and military commanders.
The production tools had developed through Old Stone Age, Middle Stone Age and New Stone Age. Later they were changed into stone tools and then bronze tools.
People possessed means of production, worked and distributed the products in a common way. This society is different from class society, as they produced, distributed and consumed the products in a common way, though their tools were backward and products were small.
People's consciousness was as low as believing in primitive religions like totemism and animism. All the members were ignorant, without science or letters.
In the end of primitive society, the members of clan were divided into hostile classes. The chiefs of clan council gradually turned their right to political control into privilege. Taking this advantage, they infringed upon the interests of other clan members, beginning to be hostile class.
With the development of productive forces, people could have something extra which were monopolized and used to exploit other clan members.
In the end of primitive society, state was born along with the rise of classes.
State was born as political organization to legalize and consolidate the position of the people who had political and economic privilege. As a result, the primitive society transited to exploiter society.
Slave-holder Society—the First Product of Class Conflict
Slave-holder society was the first exploiter society based on complete possession of the state power, means of production and slaves by the slave-holders.
In this society, classes were born for the first time, causing differences, contradictions and conflicts between them and producing the exploiting and the exploited classes and the dominating and the dominated classes.
The main classes were slaves and slave-holders and there had been a small number of handicraftsmen and petit peasants.
As master of this society, the slave-holder class completely held state power, means of production like lands and even slaves, severely exploiting them.
In this society, the slaves, the main working masses were the exploited and oppressed class that had been purchased and treated as mere "talking tools."
As stipulated in ancient code of Rome, "slaves are animals and things."
The slaves were calculated like animals and purchased and distributed as commodities.
The ancient Romans divided the farming tools into three categories: clearly talking tools, vaguely talking tools and non-talking tools; slaves belonged to the first category.
This clearly tells the slaves' position.
When their owners died or when a magnificent palace was built, the slaves were buried alive in their owners' tombs or beside the foundation stones of the palace.
Meanwhile, the position of handicraftsmen and petit peasants were more or less the same with that of slaves.
They were exploited and oppressed by the slave-holders, eventually becoming slaves.
The slaves conducted fierce struggle to get free from human subjugation of the holders, thus collapsing the slave-holder society. Slave's riots including the Spartacus Riot that took place in Rome between the 74th century B.C. and the 71st century B.C. shook the slave system to its roots, dealing a heavy blow to the slave-holder class.
The slave-holder society was replaced by another exploiter society, that is, feudal society.
Feudal Society—the Caste Society
In feudal society, feudal lords severely oppressed and exploited the serfs and peasants, taking state power and means of production in their hands.
Feudal society existed in Korea until the mid 19th century since the foundation of Koguryo in the 3rd century B.C., and in West Europe until the mid 17th century just before the British bourgeois revolution since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century.
The feudal society was a different type of exploiter society that replaced the slave-holder society. In this society, therefore, there were more cunning forms of indirect domination and exploitation through castes and lands, instead of open forms of exploitation, unlike in the slave-holder society.
In this society, the feudal ruling class used religion to cover up their exploitation and oppression of the peasants, and in this process, illusion about religion prevailed in the whole society, creating spiritual dictatorship of the church. Therefore, descendants called the Medieval Period the "religious century."
In this period, all powers were in the hands of emperors, kings and Popes and the state activities were controlled by them. The feudal ruling class politically oppressed the working masses, binding them to caste system, and the people were subjugated and ruled according to their different castes.
The main classes in this society were landlords and peasants and there were also handicraftsmen and merchants. The feudal lords were exploiting and ruling class whereas the peasants were the exploited and ruled one.
In this society, the oppression and exploitation of the working masses by the feudal landlord class were legalized by the caste system.
The ruling and exploiting class belonged to privileged caste and the exploited class to the lower caste.
The former class had privilege to be promoted to higher state position, exempted from tax and compulsory labour and reduced in punishment even after having committed crimes. The latter class had to be the object of exploitation, oppression, maltreatment and contempt down through generations. Like this, the caste system had class relations of the society as its basis. Once set up, the caste system had been maintained down through generations, relatively independent of the class relations.
The feudal rulers seized large lands, the main means of production and exploited the labour and its products created by the serfs and peasants in the form of ground rent.
In feudal society, too, the people did not want silent death.
This is well-known in the history of China and world history. The peasants' anti-feudal rebellions that had lasted for about 2 000 years in the East and the West since Chen Sheng and Wu Guang started rebellion against the Chinese emperor Ch'in Shih Huang Dynasty in 209 B.C. gradually collapsed the feudal society that seemed to be absolute.
The feudal society gave way to the capitalist society, the final exploiter society and the most reactionary society in history.
Capitalist Society—Theatre of Gold and Capital
The capitalist society is the last exploiter society, in which a handful of capitalist class exploit and oppress the working masses, monopolizing the state power and means of production.
The characteristic of the capitalist society is that as the final exploiter society, it replaced the exploitation hidden by illusion about religion in the Medieval Age with open, shameless, cruel and direct exploitation, turning human value into exchange value. In this society, a handful of exploiter class enjoy all kinds of right, freedom and hedonism whereas the broad working masses such as workers and peasants lead inhuman life, deprived of even elementary freedom and rights.
In the capitalist society, the capitalist class exploits the working masses by turning them who were liberated from caste subjugation into the slaves of wage.
The exploiting tools that took the place of feudal caste were the gold and capital. Capitalist society, the "mammonistic society" turns caste system into exchange system and exploits the working masses in an open manner. In this society, the working masses who have no means of production are hired by capitalist class, selling their labour power.
"Money is God of this world"—this tells the nature of the mammonistic capitalist society in an implicit way. Money comes to the fore, and money does politics and talks, and money is more valuable than man in the capitalist society. It is upside down society.
According to Marx, "Money comes before violent oppression and money serves as the main lever of social power in stead of sword" in this society.
In the capitalist society, the people including the working class are forced to tolerate non-rights, contempt and maltreatment in all fields of social life.
It is vicious and shameless final exploiter society that exploits not only domestic people but also other countries and nations by nature.
It will inevitably come to ruin.
That is because it is the most reactionary society based on thorough individualism and dominated by money.
Capitalism turns individualism into the greed of a handful of capitalist class, sharpening the hostile contradiction of the individualism-based society.
In this society, individual's interests are regarded as the top ideal and goal, and it is a universal phenomenon to sacrifice others for the sake of individual's hedonism. In the capitalist society, the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider as days go by.
Even highly developed IT industry can neither solve the conflicts between capitalists and workers, the gap between the rich and the poor, the unemployment problem, economic crisis and other incurable capitalist diseases nor change its nature of exploitation and pillage. It cannot remove class conflicts and contradictions of the capitalist society nor realize the people's desire for independence.
It will inevitably come to ruin, with the developing desire of the people for independence and due to its inequality, imbalance, reactionary character and anti-popularity. It is the law of historical development that individualism-based capitalist society gives way to collectivism-based socialist society.
The product of the ruin of capitalist society is precisely socialist society. Socialist society is the most progressive society in human history, as it is a new society achieved by the people in their struggle against capitalist society and does not know any sorts of exploitation and oppression.
Socialist Society—the Ideal Society of Humanity
In the long history, people have desired for the society free from exploitation and oppression. This centuries-old desire could not come true in the past thousands of years.
This ideal society was built at last. It is not capitalist society, to say nothing of feudal or slave-holder societies.
It is socialist society. This is the only option to make people's desire for an ideal society come true.
The true picture of socialism can be understood in the Korean people's socialist life.
The Korean people were forced the fate of being slaves in the past exploiter society, being alienated from country's politics. By building socialism, they could appear in the political arena, as true masters of the state and country.
Among the deputies elected in April 1990 at the 9th Supreme People's Assembly, 37 % was workers, 10.4 % cooperative farmers, and rest of them were politicians, scientists, artists, religious men. And among them, woman deputies were accounted for 20.1 %. More or less the same was the case with the composition of the deputies to the local people's assembly.
The past servants and pieceworkers have become today's deputies to the Supreme People's Assembly and the present shoemakers, house-repairers and water-supply workers are elected as deputies. This was unbelievable before liberation. Many people who are suffering from capitalist exploitation and oppression regard this as legendary story.
A Western politician wrote.
...If there is privileged class in the DPRK, it is the people... A French professor said that the Korean people are "politicians," dignified "rulers" and fair "judges." What, then, makes socialism so superior society?
That is because socialist society is the one where the popular masses are masters.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Socialist society is a society in which the popular masses are the masters; it is a society which is developed through the creativity of the popular masses that are united as one."
In socialist society, those workers, peasants and the majority of the working people who were slaves and serfs become masters of society.
The popular masses had never been masters of society in the past, except in socialist one. And now in socialism, as true masters of society, they take the state power and the means of production that had been monopolized by the exploiter classes, running the country by themselves.
Another characteristic of socialism is that everything serves the people.
In socialism, all the working people have the right to food, clothes and shelter, and are substantially ensured all the necessary conditions by the state. With stable jobs, they do creative labour for the society and themselves according to their ability and get distributed according to their work done, getting much benefits from the state.
The housing situation in the DPRK tells the reality.
Socialist Korea builds and provides the workers and intellectuals with houses at state expense and dwelling houses are given to the cooperative farmers free of charge.
In spring 1992, a Japanese journalist in Asahi Shimbun visited a flat in Kwangbok Street and asked the owner how many square meters it was.
"About 80 square meters." Doubtful to his answer, he measured it himself and said "It is 110 square meters, not 80 square meters."
He further said it would be unbelievable in Japan that a plain worker's family live in such a big flat and took pictures of every room.
Distinguished religious figures of the world said that the DPRK does not need missionary work. The DPRK is the ideal society as dreamed by Jesus and in which the doctrines of the Bible are applied. And they admired that it is the people's garden, the paradise of Juche built on the earth, not the Eden.
As mentioned above, the socialist society is the true people's society, the most progressive society in which the popular masses are masters of the state and country.
2. Looking for the Makers of History
"The subject of the social movement consists in the masses of the people. Without the masses there would be no social movement itself, nor would it be conceivable to talk about historical progress."
Kim Jong Il
The essence of society and historically formed diversified social systems have been already explained.
Next part in socio-historical principles of the Juche idea is about the motive force of history.
In this chapter, you will read who is the motive force, the masters of social history and how they take position of the motive force of history and play due role. The motive force of history is the masses of the people. And when they become independent motive force of history, the masses of the people can shape their destiny in an independent and creative way.
The Juche-oriented socio-historical principles regard the popular masses as the subject of history and scientifically elucidate its decisive role and thus make the social history the history of the motive force, the people.
The Juche idea is not a mere theory for theory's sake.
With its great practical power, it brought a change to the 20th century beyond the scope of theory and is fully applied in socialist Korea, the land in the East.
The brilliant reality of the people-centred socialist Korea that demonstrates its dignity is attributed to the Juche idea. What is, then, the Juche-oriented people's history and what is the reality of socialist Korea?
1) The People Move History
The People Are My God
Since the olden time, people had worshiped the God as the "only and absolute saviour" that could save their destiny.
The ancient people worshiped the God as the absolute being that decides their fortune and misfortune, and the religion believers in feudal society systematized and rationalized religious doctrine, using the consciousness of worshipping the God. The rulers in the exploiter society called themselves "genius" or "emperor" who saved people's destiny by the help of revelation of the God. But they were not the "God" or "emperor." Those who had believed in the God became ignorant and those who had depended on the exploiter classes became slaves, spoiling their destinies.
Is there not such a being as the God that can develop social history and save people's destiny?
We know the book that attracts not only the Korean people but the world people.
It is "With the Century," reminiscences written by President Kim Il Sung, the great leader of the Korean people.
The people over the world call this book "encyclopedia of the Sun" or "eternal treasure of the Korean revolution and textbook of revolution." This book vividly explains the process of anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle led by great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung.
Part 1 Anti-Japanese Revolution was published in 8 volumes until June, 1998. Upon its publication, it aroused great repercussion of the world people.
In less than 6 months since its publication, over 150 presses in about 60 countries reported the detailed or full text of the book. It was translated in 14 languages and hundreds of thousands of copies were published. The world mass media reported the book "recorded rank 1 among other books" in dissemination. In the last 2 decades, the book had been disseminated in about 170 countries and tens of countries published it in their 20 native languages, causing big sensations.
This is attributed to the fact that the book tells the emotional stories about the life of great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung who regarded The People Are My God as motto of his life, sharing bitters and sweets with the people.
In his reminiscences "With the Century," great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung wrote.
"'The people are my God' has been my constant view and motto. The principle of Juche, which calls for drawing on the strength of the masses who are the masters of the revolution and construction, is my political creed. This has been the axiom that has led me to devote my whole life to the people."
The People Are My God was his constant view and motto.
In old days people regarded the God as the Maker with mysterious and unlimited strength and as the superintendent of everything.
The People Are My God means that the people, not mysterious being, are dominators, transformers of the world and masters and motive force of the revolution and construction.
In this perspective, his idea The People Are My God is the crystal of his viewpoint and attitude towards the people. On this basis, the Juche idea is called the immortal revolutionary doctrine for the independence of the working people and the crystal of love and respect for the people.
His idea The People Are My God is applied in all systems and contents of the Juche idea.
What kind of the people, then, did he believe in as in the God?
"What, on Earth, Are the People?"
This is answered by an episode of Korea.
It was when the Korean people were immediately liberated from the military occupation of the Japanese imperialists. At that time, the Soviet Union and the US sent a joint survey team in order to consult the issue of what kind of society is to be built in the liberated Korea.
During stay in Korea, the team members tried to "survey" Korean people's desire for building a new society. In the talks between the US delegates and Koreans, the former made a long speech about "American-style democracy," talking that American society is "superior" society that provides the people with freedom and "rich material life." After his speech, a Korean peasant delegate asked. "You talk good of American society. Did it give lands to the peasants?" At this, the American could not find answer in embarrassment. The peasant asked again.
"Does your law stipulate about the equal rights between man and woman?"
He could not answer, either. The American law that declared the equal rights of all had no such stipulation. The peasant asked again. "You speak the American society is for the people. Who, on earth, are the people except workers, peasants and women, then?"
He could not answer, because he meant minority of capitalists by the concept of "people." By this concept, the peasant meant the broad masses of the people including workers, peasants and working intellectuals. In this episode, we can find relatively correct answer about the concept of people.
The Juche idea defines this concept as follows.
In his work "Socialism Is A Science" published on November 1, 1994, great Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The masses of the people means a united social community which centres on working people, due to their common demand for independence and creative activity."
What a clear-cut concept this is!
In the society in which numerous people live, the true people are the working people, and those who do not make creative activities to realize the demand for independence cannot be called "people."
This is the viewpoint of the Juche idea towards the people. This viewpoint conforms to history and reality, and is the expression of the fundamental stand of the people-centred Juche idea.
What, then, consists of the masses of the people?
It is not easy to correctly indicate them in social life.
History witnessed constant change in the component part of the popular masses.
For instance, it is fundamentally different in capitalist society and socialist society.
In exploiter society, the broad masses who are exploited and oppressed by the minor exploiters and rulers belong to the concept of the people whereas in the socialist society free from exploitation and oppression, all classes and strata of people are the popular masses.
Then, what to do to correctly understand the people in such situations?
For this end, we need correct criterion.
In his reminiscences "With the Century," great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung recalled Zhang Wei-hua (Chinese internationalist and rich man, January 18, 1913-October 27, 1937.)
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said.
"Ever since childhood, I had avoided judging people by the standard of their property, going instead by their love for fellow human beings, fellow countrymen and their motherland. I even regarded rich people in a favourable light, if they loved their fellow people and country. I even disregarded poor people, if they lacked human love or love for their country. In a nutshell, I evaluated people mainly by the criterion of ideology."
According to him, the criterion is not the origin of birth but his ideology, namely his world outlook.
As each society has class, the concept of the people reflects socio-class relations. But it is wrong to stress only class aspect.
Man's ideology and behaviour are not always under the influence of socio-class status. Once he acquired progressive ideology under the revolutionary influence, he serves the masses of the people, no matter what his socio-class status.
Ideology is like lighthouse.
A ship finds its way by the help of lighthouse but man finds his way by the help of ideology.
Considering this context, if man of exploiter class origin embarks on the revolutionary struggle with an independent ideology, he can be a member of the people whereas man of working class origin becomes renegade or enemy of the revolution and people, if he is ideologically corrupted.
The main criterion of whether he is a member of the people or not should be considered by what kind of ideology he has, not the socio-class status.
What kind of ideology is the main factor that defines the masses of the people?
History knows many ideologies that have influences upon man's activities.
The ideology that makes man a member of the people is the socialist ideology.
The socialist ideology is the independent revolutionary ideology that most correctly reflects the people's desire for independence. Those who have the socialist ideology can be members of the people, irrespective of their class origin and whereabouts.
What must be clear here is that it is wrong to consider that those who have socialist ideology can only be members of the people.
Along with the socialist ideology, the ideology of loving the county, nation and people is the ideological basis that makes man a member of the people.
The ideology of loving the county, nation and people is the ideology for independence of the nation and people. With this ideology, therefore, everyone can serve his country, nation and people, as a member of the people.
The People Are the Subject of History
The Juche idea defines the God-like people as the subject of history.
The subject of history means the agent that causes socio-historical movement and propels it in a purposive and conscious way. The subject of history, namely the agent is the masses of the people.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The masses of the people are the subject of social history."
The reason why they are the subject of history can be found in two points.
First, that is because all the socio-historical developments have been made by the people.
History tells that all the progressive social changes such as the struggle to free the slaves, anti-feudal struggle and the socialist revolution have been made by the people.
Next, everything in the society is created by the people who have inexhaustible creative wisdom and ability.
In his life Comrade Kim Il Sung said that, if there is an almighty being, it is the people. Comrade Kim Il Sung always found himself among the people, got encouragement whenever difficulties came across and overcame them, depending on the people.
The Korean people, therefore, praise him as "the great leader of the people" and his life as "the life devoted for the people."
As great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung kept The People Are My God as his life motto, there is no being more creative and powerful than the people in the world.
What should be clear here is that the subject of history is the masses of the people, not an individual.
That is because individual's wisdom and ability is limited.
Individual's ability is not the immortal source.
As the Korean saying goes, "A general without an army is no general," one man does not make a general, hero or scientist in isolation.
The reactionary exploiter class cannot be the subject of history.
It is the reactionary of history, not its subject.
This class makes history turn back and stamps down the created products.
History tells that a lot of social wealth was destroyed by this class and the society was turned tens of years or hundreds of years back by this class.
Such a class is nothing but reactionary.
We can name those reactionaries—Caesar, the dictator in the ancient Roman Empire who had controlled everything above the history and people but doomed to death at last, Napoleon, the emperor in the 19 century, Hitler in fascist Germany and Mussolini in fascist Italy in the 20th century, etc.
Even now, the reactionary rulers take every opportunity to speak they are great rulers, but they have no ability to develop society. They have only the "ability" to rule and oppress the people and greedy desire.
The bourgeois reactionaries speak only for the exploiting class and the reactionaries, neglecting the great truth that the subject of history is the masses of the people. But history reveals their weakness before the truth.
2) Why Did They Become Victim of Tragic Disasters
It was already mentioned that the subject of history is the masses of the people.
History tells that the people could not take due position and play due role as the subject of history in the past. That is because the people had to suffer from tragic destiny due to the exploiter class, as the object, not subject of history.
In his work "On the Juche Idea" published on March 31, 1982, great Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"In the class society, ... ...they were deprived of all rights, subjected to exploitation and oppression, by a handful of ruling classes and denied their legitimate position as masters of society."
The people suffered from tragic destiny, not as the subject but as the object of history. This can be told by the position of the people in many colonized countries. We can also understand what is the way for the people to be true subject, that is, the independent subject that shapes people's destiny in an independent and creative way.
Sorrow of Colonized Nation
In his lifetime, man may suffer from sorrows.
Among them, the biggest sorrow is that of being deprived of a country.
The Korean people sang the song "Arirang" when they missed their dear ones who had left for foreign countries to survive with the sorrow of being deprived of the country by the Japanese imperialists in the early 20th century.
There are many people who live in alien countries, missing their own country. Why, then? This is because of colonialism.
Colony is a country or a region occupied and dominated by imperialist aggressors, being completely subjugated politically, economically and culturally. The people who had suffered from the disaster of slavery, caste subjugation and capital's chains had to suffer from national subjugation, along with the class oppression, in colonized lands.
In the African continent that accounted for one fifth of the world territory, one sixth of its territory was colonized in 1876 and nine tenths was occupied by imperialists in 1900.
In Africa, the "colonized continent," about 9.39 million slaves had been sent to America through slave trade between 1451 and 1870. Because of this, 20 % of the world population that had lived in Africa in the 17th century reduced to 7.7 % in the early 20 century. Africa that was deprived of a large amount of "healthy labourers" suffers from that aftereffect.
So is the case of Asia.
As the "continent of the rising sun," Asia created the Taedonggang Civilization, the Mesopotamia Civilization, the Hindus Civilization and Huang He Civilization. The destiny of colonial slave was imposed on Asia, beginning with the setup of the East India Company, the first colonial company of the British colonialists in India. Boasting themselves of the top rulers and land possessors, the British colonialists mercilessly exploited the Indian people, combining capitalist method with the ruling method of Asia.
In history, the 19th century is called the "century of migration" on a worldwide scale.
China and India were in focus. According to data, about 30 million Chinese are living abroad in 120 odd countries.
There were many colonial countries. But Korea was under unprecedentedly severe colonial rule for over 40 years by the Japanese imperialists.
After the fabrication of the "Ulsa Five-Point Treaty" forced by the Japanese imperialists on November 17, 1905, Korea was turned into their colony without any sovereignty.
After occupying Korea, the Japanese imperialists turned her into a "big prison" with the sabre rule and deprived the Koreans of all political, economic and cultural rights.
The Korean nation was on the crossroad of whether to survive or ruin. So was the case of other colonial countries.
But the colonized people did not tolerate the colonial subjugation as it was.
As great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung correctly said "Where there is oppression, there is bound to be resistance," the colonized people rose in the national struggle to defend their independence, erupting their anger.
Three Resistances in Asia
Tens or hundreds of years of colonization were the eras of darkness, disaster and starvation for the people.
The people could not tolerate the tragic era and so rose in the struggle to overthrow the colonial system against the colonialists.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The whole course of the existence of class societies has been a history of sharp struggles between the creators of history and reaction against history, between the masters of revolution and the targets of revolution, that is, between the working masses and the reactionary exploiting classes."
The three resistances in Asia are recorded as special events in the history of the world national liberation struggle.
To name a few, we can say the Kabo Peasant War in Korea in 1894, the Taiping Rebellion in China in 1851-1864 and the Sipai Riot in India in 1857-1859.
These resistances rang the bell of the start of the anti-imperialist national liberation struggle in Asia in the 19th century. These resistances in the 19th century demonstrated that the colonized nation is not dead and that no force can check the spirit of national independence.
These three resistances took place nearly in the same period in China, India and Korea. Korea in the East that kept closed policy after being weakened for hundreds of years became the target of the aggressive powers that were running wild for wealth and territorial expansion. The world capitalist powers like the US, UK and France attacked Korea like hungry wolves.
At this time, under the banner of "national and public welfare" and "rejection of the West and Japan," Jon Pong Jun, a favorite of Kabo situation set the flames of Kabo Peasant War. The Kabo Peasant War, the biggest war of the Korean people against feudalism and aggression in the latter half of the 19th century started against feudalists' evil policy. Later this war assumed anti-aggression character, when Ch'ing Dynasty and Japan made armed interference in it. The flames suddenly swept over the country, encouraging the Korean people who would be agonized by feudalism and downtrodden by the foreign forces and making them display the spirit of national independence. This fierce war that involved 227 000 people ended in failure, because of Japan and Ch'ing Dynasty's interference and of the weakness of the leaders of the war.
The Sipai Riot began in India in May 1857, because the British colonialists made Hindus and Muslims suck the bullets' wrapping papers soaked with the oil of bull and pig. They worship bull and pig and therefore, do not eat their oil. British behaviour was intolerable insult to the national religion of India, which turned into vigorous rebellions. These rebellions swept across the country like wild fire.
Afraid of this, the British rulers brought huge army to repress the rebellions. These rebellions failed but left big influence. After these rebellions, big change occurred in British rule in India and in the relations between Europe and Asia at large. The East India Company, the sworn enemy of the Indian people was dismantled on August 2, 1858, after its pillage for about 2.5 centuries.
The Taiping Rebellion in China in the mid 19th century took place as the result of aggravated living condition of the people, owing to severe feudal exploitation and massive introduction of foreign capitalist commodities. This rebellion was organized and led by Hong Xiu Quan, man of peasant origin (1814-1864) and his "mourner's society." He started the rebellion and declared the establishment of the Taiping state. Snowballing its ranks, the rebellion repulsed feudal government army in many areas. The rebellion had less than 20 000 people in the early period but the number increased to one million after the occupation of Nanjing. It lasted for 14 years but ended in setback.
With these resistances as an occasion, the colonial national liberation struggle gradually developed onto a higher stage in Asia. Along with this, the world national liberation struggle was meeting a new turn. The people, however, had to traverse a long and thorny road to find their true way and set up the country where they are true masters, putting an end to the capitalist powers' colonial rule.
Position of Orphan
The bloody colonial national liberation struggle, the tragic history full of twists and turns rather than victory gave us lessons. What do these lessons tell us?
They tell us that the slave liberation struggle, anti-feudal struggle and anti-capitalist struggle made common mistakes.
There are reasons in the repeated setbacks of the struggles.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"If they are to hold their position and fulfil their role as subject of history, the popular masses must be brought into contact with leadership. Only under correct leadership, would the masses, though creators of history, be able to occupy the position and perform their role as subject of socio-historical development."
The combination of the leadership with the masses was always raised in the process of the people's struggle but could not be properly solved.
This has been the cardinal issue that decides success and setback in the people's struggle.
Like the compass for ship, this has been not neglectful issue. The people have craved for its solution but not founded it even in the stage of the colonial national liberation struggle.
The exploited people had overthrown slave-holder and feudal societies but the fruit of their social change had gone to the ruling classes and the society had been managed according to the will of the exploiting class instead of the working masses.
This was due to the failure in solving the issue of combining leadership with the masses.
Without correct leadership, the exploiting class pretended to be "leaders," playing with the destiny of the people.
History tells that the slave-holders and feudal rulers were all exploiters, not saviours. Bourgeoisies are not exception.
Bourgeoisies participated in the struggle to overthrow the old society along with the people but once the former took power, it betrayed the latter, "the old friends" and built the societies only for their own sake.
The slave-holder society, feudal society and capitalist society were the heaven for a handful of exploiters but the hell for the people.
For a long period, the people led miserable life in insults and contempt, just like homeless and abandoned orphans.
Orphans miss their mothers.
However, they could not find their mothers, the saviour who would protect and look after them. They were waiting for the great man who could enable them to shape the independent and creative life as masters of history, putting an end once and for all to the tragic history full of blood and sacrifice.
An Jung Gun (September 21, 1879-March 26, 1910), a Korean anti-Japanese patriot who killed Ito Hirobumi, the chieftain of aggression to Korea lamented in the court.
"There was no great man, no hero who could lead me. If I could meet the peerlessly great man who would save and dignify our nation that had been trampled down and maltreated, though with 5 000 year-long history. ...
O when will such a hero appear?"
The People Must Have a Leader
Every mother gives birth to her children. Mothers are the saviours of life who look after their children.
Those children with mothers feel happy. And orphan's life is unhappy.
So is the case of the masses of the people.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"People without the guidance of an outstanding leader are like orphaned children."
This is famous quote with deep meaning.
Leader is as same as mother of the masses of the people.
The leader enables the people to have their true dignity and happiness and lead happy and valuable life as befitting the nature of independent human being.
That is because the leader awakens and unites them.
In the past, the people could not shape their destiny in an independent and creative way, though they were motive force of history, because they were not awakened and united.
Therefore, they accepted exploitation and oppression as their fate, and had to suffer from frustration in their struggle.
If they are to play their role as the motive force of history through awareness and unity, they must have the leader who enables them to do so.
Whether they are awakened and united in a revolutionary way or not and whether they fulfil their responsibility or not depends on whether they are properly led by the leader who creates ideology and organizes them or not.
What, then, is the leader?
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The leader is...top brain, and he embodies the will of the masses."
Like the centre of life of individuals is the brain, the top brain of the masses is the leader.
As the top brain, the leader unites the masses into a socio-political organism by awakening and organizing them. That is, he unites the people ideologically and organizationally.
As the centre of unity and leadership, the leader plays decisive role in shaping the destiny of the people. It is like brain playing decisive role in human activities.
History of the working-class revolutionary struggle tells this.
Marx and Engels, the first leaders of the working class in the mid 19th century evolved Marxism to show the historical mission and road of liberation to the working class that emerged for the first time in the historical arena and encourage them to the struggle against the capital.
In the new historical condition in which capitalism transited to the stage of imperialism, Lenin evolved Leninism by developing Marxism to encourage the working class and the people to the struggle to achieve freedom and liberation against imperialism, opening the vista for transiting from capitalism to socialism.
The great leaders in the 20th century are Comrade Kim Il Sung and Comrade Kim Jong Il.
With deep insight into the era's and people's demand for independence in the 20th century, great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung created the great Juche idea and founded the Workers' Party of Korea, the general staff of revolution and developed it into the revolutionary Party that leads the people's cause of independence to victory. He, therefore, developed the people's struggle for independence onto a higher stage and ushered in a new era, the Juche era in the development of human history.
Great Comrade Kim Jong Il maintained the vitality of the Juche idea by further developing it and carried forward its lifeline by pushing ahead with the cause of independence, the cause of socialism that had suffered from difficulties due to the moves of imperialists and reactionaries, with a powerful integral whole in which the leader, the Party and the masses are united.
The powerful single-hearted unity in the DPRK, the key to victory and universal weapon, enables her to score victories and build invincible thriving socialist country. The exploits made by Comrade Kim Il Sung and Comrade Kim Jong Il enjoy big praise of the world progressives, as they are great and distinguished.
Now, the Korean people are firmly united behind another great leader Comrade Kim Jong Un and push ahead with the cause of building a thriving socialist country and the cause of humanity for independence, smashing the moves of the imperialists and reactionaries against socialism and the DPRK, with the power of Juche.
Although trials and difficulties crop up, no force can check the advance of the DPRK which has single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party and the masses.
As long as they are firmly united around the leader and the Party, the Korean people will demonstrate their power as the powerful motive force of history and achieve final victory on the road of independence, Songun and socialism chosen by them. Korea which sang the sad song of Arirang of tears is now singing the song of Arirang of prosperity.
3) The 20th Century—A New Era of Human History, the Era of Independence
The motive force of history was explained already.
The motive force of history develops into the independent motive force of history.
Unlike the subject of history, the independent subject of history is the most powerful social collective in which the leader, the Party and the masses are united as one. It is the most powerful in human history.
We will go back to the 20th century that gave birth to the great independent motive force of history.
What was the 20th century?
People have different understandings of the 20th century but we assure that the century was most independent in history. Ushering in the 20th century, humanity met a new era of history, the era of Juche, the era of independence.
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said.
"The present age can be called an age of independence when the peoples oppressed and humiliated under the rule and yoke of great countries in the past, emerge as masters of the world and shape their destinies independently and creatively."
In that century, the masses emerged as dignified masters of history, for the first time, and have made a new history with independent and creative activities, free from subjugation and humiliation.
This great era unprecedented in history gave birth to noblest products, that is, the independent motive force of history and the rise of socialism.
Sign of the Era of Independence
The 20th century witnessed new signs unprecedented in the world arena.
The broad masses who had groaned in the merciless exploitation and pillage for ages rose in the struggle against domination and subjugation and this struggle expanded all over the world.
This was a profound change and great political diastrophism unprecedented in past eras.
That told the oncoming of a new era.
In view of the past centuries with the 20th century as a turning point, the past ones were the centuries when the ruling class resorted to arbitrariness, pillage, exploitation and oppression under the signboard of "master of the world" in the world arena.
The East expedition of Alexander, the king of Macedonia, the conquest of Europe and Asia Minor by the ancient Roman rulers, the Crusade in the Medieval Age, the discovery of American continent by Columbus, the greedy fights of the capitalist powers for colonies and other big or small wars—this made hundreds of millions of people groan in the yoke of exploitation and oppression.
Among them, the obtaining of colonies started by the "discovery" of a new continent by Columbus and the capitalist powers' competition for colonies had gone to the extreme in the degree and scope in the 17th-18th centuries.
Such tragic disaster continued even in the 19th century.
Ushering in the 20th century, the world of domination and pillage that had been like permafrost began to move, giving way to the eruption of hot flames.
The eruption was the October Socialist Revolution and the upsurge of the national liberation struggle of the people in colonial and semi-colonial countries that were influenced by the October Socialist Revolution.
The flames of anti-imperialist national liberation struggle swept the world including Russia, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar, the Philippines, Korea and other Asian countries, pushing the world into the crucibles of change.
The struggle of the broad masses took place in a diversified way on a worldwide scale. This great reality brought about a new change unprecedented in the past.
In the past there had been people's struggle but it involved only some classes or social strata, confining it to certain areas.
So was the case of the 19th century in which the working class emerged for the first time in history.
At that time, only the working class emerged as an independent political force in some developed capitalist countries in Europe and fought against the capital such as wage labour and hiring system.
In the 20th century, however, the situation changed considerably.
Not only the working class in the capitalist countries but also millions of people in colonial and semi-colonial countries rose in the struggle against domination, subjugation, exploitation and oppression, and their struggle expanded to the worldwide scale beyond a scope of a country and an area.
This diversified, fierce and large-scale revolutionary struggle of the masses vibrated the 20th century.
Afraid of this, the imperialists and reactionaries made every move to check the revolutionary struggle of the people.
Their struggle suffered from repeated setbacks and sacrifice, because it was not properly led. In the early 20th century full of bitter throes, the situation of their struggle ardently desired for a great leader who could look after their new life.
The 20th century gave birth to the great leader at last.
The Great Sun in the Era of Independence
The great men made every devoted effort to develop the 20th century into a new era of independence.
Hundred and scores of year-long history of the communist movement was made and developed by the working-class leaders.
In the mid 19th century, Marx and Engels opened vista for the international communist movement and Lenin made the transition from capitalism to socialism possible.
In the 20th century, Comrade Kim Il Sung, the great leader of the Korean people opened wonderful vista for the era of independence.
This is the great contribution he made to human history.
He is the great Sun who made the 20th century the era of independence.
The sun is great for its bright rays.
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung is the Sun who ushered in the era of independence, shedding bright rays all over the world.
His greatness finds its implicit expression in the creation of the Juche idea.
In his teens, he created the Juche idea. At that time, he paid deep attention to the new international situation in the latter part of the 1920s.
His attention focused on the rapid development of the revolutionary struggle of the working class and the liberation struggle of the people in the colonial and semi-colonial countries that took place especially in Asia, Africa and Latin America, the continents in darkness and slumber, under the influence of the victorious October Socialist Revolution.
Nobody paid attention to the new trend of diversified and large-scale revolutionary struggle on a worldwide scale unprecedented in the past eras.
Only Comrade Kim Il Sung who had extraordinary wisdom paid attention to this.
His work "The Path of the Korean Revolution" tells that he analyzed the then world events and discovered the starting point, the core of the Juche idea.
In this work, he mentioned that in order to achieve victory in the revolution, one must go among the masses and organize them and solve all problems arising in the revolution independently and responsively according to his own situation, instead of depending on others.
This was formulated into two starting points of the Juche idea by great Comrade Kim Jong II.
On the basis of these starting points, the great Juche idea was created and further developed into Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, on the orbit of independence started in the 20th century.
The creation of the Juche idea provided the people with the lighthouse that illuminates the people's struggle to shape their destiny independently.
The history of the 20th century advanced as required by the Juche idea created by Comrade Kim Il Sung. And the hurricane of independence he created swept the whole history of the 20th century, turning the history into a new independent history.
The road to shape the era of independence was not smooth.
The world reactionaries ran desperately to check the people's struggle for independence.
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung who created the Juche idea, the great guiding ideology for the era of independence made devoted efforts to open the vista for the era of independence against the vicious offensives of the imperialists and reactionaries.
Noteworthy is that he made great efforts to make the people, the agents of shaping independent era, the great forces in this era.
Regarding the main guarantee for victory in global independence as the strengthening of the world anti-imperialist independent forces, he made efforts to strengthen the anti-imperialist independent forces of the world including non-alignment and socialist movement.
These forces waged vigorous struggle to repudiate the imperialists' moves of aggression and intervention in all parts of the world.
As a result, in the 20th century, the strong storm for independence swept all the continents such as Asia, Africa and Latin America.
This turned the 20th century into the century of creation and change vibrant with independence, sweeping away all sorts of the old.
Victory of the national liberation revolution by the national internal forces in colonial countries, victory of the socialist revolution in the less developed countries, the overall collapse of imperialist colonialist system, the development of non-alignment, the further strengthening of the anti-imperialist independent forces—this is the clear manifestation of vitality and validity of the Juche idea created by great Comrade Kim Il Sung.
Indeed, the 20th century witnessed the start of the independence and the fundamental changes in the look of the world that were made thanks to the Juche idea that was brilliantly applied by the energetic activities of great Comrade Kim Il Sung.
These successes are attributed to the immortal Juche idea he created and to his outstanding leadership.
Therefore, the progressive peoples praise him as the "great Sun of the era of independence, the 20th century."
The institution of the International Kim Il Sung Prize is the expression of the respect of the progressive peoples over the world for him.
The International Kim Il Sung Prize is the highest international prize conferred on the Juche idea followers and the world progressives who contributed to the cause of global independence. It was instituted on April 13, 1993, on the occasion of the 81 birthday of great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung. This is of great significance in adding glory to the immortal exploits of great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, the distinguished thinker, theoretician and peerlessly great man who rendered outstanding contributions to the world peace and the cause of humanity for independence.
The Korean people instituted the Juche calendar to record the year of his birth as the original year of the era of Juche, the era of independence, and keep him in state in the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun.
The 20th century that followed the road of independence illuminated by him was recorded in human history as the era of independence.
The era of independence started by great Comrade Kim Il Sung was further glorified by Comrade Kim Jong II.
Pyongyang Declaration
The 1990s witnessed trials in the people's cause of independence, the cause of socialism.
That is, socialism, the high stage of the cause of independence suffered from trials, due to the vicious anti-socialist moves of the imperialists and reactionaries.
It is the law that the birth of the new goes through throes.
Upon the rise of socialism, the imperialists and reactionaries resorted to every move to obliterate it, weakening socialist influence.
They put blockade and sanctions, conducted persistent psychological warfare and made even war and aggression, brandishing nuclear weapons against the socialist countries.
That is because they were afraid of the victorious socialism.
In the last century, socialism spread over the world, setting up socialist system.
Once, 1 billion of population among 2.7 billion world population followed socialism and the socialist flags were fluttering in a quarter of the world territory.
In the camp of the victorious socialism, great tragic events occurred in the last decade of the 20th century.
This was the frustration of socialism.
The locomotive of history, that is, socialism was derailed in the 20th century.
As a matter of fact, this was caused by renegades of socialism who corrupted it.
Nevertheless, those who had wrong view of the event thought that inevitability of the fall of capitalism and victory of socialism is wrong, depicting the event as the "diastrophism" in the 20th century and most serious "big tempest" after the World War II.
And the advocates for capitalism vociferated the "end of socialism."
In this grave historical period of whether socialism would end or not, Comrade Kim Jong Il, the great leader of the DPRK made efforts to save the destiny of history, socialism and the people.
The progressive people all over the world totally entrusted the destiny of socialism to him.
Nikolai Mishin, manager of Palea Press, Russia wrote.
"In the turn from the 20th century to the 21 century, history devolved the heaviest responsibility for the destiny of the world socialism upon Comrade Kim Jong Il, the great son of the Korean people."
With a view to saving the cause of human independence, the cause of socialism, he began his historical strategy with the firm socialist stand.
He scientifically diagnosed the then situation to restore the frustrated socialism.
To cure the frusrated socialism, it is necessary to correctly diagnose the situation.
By continuously publishing classical works on socialism, he provided the progressive peoples with new direction and scientific ways for socialism against vicious propaganda of the reactionaries.
His works such as "The Historical Lesson in Building Socialism and the General Line of Our Party" and "Abuses of Socialism Are Intolerable," etc. encouraged the progressive peoples to socialism, terrifying imperialists and reactionaries.
He admiringly clarified the main reason why socialism was frustrated.
On the basis of the quote of great Comrade Kim Il Sung that when anything is wrong with us we must find the reason in ourselves, not elsewhere, Comrade Kim Jong Il clarified that the reason of frustration of socialism is the failure in strengthening the subject and enhancing its role.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"In short, the basic reason for the frustration of socialism in some countries is that they did not put the main emphasis on strengthening the motive force for building socialism and on enhancing its role; they failed to understand the essence of socialism, of centring on the popular masses, the makers of history."
This clearly indicates the vitality of socialism.
Some countries did not put the main emphasis on strengthening the motive force for building socialism and on enhancing its role. This is just like ownerless house.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il clarified all the problems arising in building and developing socialism including the fundamental principle and ways, to say nothing of the motive force.
Upon the publication of his works, new hurricane for socialism swept the world and the progressive peoples rose in the struggle to restore socialism.
From this fact, he firmly believed the validity and scientific accuracy of socialism and inevitability of its victory.
Although socialism fell in many countries, the socialism as a science is alive in the minds of the people.
Socialism suffers temporary trials because of opportunism, but it will surely be restored and win, for its scientific accuracy and validity.
Great Comrade Kim Jong Il who confirmed victory of the socialist cause clearly proved the essence of socialism and inevitability of its victory, by publishing historic work "Socialism Is A Science."
It is also one of his special contributions to the people's cause of independence that historic Pyongyang Declaration was adopted, reflecting the desire of the progressives for socialism.
The Pyongyang Declaration, "Let Us Safeguard and Promote the Socialist Cause" was issued on April 20, 1992 amidst great expectation and attention of the progressive peoples.
The Pyongyang Declaration is a historic declaration that confirmed that socialism is the ideal of humanity and the genuine people's society representing the future of humanity.
Upon the issue of the Pyongyang Declaration, progressive political parties over the world signed on it, praising it as the "banner of the struggle that reflected the desire of political parties and people for socialism," "banner of unity of the international communist movement" and the "second Communist Manifesto." In April 2012, 289 political parties signed on it.
Another special contribution made by Comrade Kim Jong Il, the great leader of the 20th century is that he built single-heartedly united invincible socialism in the DPRK.
He created an example of socialism humanity has desired for as an ideal and defended it with Songun politics and thus carried forward the lifeline of independence.
The product of the new era of independence is socialist Korea.
4) Great Unity of the DPRK—the Genuine Look of Independent Motive Force
Along with socialism, the great product of the 20th century, the era of independence, the independent motive force is also the great product in the era of independence.
The independent motive force of history is the most conscious and organized collective historically formed in the process of independently and creatively shaping the destiny. The independent motive force of history is a social collective in which the leader, the Party and the masses are organizationally and ideologically united.
This collective has incomparably big power and vitality.
Korean socialism represents the collective that has high spirit of organization and big organizational and ideological power.
Korean socialism is well-known as dignified socialism.
It is a new society unprecedented in history. In this society, all people live as one family with the leader as their father. As an example of socialism, Korean socialism has many proud characteristics, among which the unity of the leader, the Party and the people is the biggest pride.
To understand the true nature and power of Korean socialism, it is necessary to understand the unity of the leader, the Party and the masses, that is, socio-political integrity.
It may be called "patent weapon" or "treasure house." The secret of Korean socialism is unity.
Looking at the Mass Demonstration in the DPRK
The mass demonstration in the DPRK draws attention of the people.
This demonstration takes place grandly on important holidays such as the Day of the Sun, the founding anniversaries of the DPRK, the Party and the Army.
In general, demonstrations take place in many countries, capitalist or others. But the Korean mass demonstration is different from them in size and form.
When passing the platform, the masses shout hurrah in a loud voice, shedding tears and jumping up and down as if children.
At the platform, the leader responds to the cheering people, with broad smile.
This is the beautiful scene that tells the relations between the leader and the people.
Many people from abroad admire this scene of unity. What a warm unity it is!
United Whole of the Leader, the Party and the Masses
The DPRK has unity of the leader, the Party and the masses that is not available in other countries.
The united whole of the leader, the Party and the masses means the collective in which the leader, the Party and the masses are firmly united on the basis of ideology, will, organization and moral obligation. It is expressed either as independent motive force of revolution or socio-political integrity.
Now, we come to the details to help your understanding.
An episode tells.
In May 1993, a foreigner who visited the DPRK had an opportunity of meeting great Comrade Kim Il Sung.
They talked about the building of a new society.
Comrade Kim Il Sung said that as Korean proverb goes "a man does not make a general," in building a new society, it is important to strengthen the Party and train the core elements to rally the masses behind the Party by the method of one training ten, ten a hundred and a hundred a thousand. And he gave detailed explanation about the building of a new society.
In the talks, he compared the unity with a peach on the table, explaining that the people are like flesh of the peach, stone of peach is like the Party and the egg in the stone is like the leader.
This explains the unity in a figurative way.
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said that the DPRK has the unity of the leader, the Party and the masses. Nothing can be done, without the leader. The Party only is not enough. There must be the leader. There are queen in the group of bees and king in ants' group. The Party must be built just like the peach.
He further explained meaningfully that as the DPRK has the unity of the leader, the Party and the masses, she is strong against whatever threat of the US and that the unity prevents the country from the ruin which makes the people beggars.
Unity must have its core like in a peach—this is meaningful words.
The united whole of the leader, the Party and the masses is an integrated collective united around a centre on the principle of revolutionary moral obligation and comradely love.
The centre is the leader.
As the things have nuclei, there must be a centre like nucleus in unity. The leader is the centre of the unity.
In the position of the centre, the top brain, the leader ensures the unity of the society and controls its activities in a unified way.
As the core unit of the people who are organizationally and ideologically united with the leader at the centre, the Party is in the position of pivot.
Such a united whole has strong independent vitality.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"By uniting around the leader into one organization with a single ideology, under the guidance of the party, the masses form a socio-political organism which is immortal as an independent being."
The socio-political organism in the DPRK raises independent demand to live as master of the world and its destiny free from all sorts of subjugation and materializes it with creative ability. It has independent vitality.
The unity of the leader, the Party and the masses made in the DPRK is the example of the socio-political collective, for its perfectness, solidarity and orientation in realizing the people's independence.
The socio-political organism is not in theory but in the reality of the DPRK.
Korea is One Big Family
People regard a family as a cell of a society.
In a family, the parents love their children.
This warm love ensures harmony and happiness of the family.
"Our leader," "our General," "motherly Party," "our Party," "our people" and "one big family" are often on the lips of the Korean people.
The words "our," "family" and "mother" are normally used in family. But these words are used in the relations between the leader and the Korean people, beyond the framework of a family.
The relations between the leader and the people are made in a kinship way like the relations between the parents and the children in the DPRK. Such a reality is not available in other countries.
This reality of the DPRK is in sharp contrast to the capitalist society rampant with the law of jungle and the law of survival of the fittest.
Regarding their leaders as the father, the Korean people hang their portraits on the wall of their houses and salute them on good occasions, sharing the pleasure with them. When natural disasters suddenly occur, they sacrifice even their lives to keep the portraits safely.
Many people bring childless aged people, the handicapped and orphans to their families and do good behaviours such as saving their fellow workers at the cost of their lives when accidents happen.
Many countries face chaos due to national, religious and territorial disputes whereas the DPRK does not know such phenomena.
This reality in the DPRK is attributed to the socio-political organism, the united whole of the leader, the Party and the masses.
Thanks to the unity, a small country in the East demonstrates its power and turns once weak country into a thriving socialist country and changes the world politics through space conquest, with Songun politics, a new mode of socialist politics.
As they live in one big family with the leader as their father, the DPRK witnesses everything going well, when other countries suffer from political and economic crises.
"Gahwamansasong" which means that everything will be all right only when one's family is harmonious is understandable.
The Power of Single-hearted Unity
The power of the DPRK is in the single-hearted unity. It is strong foundation that supports the powerful DPRK.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Our socialism is unshakable, whatever the storm. This is because the single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party and the people has been realized and the people are building a new life in conformity with their independent demands under the guidance of the Party and the leader."
The power of a country is not decided by the size of territory or population.
According to Victor Hugo, as a man's greatness is not decided by his height, the people's greatness is not decided by the size of population.
This has a meaning.
A big power must have powerful politics. In other words, it must be a political giant.
That is because politics plays decisive role in controlling all fields of society including economy, military and culture. Therefore, to be an economic or a military giant, it must be a political giant first of all. The weak politics makes economy and military less useful.
The DPRK has become a political and ideological giant long before and on that basis, turned into a military giant and is now building an economic giant. This is the fact recognized by the world.
How, then, did the DPRK become a political giant?
According to the Juche idea, to be a political giant, it must have the unity of the leader, the Party and the masses.
The unity of the leader, the Party and the masses is precisely a political giant.
This means that only the integrated whole that has the unity of the leader, the Party and the masses on the basis of one ideology, will and spirit makes a country a political giant.
The look of the DPRK as a political giant finds its expression in the single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party and the masses.
The single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party and the masses is more powerful than nuclear weapon, so it is the most powerful.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The foreign guests who were present at the celebrations of Comrade Kim Il Sung's 80th birth anniversary said that the single-hearted unity of our people who are united rock-solid behind the Party and the leader would prove more powerful than nuclear bombs."
It is necessary to pay attention to the saying that Korea's single-hearted unity is more powerful than nuclear bombs.
After the nuclear bomb was developed in the mid 40s in the 20th century, the world was surprised at its power. After its development, it has threatened the world behind the thick iron walls.
Many countries, therefore, made every effort to possess that weapon. Those countries that did not have nuclear weapon felt depressed by the threats and blackmail of those who had it. Big countries were not exception, here. However, the situation suddenly changed when the DPRK has a new "weapon," that is, the single-hearted unity. The Korean people who defeated the US imperialists, the arrogant "imperialist strong enemy" with the power of single-hearted unity successfully fulfilled the socialist revolution.
When the imperialists' arbitrariness went to extreme, after the fall of socialism in some countries in the 1990s, the DPRK defended and developed Korean-style socialism to be a powerful country, winning victory after victory in the anti-US confrontation. Korea's single-hearted unity that made her a powerful country in all social fields strongly attracts the world.
3. Human Society Advances As Pioneered by the People
"The Juche idea has precisely elucidated the law-governed nature inherent in the socio-historical movement as a movement of its subject. The view on social history as clarified by the Juche idea has as its main content the law given nature of the socio-historical movement."
Kim Jong Il
Now, you will read how and on which road the masses, the motive force of history make history, according to the Juche idea.
On the principle that the people are the subject of social history, the Juche idea clarified that the socio-historical movement is the people's independent, creative and conscious movement. This is the clarification of the essence, character and driving force of socio-historical movement and of the law peculiar to socio-historical movement as the movement of the subject that is different from natural movement.
Social history is made purposefully and consciously along the road of independence and creativity according to the law of social movement. This is a new principle of socio-historical movement. Herein lies the originality of the Juche idea.
1) The Law Peculiar to Social Movement
Great Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The social movement changes and develops according to its own law."
This short proposition contains original elucidation of human society.
All things in the world change and develop according to their own laws.
This is the universal characteristics of things and phenomena in the world.
Nature, society and human activities have their own laws.
In nature, there are laws of non-living matters such as the law of gravitation and the period system of chemical elements and the laws of living matters such as Mendel's law of heredity.
As a part of the world, society has its own law of change and development, like nature.
In the past, some people negated the action of law in society, thinking one-sidedly that only nature has its own law.
Thinking that if the society has its own law, it is individual's whimsicality or volitional judgment, a scholar said "Had Cleopatra's nose been shorter, the whole aspect of the world would have changed," and some people thought that the indigestion or whimsicality of a queen could bring about the events like war.
The process of socio-historical movement, however, is not the accumulation of the accidental events, in which society develops in this or that direction, according to individual's whimsicality or volitional will.
If this claim is right, how is it possible that many countries in the East and the West have gone through similar stages of social development? Is this the synchronization of the accidents? No.
It is true that the change of society is complicated, as diversified events take place involving different people. But society has its own law which governs the development of society.
What, then, is the law of social development?
According to the Juche idea, it is the law of motion of the motive force.
It is already mentioned that society has the motive force.
Therefore, all things and phenomena are acting in the interrelations with the motive force. This is peculiar to social movement only.
On the contrary, nature has no such characteristics because it has no motive force.
In nature, there are objectively existing matters only. And nature changes and develops by the interaction of the matters.
In the process of their interactions, nature is governed by many laws such as the laws of mechanical, physical, chemical and biological movements. By these laws, nature changes and develops in a spontaneous way.
Unlike the spontaneous movement of nature, socio-historical movement has the motive force that actively leads this movement, and society changes and develops according to its own law.
In society, people make activities to dominate and transform the world and shape their destiny.
Their activities can be divided into three—nature-remaking, social transformation and human remoulding.
To dominate and transform the objective material world, man remakes nature and in this process, he creates material wealth for material life. Man has only one way of survival, that is, the use of nature. To well utilize nature means to remake nature. The creation of material wealth through remaking nature is to meet his social need, and this is possible only through social cooperation. The relations of social cooperation are not fixed and immutable but constantly develop, along with the advance of history. Through social transformation, people improve the relations of social cooperation.
It is the masses of the people who remake nature and transform society. While transforming nature and society, they constantly remould and develop themselves. The domination and transformation of the world by the people are made through the transformations of nature, society and man, and the people are the masters of them.
As the subject of social movement, the masses create all material and cultural wealth and develop the social relations. In this process, they play active part as the motive force of history.
Society, therefore, has special law-governing phenomena that are not available in nature. This is the peculiar law of the social movement, according to the Juche idea.
The Juche idea claims that the natural movement takes place spontaneously by the interaction of the objectively existing matters whereas the social movement takes place and develops by the volitional action and role of the motive force. Therefore, the Juche idea stresses "peculiarity" of the law of social development.
Social history develops according to this peculiar law of social movement that is made by the people.
In which direction and how does social history develop by this peculiar law? According to the Juche idea, social history develops in a purposive way, assuming creative character, towards independence.
Now, we come to the details.
2) History Follows the Road of Independence
By the peculiar law of the social movement, we mean that the social movement is the independent movement of the people.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The history of human society is the history of the struggle of the popular masses to defend and realize independence."
Social history is, in essence, the history of the people's struggle for independence. Therefore, socio-historical movement assumes the character of independent movement.
This is the main principle of the Juche-oriented view of social history that observes the socio-historical movement centring on the people, the motive force of history.
All the living matters in the world have their own modes and laws of survival that are much diversified in shapes, forms and kinds.
For instance, with the change of the season, the migratory birds like wild geese and swallows travel long way for their nests and fish travel far along the sea currents.
Numerous stars have their own way of motion in the universe, the macro world whereas the particles have their electronic ways in the micro world.
Numerous things in the world change, emerging, growing or vanishing on their own ways of motion.
In the billions of year-long process, some things appeared and some disappeared in nature. However diversified their ways are, they all follow only the way of adapting themselves to nature.
Human society also has diversified ways like nature.
The people have diversified lives, history left diversified traces and man remakes nature in a diverse way.
Human society is developed by the people, its motive force, in an independent way against all fetters instead of adapting themselves to the environment and conditions.
Independence is the people's essential demand, and therefore the social history develops in the direction of realizing their independence.
Since the start of the social history, the people have fought against all fetters and shackles instead of adapting to nature, fundamentally different from natural things.
In this process, the people discovered a new road, that is, the road of independence along which they are shaping their destiny.
How was, then, the road of independence found?
It is based on their centuries-old desire.
Centuries-old Desire
With the rise of society, man came to have a lot of dreams and desires, and their desire for independence became more ardent when the society was divided into classes—the exploiting class and the exploited class. In the whole period of the existence of the class society, people have had the most ardent desire, that is, the desire for independence.
What is, then, the desire for independence?
It is the noble desire of the people to live and develop as masters of the history and their destiny.
It is against subjugation, domination or compromise.
In his lifetime, great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung always said that nobody wants to live in subjugation.
An episode explains this.
When independence movement was under way in India, a movement activist was asked whether India needed independence, as it would lead a poorer life if Britain left. He answered that it was better to live without Britain, though it would be poorer life.
From this, we understand that every country and nation desires for independence, not subjugation. People demanded to build an ideal society where their desire for independence comes true.
People have longed for an ideal society where they live in an independent, equal and harmonious way, free from all sorts of exploitation and oppression.
With this desire, some people tried to find a paradise or some tried to find rest in religion.
Paradise or heaven were on the lips of the people, but these were mere dreams. They were ruled by the exploiters in disguise of angels or God.
At last, they were awakened and fought against the exploiter society.
All the people desire for independence and this desire becomes more and more ardent with the passage of time.
This desire underwent trials for thousands of years, but it could never be checked.
In the past, the exploiter class resorted to all means and methods to obliterate the independence of the people. For this, they used carrot and stick, or replaced feudalism with capitalism. But all their attempts were negated and resisted, as they did not conform to their desire for independence.
Like this, the people's desire for independence does not tolerate domination and subjugation but gets ever strong in the struggle for social progress.
Valuing this desire for independence, the Juche idea placed it in the centre of its ideology and theory and sets it as its mission to fulfill it.
The Juche idea also scientifically elucidates the road of independence, the road of socialism. The Juche idea is followed by many people, as it is the ideology of independence.
Once, religion prevailed in the world but now the Juche idea is spread fast over the world, claiming independence.
Now, the number of the Juche idea study organizations and its followers increases, fighting for independence. This is the eloquent expression.
It is a strong trend today to follow independence as indicated by the Juche idea.
Vista for Independence Is in Social Transformation
Now, you will read about the scopes of people's struggle for independence and their interrelations.
The road of independence is not smooth.
On this road people meet the trials and difficulties such as natural fetters, shackles of social system and the outdated ideas and culture of the people.
To realize independence, overcoming these shackles, the people should struggle in the three fields.
Through social transformation, the people realize socio-political independence free from class and national subjugation and through the transformation of nature and man, they create material, ideological and cultural conditions to lead an independent life free from the shackles of nature and the outdated ideology and culture.
Historical facts tell that all kinds of people's social movement are to realize independence.
The slave's riots, the first struggle of the exploited masses for independence and the peasants' anti-feudal struggle in the Medieval Age collapsed the slave-holder and feudal systems, making progress in the struggle for independence. And through the struggle to transform nature and man, the people accumulated a lot of material, ideological and cultural wealth, freeing themselves considerably from ignorance.
Like this, all social movements to transform nature, society and man have been oriented to realizing their demand for independence.
In what order and how do these three transformations take place, then?
They take place in a certain order according to the requirement of socio-historical practice.
This order varies according to historical eras and social environments.
It is wrong to understand that the three transformations take place all together at the same time or one by one, without considering the eras and environments.
For instance, in the period of the socialist revolution, the social transformation to realize people's socio-political independence, liquidating exploitation and oppression comes to the fore.
In the exploiter society, the class and national domination and subjugation are the main obstacles in realizing independence. Without eliminating the social relations of domination and subjugation, the people who transform nature would not enjoy genuinely the result of their labour. When they are subjugated socially and politically, the people are not concerned in nature-remaking. Therefore, the primary work is the social revolution for the social transformation.
When socialist system was set up, after removing the exploiter society through social revolution, the people can have favorable conditions for nature-remaking and man-remoulding.
In socialist society, the comradely cooperation and unity are the main social relations, as the people become the masters of the society and state.
In socialist society where there are no dominating and exploiting classes and class conflicts, the friendly two classes—the working class, peasants and all other working masses have comradely cooperation and unity, sharing the same interests.
This gives favorable conditions to fulfill the tasks of the transformations of nature and man.
When great Comrade Kim Il Sung had talks with foreigners, he spoke about industrial revolution and Asia.
In the mid October 1981, the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said to the Indian academic delegation headed by T. B. Mukherjee, director-general of the Asian Regional Institute of the Juche Idea as follows.
...the Asian countries lagged behind the European countries, because the Asian countries could not fulfill the industrial revolution...
He added that the failure in industrial revolution led the Asian countries to the colony of the developed countries. He further explained that the reason of the failure was in that the feudalist ruling system was strong enough to suppress the display of the people's creative initiatives.
At his clear-cut analysis, Mukherjee was joyful enough.
As instructed by him, social transformation is the key to the door of the transformations of nature and man. By the help of social transformation, the nature-remaking and man-remoulding can be done smoothly free from social bondages.
Social transformation is, in essence, the socialist revolution.
That is because only the socialist revolution provides favorable conditions and environment. The capitalist system, to say nothing of the feudal society corrupts the people and destroys natural environment, hampering the transformations.
After the establishment of the socialist system, the nature-remaking and man-remoulding take place through three revolutions--ideological, technical and cultural--and the social transformation not in the way of revolution but in the way of consolidating the system.
Trend of the Times—Global Independence
At present, the people's struggle for independence is the trend of the times.
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said.
"This is an era of independence. The people who were once oppressed and mistreated have emerged as masters of the world and are pushing forward the wheel of history, and the powerful current of independence is sweeping over all the continents. The main trend of our time is that the people are demanding independence and advancing along the road of independence."
This is an era of independence!
The main trend of our times is the road of independence!
This is his clear-cut analysis of the essential characteristic of the present times.
In the present world, the people live with state as a unit and they desire for independence and fight for global independence.
The cause of liberating the exploited class including the working class started by Marx developed onto a new stage in the 20th century. Later, Lenin who was faithful to the cause of Marx evolved Leninism and led the October Socialist Revolution, eventually establishing the first socialist state.
In the whole period since the rise of socialism, the cause of the world revolution faced turns and twists but the cause of independence, the cause of socialism advanced victoriously and the worldwide colonial system collapsed and anti-imperialist national liberation movement, non-alignment and peace-loving movement that embodied the people's demand for independence expanded more and more.
This is not the times favorable for the imperialism that is going against the people's desire and current of history but the era of historical turn in which the imperialism is going to ruin and the world people are advancing along the road of independence.
The times in which the imperialist and dominationist forces controlled the world has gone for ever.
The revolutionary peoples over the world fight to build a new independent, friendly and peaceful world against all sorts of exploitation, oppression, subjugation and inequality. It is the trend of the world to follow the cause of independence.
The global independence is the trend, but we cannot leave it, as we leave the river flowing in nature.
That is because the imperialist allied forces run wild to check the trend of global independence.
The progressive people should make concerted efforts to actively conduct the struggle to realize the independence. In other words, we must fight for global independence. Herein lies the true way to ensure peace, progress and independence against aggression and war.
The Juche idea scientifically elucidates all the issues arising in the struggle for global independence.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"An independent world is a world which is free from domination and subjugation and intervention and pressure and in which all countries and nations exercise complete sovereignty as the masters of their destiny."
The global independence means that all countries in the world follow the road of independence, without being subjected to or obeying any power or dominationist forces.
The global independence is the common cause of humanity.
To realize the global independence, we must not tolerate not only our independence but other's independence being infringed upon.
If the fire burning in the neighbour house is not quenched, its flame will come over to our houses.
The global independence accompanies the struggle against imperialism and dominationism. A poisonous plant will spoil the whole flower garden.
Imperialism and dominationism is the root cause of all disasters and misfortunes in the world.
As long as the imperialism and dominationism exist, the world cannot be peaceful and the people cannot be free.
The imperialists take every opportunity to interfere in other's internal affairs and make armed invasion without hesitation. This violently infringes upon the independence of many countries. This being the case, if we do not fight against imperialism, we cannot fully realize the people's desire. It is, therefore, important to fight against imperialism under the banner of global independence. When the world becomes independent, a new world war is prevented and durable peace and prosperity are ensured and the people can build a new prosperous society, opening vista for the realization of independence. This will be a turning point in the people's struggle for independence. Therefore, the people over the world set the global independence as the common fighting programme.
As we have the Juche idea, the great ideology of independence, the centuries-old desire of humanity to live happily in the free and peaceful world free from exploitation and oppression will surely come true.
3) There Is No Smooth Path in Human History
In this part, we discuss that socio-historical movement is the people's creative movement.
The principle that the socio-historical movement is the people's independent movement shows the essence of the socio-historical movement whereas the principle that this movement is the people's creative movement shows the character of the socio-historical movement.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The socio-historical movement is a creative movement of the popular masses to transform and change nature and society."
This means that nature and society are transformed and the people become powerful beings by their creative activities.
The socio-historical movement advances by the creative activities of the people who transform nature and society according to their demand for independence.
The human history towards independence is not made smoothly.
It faces jungles, swamps and thorny path.
To overcome these difficulties, one must be strong enough to go through them.
Otherwise, one may bog down instead of the advance.
To overcome them, we need powerful means.
So is the case of realizing the people's demand for independence.
To realize independence by removing everything that shackles nature, society and man is a huge project, and therefore the creative activities are needed for the success.
There is no other way but to make creative activities to realize people's independence.
Creation is the only way out.
The process of the people's creative activities accompanies struggle, unlike sailing in soft wind.
This is proved by the past history full of turns and twists.
Without struggle, the old is not removed and the new is not created.
In particular, the process of achieving the people's social emancipation, replacing the old social system with the new one accompanies fierce class struggle.
The conservative forces that try to maintain the old system do not give their way of their own accord.
Only through struggle, therefore, is it possible to create new system and life.
The experience of the anti-Japanese armed struggle in Korea proves this.
After being turned into Japanese colony in the early part of the last century, the Korean patriots who desired her independence were busy traveling to Paris and The Hague with the "petition on Korea's independence" and made demonstrations with bare hands but they were imprisoned or hung on the throats, shedding blood.
In India, the non-violent movement was "Satyagraha" which is expressed in the fast, non-vegetable, non-killing, non-violence and control of the passions.
Fighting against violence with violence, against arms with arms is the only way out to save the destiny of the nations.
This tells that national liberation struggle in colonies should be fulfilled in the way of revolutionary violence instead of peaceful way.
Under the leadership of great Comrade Kim Il Sung, the Korean people conducted the armed struggle against the Japanese imperialists.
It was bold decision to conduct the armed struggle against the Japanese imperialists.
The Japanese imperialists were armed to the teeth. How could the Korean people defeat them with only poor armament?
But the Korean revolutionaries were sure to win them, when they unite the people, build army and procure weapons.
The fight was arduous, especially in the balance of the forces. It was so arduous that people compared it with an insect checking in hold a running wheel, and Japanese imperialists called anti-Japanese guerrillas "a drop in the ocean." But the Korean people did not give up.
While fighting with arms in a do-or-die spirit, they found out the way out.
An arsenal of a guerrilla unit tells this.
At that time, some people petitioned to the Soviet Union, with a view to building a hand grenade factory in the guerrilla base by the help of the Soviet people. All the communists over the world looked upon the Soviet Union as the beacon of human emancipation. But the Soviet Union did not reply, only keeping silence.
From this fact, great Comrade Kim Il Sung made up his mind to be self-reliant.
All the guerrillas and people in the guerilla bases rose to build arsenal to produce weapons in a self-reliant way.
Recalling those days, great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said.
"... ...self-reliance opened a new era in the history of the national liberation struggle in our country, the era in which everything was created from nothing. These vital phases may be regarded as living proof of the correctness and power of the communist method of solving all problems by allowing full scope to the people's strength and wisdom.
... ...Marx and Engels defined the history of the development of mankind as the history of class struggle and, needless to say, this is a correct proposition. The history of mankind can also be said to be the history of man discovering, creating and perfecting himself. In other words, it is the history of the creation of the human being who continuously discovers and develops in himself the powers and skills peculiar to himself and, at the same time, the history of the struggle to defend the independence of the popular masses. It can also be called the history of innovation by a human being who has steadily refined himself in the political and ideological, cultural and moral, scientific and technological dimensions. Through the effort of creation and innovation, mankind has ushered in the age of the rocket, computers, genetic engineering and the green revolution.
... ...If people had lived simply believing in the grace of God, the 'Lord of Creation," without developing their own strength, they would still be lost in the Paleolithic Age."
The anti-Japanese guerrilla army developed into a strong force with a lot of men and weapons. This being the case, the Japanese imperialists lamented, calling it the "cancer of peace in the East" which defeated them at last.
Korea was liberated.
Independence is not the fruit in the angel's garden.
Independence must be obtained by the people themselves with the weapon of creation and change.
In conclusion we quote the saying of great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung.
"There is no historical precedent for a major power to sympathize with a small country and give freedom and independence to the people of a weak country. The sovereignty of a nation can be achieved and preserved only through the independent efforts and indomitable struggle of that nation. This is a truth which has been proved through many centuries and generations."
4) Ideological Consciousness of Independence—the Great Power That Propels History
The essence and character of the socio-historical movement with the masses as its subject is explained. The socio-historical movement is the movement to realize the independence of the people and is propelled by their creative activities.
What is, then, the driving force that enables them to propel the socio-historical movement?
According to the Juche idea, the socio-historical movement is propelled by the people's conscious struggle.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The revolution is propelled forward to victory by the conscious struggle of the masses of the people."
The masses of the people make creative activities to realize their independence in a purposive and conscious way. That is, the masses' purposive and conscious activities propel their independent and creative activities to transform the world and shape their destiny.
The Propelling Power of Satellite
On December 12, 2012, the DPRK successfully launched peaceful satellite "Kwangmyongsong 3-2," surprising the world.
The DPRK launched the first satellite "Kwangmyongsong-1" on August 31, 1998 and "Kwangmyongsong-2" in April 2009. With the launch of "Kwangmyongsong 3-2," the application satellite, the DPRK took the position of full-fledged space development power.
The DPRK is going to be a strong power that launches many application satellites.
At present, as many as almost 10 000 satellites are rotating round the earth. What is the propelling power of these satellites?
If a satellite is to enter the orbit of the universe, it must be propelled strongly enough to gain centrifugal force resisting the gravity. Only then, can it fulfill its functions such as meteorology, communications, inspection, weather forecast, etc. while running round the earth. The form and altitude of the orbit are decided by the propelling power of the vehicles.
Likewise, there must be the power that propels human history on its independent and creative road as required by the masses.
The Juche idea newly clarifies the propelling power.
Talks with a Foreigner
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung gave answers to the questions raised by the managing editor of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun during his stay in the DPRK, on March 31, 1992.
At that time, the managing editor asked great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung.
"President Kim Il Sung, you will soon be greeting your 80th birthday; you have been leading the Korean revolution and making a great contribution to the world revolution for more than 60 years. What matters have you concerned most in these years?"
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung expressed thanks to him for having carried many good articles about the DPRK in his newspaper and answered.
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said.
"As you know, I have been struggling for a long time to realize the desire of the popular masses to be free from every manner of subjugation and all fetters and lead an independent life. In the course of this, I have had to undergo many trials and difficulties and have experienced many events, both happy and painful, that I will never forget.
... ...people who struggle to realize the independence of the popular masses should concentrate on raising the level of the people's ideological consciousness of independence.
... ...Of course, the objective conditions and the environment have a major effect on shaping man's destiny, but it is always man who plays the decisive role. When I say that man plays the decisive role, I mean that, ultimately, it is his ideological consciousness that plays the decisive role. The importance of man's development of his creative ability in enhancing his role has often been emphasized, but little attention has been paid to the fact that his ideological consciousness has a more important effect on enhancing his role. A man's creative ability is defined by his ideological consciousness. A man can work creatively to meet his desire for independence because he has the ideological consciousness of independence. Just as the development of man's creative power is unlimited, so the development of his ideological consciousness of independence is unlimited."
This is meaningful words that implicitly tell the scientific answers to the question of what is the decisive factor that propels the social development.
Invisible ideological consciousness plays more important role than the creative ability. It is, therefore, important to pay primary attention to enhancing the people's ideological consciousness of independence.
Why, then, is the ideological consciousness more important than the creative ability?
While conducting the social movement to transform nature and society, people display a certain creative ability, the ability to understand and transform them.
We can find differences in the direction and degree in the display of the people's creative ability.
Although with the same creative ability, some people display it to the maximum and some do not. And some use it for the social progress and the interests of the progressive classes whereas some use it to hamper the social development or for the exploiting class.
The reason depends on the ideological consciousness they have.
The ideological consciousness is the reflection of man's demand and interests whereas the creative ability that represents scientific technology is to understand the essence of things and phenomena and the law of their motion and use it.
As it reflects man's demand and interests, the ideological consciousness defines the goal, direction, will and degree of man's activities. The creative ability guarantees it but is displayed in a different way according to the goal, direction, will and degree they have.
For what and how to use their knowledge and techniques totally depend on what kind of ideological consciousness they have.
It is knowledge reflecting the quality of atom that the fission of the atomic nuclei produces huge amount of energy. The decision of whether to use it for generating electricity or producing bombs depends on the ideological consciousness reflecting their demand and interests.
From this, we say that ideological consciousness plays more important role than creative ability in the activities of man to change nature and society.
Knowledge acts as an important propelling power in man's activities but it has effects only by the ideological consciousness.
Therefore, great Comrade Kim Il Sung said that although invisible, the ideological consciousness plays bigger role than the creative ability.
Consciousness of Independence
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The consciousness of independence plays the decisive role in the masses' revolutionary movement for independence."
The ideology that plays the decisive role in accelerating the development of human history is none other than independent ideology.
The consciousness of independence is the awareness that he is the master of his destiny and the will to shape it himself.
The awareness that he is the master of his destiny is the firm cognition that he dominates his destiny.
In other words, it is the cognition that man's destiny is dominated and decided by man himself rather than God, king or the outside factors.
The will to shape his destiny by himself is the preparedness and decision to shape his destiny to the last by his own efforts.
In other words, it is an indomitable spirit to shape his destiny himself, not by begging others to shape it.
The consciousness of independence plays decisive role in the people's revolutionary struggle to shape their destiny.
First of all, it makes people active in the revolutionary struggle with correct attitude and stand towards nature and society.
For instance, the Watt's steam engine was invented, playing a big role in starting the industrial revolution. With this machine, the capitalists exploited the workers more, while developing the industry. The workers had to work for over 15 hours a day. The products were considerably bigger than before but the workers got small amount of wage. The workers thought the reason of their suffering was in the machine, even saying "new machines try to kill us." This resulted in Macine-Breaking Movement.
Meanwhile, the capitalists who monopolized the machine announced to execute the machine-breakers and mercilessly exploited them, by the help of the government.
The workers came to understand that to break machine cannot improve their life.
They understood that they should fight against the capitalists not the machine and fought them, asking for the raise of wage and for short labour hour, thus gaining a little success. This, however, could not fundamentally improve the workers' status. That is because the capitalist class continued to exploit and oppress the workers, with the state power and the means of production in their hands.
With the passage of time they began to have the consciousness of independence and fought against the capitalist system.
This historical fact eloquently tells that the consciousness of independence enables the people to have correct attitude and stand towards the society and history and rise in the struggle to change the society and thus accelerate the development of history.
The consciousness of independence also accelerates the revolutionary movement by defining people's will and fighting ability.
How strong will and ability they display depends on ideology. Although the masses' revolutionary ability is inexhaustible, they can not display it to the maximum, unless they are ideologically awakened.
Those who are not awakened ideologically can neither rise in the revolutionary struggle even though they are exploited and oppressed nor overcome difficulties.
The masses who have consciousness of independence can take staunch attitude and stand in the revolutionary struggle and participate in the struggle with strong will, overcoming all difficulties.
The DPRK—the Country with a Lot of Ideologically Strong Men
Every country has her boast.
Some countries make a boast of rich oil resources or large territory or developed economy and technology.
What is the boast of the DPRK?
She makes a boast of many ideologically strong men.
Regarding it as essential for accomplishing socialism to give priority to ideological work, the DPRK has paid primary attention to the ideological work since long ago.
It is historical truth that ideology plays more decisive role than the creative ability.
In this era of IT industry, it is important to train many able scientists and technicians in the field of information. This is a chain of strengthening the state power.
However, if little attention is paid to equipping the people with ideology, neglecting it, it is difficult to know for whom and for what the well-trained personnel would work. If ideology is neglected, they work for the individual's comfort and hedonism instead of the country's prosperity or may betray to their nation, looking up to others.
The poverty of ideology leads to the poverty of politics.
This is proved by the fact that the Soviet Union and the East European socialist countries collapsed because of neglecting ideology.
When the primary attention is paid to ideology, a country can be powerful and prosperous and the people's independence can be realized. This is the valuable truth given by the history in the 20th century.
This truth is well followed in the DPRK.
In the process of struggling under the banner of the Juche idea, she has trained a lot of ideologically strong men.
The history of the Korean revolution that has been victorious since the creation of the Juche idea records a lot of ideologically strong men. A lot of ideologically strong men were trained in the periods of the anti-Japanese armed struggle, the Fatherland Liberation War, the socialist revolution and construction, and especially in the 1990s when she had to go through the Arduous March and forced march. In the 1990s, many ideologically strong men who were armed with the revolutionary soldier spirit were trained.
With a huge army of these ideologically strong men, the DPRK continues to follow the roads of independence, Songun and socialism, repudiating all sorts of challenges and disturbances of the imperialists, in the 21st century, too, like in the 20th century.