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What Is the View of the Juche Idea on the World
http://bannedthought.net/Korea-DPRK/Ideology/JucheIdea-1-WhatIsViewOfJucheIdeaOnWorld-2014.pdf
Reflecting the Desire of Humanity for Great Ideology
"The Juche idea is a man-centered world outlook. It is a revolutionary, scientific, and political theory that accurately illumines the way for realizing the independence of the masses."
Kim Jong Il
Human history is the history of ideology. From the inception of the emergence of human beings, they have created different ideologies, upon which their destiny has depended.
It was a distress-torn history of destiny.
For thousands of years, the different ideologies led the people to the fate under slaves' chains, feudal yokes and chains of capital.
The rise of Marxism was a turning point. It closed the door of destined fate after smashing the chains of capital, but failed to open the door of true shaping of the destiny.
Humanity had groped for the ideology that can illuminate the road of shaping the destiny, namely the light of destiny.
A night gives place to a new day.
In the early 20th century, the sunlight of savior it had groped for reached humanity at last. It was the birth of the Juche idea that illuminates the road of shaping destiny independently, putting an end to the history of human destiny full of subjugation and distress.
This gave a rise to a new history. It was a beginning of emotional history in which the human beings can live with big dignity and pride for the first time in a million years of human history. It was a beginning of a new era of independence and creativity in which the downtrodden and oppressed people become masters of history.
The Juche idea is the ideology of respecting human beings and the philosophy of independence.
The Juche idea scientifically elucidated that man is a social being with independence, creativity, and consciousness and discovered the absolute truth that man is the master of his destiny and has the ability to shape his destiny. With the powerful ringing of the bell of independent truth, the Juche idea woke up humanity from fatal slumber and serves as immortal banner of human emancipation, showing the fundamental way of shaping man's destiny.
The Juche idea places the people in the center.
For the first time in history, the Juche idea completely elucidated the full picture of independent, creative, and conscious socio-historical movement, regarding the people as the most valuable and powerful beings and as the motive force of history.
The people have existed in all eras, but it is only the Juche idea that regarded the people as motive force of history and enabled them to play due role.
The Juche idea gives the secret that enables the people to advance the straight road of shaping their destiny, free from setups and turns and twists.
It is the guiding principles of the Juche idea for building a new society to maintain independent stand, apply creative method and solve all problems by enhancing the role of the ideological consciousness. Thanks to these principles, the people can transform nature, society, and man suiting to the essential characteristics of social man and bring about independent development and prosperity of a country and nation.
There are different social systems and modes of life. But history witnessed and the reality tells that only the Juche idea is the correct compass that gives the correct direction to the future.
The Juche idea is precisely the Songun idea.
The Songun idea is the valuable truth that national sovereignty, dignity, peace, and prosperity are guaranteed by rifle and is the realistic way to apply the truth in social development.
Wars have followed human history as shadows. Without powerful military strength, the people, country, and nation cannot defend their rights to survival, to say nothing of prosperity in any era.
It is the Songun idea that opened vista for materializing human desire for independence, finally liquidating all sorts of dominationism and imperialism. In the present world in which the imperialist power politics are rampant, the validity and vitality of the Juche idea are represented by the Songun idea.
The idea of building a thriving socialist country calls the ideal state of humanity.
The thriving socialist country is the one that has strong state power and where everything is bountiful and the people live without envy.
The building of a powerful country has been the dream and invariable ideal of humanity that has lived with a country and nation as a unit for a long time.
What kind of state is the strong country? In history, there were countries that had been called strong countries or big powers because of big population, high level of economic development or strong military power but those countries did not make people happy.
The really strong country is the one that defends and materializes independence, the life and soul of the people, as they are fundamentals of the country.
The thriving socialist country makes constant development in all fields of ideology, politics, military, economy, and culture on the basis of socialism, making the people happy as befitting the strong country—this is historical desire and bright future of humanity.
Just like the sun that gives life to all things in the world, the Juche idea is indeed, the nourishment of true life which human beings have craved for, century by century.
The sun rises in the East.
The sun that sheds Juche rays which could not be given by any thinkers or great men for a long time rose in Eastern Korea.
Great Comrade Kim Il Sung who was born in a poor straw-thatched house created the Juche idea not only for the Korean people but for humanity.
Great Comrade Kim Jong Il who had the historic mission of carrying forward the cause of the Sun cultivated the Juche idea which was planted on the soil of his people and grown by Comrade Kim Il Sung into dense forests.
A great ideology gives birth to great reality.
In a short historical period of less than a century since its creation, the Juche idea brought about miracles which humanity had desired for centuries but failed to achieve.
A new history is made—the history of light, hope, independence, and sovereignty, burning away the darkness, despair, domination, and subjugation that had weighed down the people for a long period. The Juche idea is great, as it mobilized centuries-long oppressed people and, relying on their strength, made a new history.
Now, the Juche idea is further developed by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un in conformity with the requirement of the era. With his energetic ideological and theoretical activities, Comrade Kim Jong Un gives clear solutions to the theoretical and practical problems arising in defending and realizing the independence in the present complex world. This makes the Juche idea invariably illumine as the sun ray and lead the 21th century towards independence.
Bright future is in store for humanity, as long as there is the Juche idea.
Truth is always kept in the minds of the people.
The Juche idea stroke its roots deep in minds of the hundreds of millions of the people with its irresistible power of truth, spreading bright rays all over the five continents.
The Juche idea study organizations were formed and are making good efforts, and a number of political parties over the world learn after the Juche idea and the Songun idea.
The hurricane of supporting and following the Juche idea gets stronger in the 21th century. Numerous distinguished figures in political, public, and academic circles and the broad people all over the world are learning after the Juche idea and trying to materialize it in reality.
The voice of independence echoes everywhere on this planet and the banner of Juche is fluttering everywhere in the world.
More than seven billion people are now living on the earth.
Countries and nations have different ideologies, religious beliefs, social systems and culture, but unanimous is the desire of the people for true life and great ideology.
Reflecting this unanimous desire of humanity, we publish series of "Exposition of the Principles of Juche Idea" (5 volumes).
We wish this book will implant the profound truth of the Juche idea in a number of Juche idea followers and progressive peoples over the world, give them confidence and hope for the bright future and encourage them to the consummation of the cause of global independence.
1. Destiny and the World Outlook
"The basic mission of the philosophical outlook on the world is to show the way for man to shape his own destiny."
Kim Jong Il
First of all, you will read about the man-centered world outlook clarified by the Juche idea.
The Juche idea consists of man-centered world outlook, outlook of socio-history and guiding principles. Here, the man-centered world outlook takes core and basic position.
As everything has its order, it is first of all necessary to understand the man-centered world outlook in order to understand the profound truth of the Juche idea.
Some people may think that they can live without knowing the world outlook or some may think that they feel boring to talk of the world outlook, thinking they need more other knowledge necessary for life. But wait a moment! And think of this.
Every body has the world outlook. If a man thinks about his life, this means that he has a certain world outlook. In order to maintain his physical life, he needs material wealth necessary for the life, namely food, clothes, and shelter, etc. Like this, to live a genuine life, we need correct world outlook.
As you will know reading this book, the man-centered world outlook gives the principle of who is the dominator and transformer of the destiny; the view of the essential characteristics of man; viewpoint, attitude, and understanding of the world explained centering on man, etc.
What, then, is the world outlook and what is the man-centered world outlook that shows the road of genuine life?
1) Lighthouse of Human Life
Since human beings began sailing in the sea, the lighthouse came into being as a quite necessary element for the sailing of ships.
The world outlook is just like the lighthouse. The lighthouse identifies itself with its tower shape and color by day, with light at night and with radio or sonic signal in fog. Just like it, the correct world outlook is the lighthouse of life that indicates the road of true life.
What, then, is the world outlook?
The great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"...world outlook is the opinion and standpoint of the world."
Every body has a certain world outlook.
The world outlook is the view, attitude, and understanding towards the world as a whole. There are religious world outlook and philosophical world outlook. The religious world outlook is the world outlook based on religious belief whereas the philosophical world outlook is logic and systemized world outlook.
We need to have concrete picture of the world outlook.
Every body lives in relations with the world, namely nature and society. Accordingly, man cannot be indifferent to the surrounding happenings. He always thinks different phenomena occurring in nature and society.
For example, there is commonness in people's detailed view and attitude towards individual things and phenomena of the world. The primitive people who thought of the sun mysteriously also thought of lightning and thundering mysteriously. So they prayed to the mysterious being to help them avoid disasters. This tells there is commonness; that is the general view and attitude of seeing all things and phenomena in a mysterious way.
Namely, people have a general view and attitude towards the world as a whole—the world that is totality of things and phenomena, which are linked with the detailed view and attitude towards the individual things and phenomena.
Why? That is because all the things and phenomena of nature and society are not isolated but interlinked with each other to make an integral whole. Individual things and phenomena exist, making the world as a whole in an integral system.
For instance, a pine tree is a thing that exists not in isolation but in relations with other trees and natural and social elements at large which are integrated to make this world.
Since man's cognition is the reflection of the present world, he has not only a detailed view and attitude towards the individual things and phenomena but also a general view and attitude towards the world as a whole.
This is the world outlook. The world outlook answers the questions of what the world as a whole is and how it changes and develops, what kind of being man is, what kind of position he takes and what kind of role he plays, what kind of attitude and understanding he should take in his activities in the world.
How, then, does the world outlook show the way of man's life, the road of shaping his destiny?
Originally, the progress in man's life and shaping his destiny is inconceivable, apart from the correct understanding of nature and society.
There is an episode in ancient Greece which is known as the cradle of the Western philosophy.
Thales (B.C. 7th century-B.C. 6th century), a philosopher who said "water is the origin of all things" delved in the study. Some people sneered at him or were jealous of him.
Looking at his poor life, a merchant asked, sneering. "Many people say you are a great philosopher with wide range of knowledge. What did your knowledge give you, money or bread?" At this, Thales answered. "You seem to sneer at the knowledge, because I am poor. Let's wait and see." Taking advantage of his profound astronomical, mathematical, and agricultural knowledge, he estimated good harvest of olive the following year. So he bought all olive oil presses in the town at cheap price. As he had anticipated, the following year had good harvest of olive. In confusion, people came to his house for the presses and he sold them out at high price. He made big money and demonstrated the power of knowledge in reality.
Knowledge is a light and unlimited strength. If we are to obtain the things necessary for our life in nature through social activities, we must know nature and society. All things and phenomena in the world have their own characteristics and change and develop according to their own law. Without knowing this, we cannot obtain and use a grain, a piece of thread or even a gram of coal.
What is especially important is the world outlook. Apparently, the world outlook has nothing to do with man's concrete daily activities, but never.
The world outlook defines man's attitude and understanding towards the reality and restricts their thinking and behavior.
Suppose some one says "Good food and good life is enough. What else we want?" This is the concrete expression of the goal of life, but behind this view lies the world outlook that regards man as only biological being.
Ah Q in "An Authorized Life of Ah Q" written by Chinese writer Lu Xun always brought the "enemy" into "submission" mentally. When he was beaten by others, he used to say "I was beaten by my son. This world is quite chaotic" and felt pleased as if he won the enemy. And when he was stolen the money he won in gambling and then beaten, he stroke his own cheeks and then thought he took revenge and had a good sleep. Ah Q's "method of mental winning" is the subjective thinking and behavior that pleasure and displeasure depend on one's thought. This tells that this is based on the subjective idealistic world outlook that thinks the world is the product of people's consciousness.
Such world outlook restricts people's thinking and behavior, whatever they are. In other words, people judge and practice on the basis of their own world outlook.
Why, then, is the world outlook based on people's thinking and behavior and why does it restrict their thinking and behavior?
All things and phenomena in the world have their own characteristics and yet exist in the general and essential relations that go through the characteristics, and these relations restrict the law and direction of development of each thing and phenomenon. Namely, the change and movement of individual things and phenomena are made on the basis of the most general law that goes through the world as a whole.
As mentioned above, as man's cognition is the reflection of the present world, the solution of all the individual and concrete problems arising in cognizing and transforming the world depends on how to establish the most general view, attitude, and understanding towards the world as a whole. In other words, people define their thinking, goal, direction, and contents of behavior and its contents and act on the basis of the world outlook they have.
Moreover, since the world outlook is ideological consciousness that reflects people's demand and interests, goal, and direction of people's thinking and practical activities become different, according to what kind of world outlook they have.
The people with progressive world outlook think and act for the people and social development whereas those with reactionary world outlook think and act to hamper social development, infringing upon the people's interests for the sake of the interests of the exploiter class.
In summary, people have this or that kind of world outlook, no matter how their scientific accuracy and level is, and on that basis, they think and act.
All the progressive ideologies, sciences, and technologies contribute to the shaping of man's destiny but the individual sciences cannot give comprehensive and integral solution to the problem of destiny, accordingly we cannot say they give the way of shaping the destiny.
All other sciences except philosophy study one part of nature and society and discover necessary relations and laws acting in the respective fields, thus contributing to the shaping of man's destiny.
Unlike the individual sciences, philosophy studies the world as a whole and discovers the essence of the world and the law of its change and development.
Meanwhile, the mission of philosophy is not simply interpreting the world but transforming it and enabling the people to shape their destiny with correct world outlook.
In conclusion, people shape their destiny, by transforming the world, and in order to successfully shape their destiny, they must have correct world outlook, the weapon of transforming the world.
What kind of world outlook, then, can make people have proper goal and direction of life to lead a genuine life?
2) The Outlook for Genuine Life
In Vatican Palace in Rome, you can see famous mural painting "Athens School" painted by Rafael, an Italian painter in the 15th-16th century.
In this painting on the subject of philosophy (philosophy is a doctrine that gives world outlook), you can see about 50 scholars in different historical periods including the philosophers in Athens in B.C. 4th century.
In the center of the painting, there is Plato pointing to the sky with his finger and Aristotle pointing to the earth with his finger.
This painting created in the early 16th century hints us what kinds of world outlook had existed in history. Plato pointing to the sky symbolizes idealistic world outlook and Aristotle pointing to the earth materialistic world outlook.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The history of the world outlook was a history of struggle between two conflicting philosophical currents, that is, between materialism and idealism, between dialectics and metaphysics."
Since the ancient time to the modern time, there have been all shades of world outlook in the history of human thought. This is an example that tells how important world outlook is for man. The world outlook that has existed in the history of human thought can be divided into idealistic world outlook and materialistic world outlook. The idealistic world outlook regards the world as the product of mental being or man's subjective consciousness outside of man like "absolute idea" or "God". For instance, according to Plato, there is an immutable "world of idea" everywhere and the present world is just its shadow.
With the development of science, it is proved today such world outlook is groundless. With such world outlook, therefore, it is impossible to understand the world properly and shape man's destiny properly.
What is the materialistic world outlook?
Materialism understands that the world consists of matters and consciousness is the reflection of matters.
But all kinds of materialism are not the same. Historically, ancient vulgar materialism developed into modern metaphysical materialism (metaphysics is a philosophical school that thinks everything in the world is fixed and immutable) and then into Marxist dialectical materialism (dialectics thinks everything in the world constantly moves and changes).
Since the ancient time to the contemporary period, materialism has played a certain progressive role in shaping people's destiny, as it is visual and empirical, but failed to liquidate idealistic world outlook in ideological field and all fields of social life at large.
In the medieval age, religion controlled everything. Religion played with people's life, capturing their spirit and preaching that destiny is the fate. Every claim in opposition to religion became the target of merciless oppression.
For the reason that he is the active supporter of Copernicus "heliocentric theory," Giordano Bruno, an Italian scholar was imprisoned in 1592 and severely tortured for several years in Catholic church and at last burned to death, after religious trial.
200 years after then, people erected a monument which reads "...from the century in which he foresaw in the place where he was burned to death."
The historical moment that Giordano Bruno believed to the last moment of his life with the faith in justice and truth came at last.
The mid 19th century gave birth to Marxism. The creation of Marxism is not the rise of a new simple trend. This meant complete setback of idealism and mysticism that had imposed fate upon the people in ideological field.
The founders of Marxism evolved dialectical materialism on the basis of the success of materialism coated by idealism (the "upside-down materialism," according to Marx) and the present level of science.
In one word, it claims that the world consists of matters and all things and phenomena are linked with each other and constantly change and develop.
As a scientific world outlook that reflects the world as it is in an objective way, Marxist world outlook had big influence on the development of history and the shaping of people's destiny. Thanks to Marxism, the exploited working masses got free from religious illusion and idealistic fiction and came to understand that their misfortunes come not from their fate or revelation of God but from the exploitation of the capitalist class and the capitalist system that defends it. And they were awakened that the way for happiness free from the exploitation and oppression is to fight against capital.
It is the world outlook that instructs to understand and approach the world as it is, in other words, to behave according to the law of the change and development of the objective material world on the basis of its correct cognition.
Man, however, cannot achieve the goal of his life and happiness, only behaving as so.
In order to lead a true life, he must not only cognize the objective law and behave according to it but also transform nature and society in an active way on its basis. Dialectical materialism cannot enable people to fulfill the responsibility and role for their life. Moreover, it does not directly show the road of shaping man's destiny.
It is the man-centered world outlook that shows the road of shaping man's destiny directly and scientifically.
The man-centered world outlook requires raising all world outlook issues and solves them in link with man and to understand and approach the world, centering on man who lives and develops, actively using the world.
The man-centered world outlook teaches directly the truth of shaping man's destiny. It gives a view, attitude, and understanding towards the world. Therefore, it shows the way of shaping the destiny correctly, giving people the awareness of being masters of their life.
The man-centered world outlook gives the view and attitude with which people can actively cultivate their life on the basis of the scientific cognition of the world.
It is neither subjectivism that interprets the world in favor of himself, neglecting the objective world and unilaterally stressing his subjective desire nor objectivism that simply reflects the world.
It is not an unscientific view that the world is made centering on man or he is the criterion of all things.
This may not give enough clear pictures, so we will see in detail.
2. The Fundamental Principle of Shaping the Destiny
"The Juche idea raised the fundamental question of philosophy by regarding man as the main factor, and elucidated the philosophical principle that man is the master of everything and decides everything."
Kim Jong Il
What is the most important in the principles of the world outlook for man's life is the answer to the question of who the master of destiny is and who is able to shape it.
Great Comrade Kim Il Sung said.
"The Juche idea is the idea that the master of one's destiny is oneself and that one has the strength to shape one's own destiny."
Man is the master of his destiny and has the strength to shape it.
This is the fundamental principle of shaping the destiny clarified by the man-centered world outlook. People have lots of problems in their life, and the solution to those problems is implicit in the above preposition.
What, then, does this mean?
1) Man Is the Master of His Destiny
Ancient Greek mythology tells the story of the Fates.
Dignified goddesses of fate lived with other gods in the grandeur golden palace above the clouds on the top of Mt. Olympus.
They controlled even the destiny of Zeus, the dominator of all things in the world, to say nothing of that of man.
Goddess Clotho spins the thread of man's destiny and if the thread is cut, man's life is finished. Goddess Lachesis draws lots of destiny and goddess Atropos records the life of people fixed by her sisters and once recorded on a long roll of paper, it cannot not be cancelled...
Mythology is a story made by ancient people but the story of the Fates tells the view on the controller of people's destiny.
Man's destiny is shaped in the relations with the world. In other words, man's destiny is shaped through the interrelations of natural environment or social conditions that constitute the world. This raises a question of whether the master who controls man's destiny is the man himself or the other mysterious being outside of man or the environment.
The view that regards the dominator of man's destiny as divine being is present not only in the ancient Greek mythology but also in different religious world outlooks.
Is this view right, then?
Sorry to those people who believe in this view but that is wrong.
This is groundless view today that witnesses rapid development of science, technology, and civilization.
The masters of people's destiny are not "goddesses" but the people themselves.
Man is responsible for his destiny and has the right to the shaping of his destiny as he wishes. In order to materialize his life demand, man makes constant development, choosing different ways of shaping the destiny, planning, and deciding the process according to his interests.
Why, then, can man be master of his destiny?
That is because he dominates nature and society. To live means to realize man's demand in the relations with the surrounding things and phenomena. That man dominates the surrounding world leads to the conclusion that man is the master of his own destiny.
Let's come to details.
Man is the master of the world, the dominator of nature and society.
There are diversified material beings in the world.
But man is the only being who lives, dominating the surrounding world. For instance, animals maintain their life, being subjected by the surroundings. Only through adapting themselves to natural environment, can animals preserve themselves and their species. Lions, the "king" of the meadows prey upon other animals but cannot dominate nature. If they have no food, they die without finding the other ways of survival. When rivers and lakes are dried up in the drought season, groups of animals die. This tells that animals maintain their life in the way of adapting themselves to the surrounding world, not dominating it.
Unlike this, man lives, making the surrounding world serve his demand.
First, man dominates nature.
Man not only uses nature in his interests but also turns unfavorable conditions into favorable ones. Man prevents flood or drought by building dams, produces electricity, taps underground resources and tames wild animals. He also builds natural circumstances against the devastation of nature.
Secondly, man is the master of society.
Society is the product of man and he dominates it.
Man is, of course, affected by social environment, but the domination of society by man is decisive in the relations between man and society.
All social wealth are produced and used by man and unfavorable social systems are changed by man according to his demand. Historical fact tells that slave-holder society is replaced with feudal society which is again replaced with capitalist one and socialist society was born at last, ultimately liquidating exploitation and oppression.
In this regard, we can say the divine beings are also dominated by man.
Mythological stories are made by man. As is well known, all "gods" in the ancient Greek mythology are shaped after man and they love, fight in jealousy, help, and give birth to their children like human beings. Man created these religious theories. This fact proves that the divine being as dominator of man's destiny is none other than fiction made by man. Namely, man dominates everything, making the story of the control of man's destiny by gods or the stories of their "love" and "pleasure."
Since man dominates nature and society, namely the surrounding world, nothing in the surrounding world can be master of man's destiny. It is natural that man who dominates the world becomes the master of his own destiny.
There are some questions that should be made clear in understanding that man is the master of his destiny.
First, it is wrong to understand in a metaphysical way that man dominates the world.
At present, man does not dominate all things and phenomena in the world. The scope of man's domination over the world is small in comparison with the vast scope of nature.
Man dominates the world. This means that man is in the position of dominating the world instead of being dominated by the world and that the scope of man's domination over the world is increasing ceaselessly.
Next, it is wrong to understand that man can choose social system as he wishes at any time because society is the product of man. Society has objective law that acts independently of man's will. Only when he correctly understands and uses this law can man dominate society according to his demand. That society is the product of man means that man is the direct agent of social relations.
It is also wrong to understand in an individualistic undestanding the principle of the Juche idea that man is the master of his destiny.
Some people misinterpret this principle, confining it to their own individual matters, that is, individual's fame and promotion, wealth, and prosperity should be made by individual's efforts.
The view of materializing individual's egoistic goal has nothing to do with the principle of the Juche idea.
The Juche idea regards man as master of the destiny. Here man is the philosophical category.
In other words, man is philosophical concept generalized in the relations between man, as the social and collective being on one side and nature and society on the other side. Man means the working masses of the people who transform nature and society.
According to the Juche idea, man's destiny is the destiny of the working masses that fight to dominate nature and society according to their demand and the future of their destiny depends on them.
Man, as an individual has its meaning only as a member of social collective, namely the working masses.
In conclusion, man is the master of his own destiny.
2) Man Has Ability to Shape His Destiny
In his reminiscences "With the Century," the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung wrote.
"There were many children of Christians among the pupils in the children's association. They believed that God existed under the religious influence of the parents. However hard we explained to them that there was no God and that it was absurd to believe in one, it was useless because they were under such strong influence of their parents.
One day I asked a woman teacher at a Korean primary school under our influence to take the pupils who believe in God to church for a service.
She took them to church and made them pray all day as I had said; 'Almighty God, we are hungry, please send some rice-cakes and bread for us.' But they received no rice-cakes or bread and still felt hungry. Then I asked the teacher to take them to the wheat field after the harvest and glean the grain. She did as I had said and they gleaned many ears of wheat. She threshed them and made some bread with it which she shared out among the pupils. While eating it, the pupils learned that it was better to eat bread by working than by praying to God for it."
Man has the ability to shape his own destiny. This is the truth discovered by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung in the early period when he began his struggle to save the destiny of the Korean people.
The situation of Korea's anti-Japanese national liberation movement was bad when he began his struggle in the days of Jilin Yuwen Middle School.
Many people who were engaged in the national liberation movement dreamed to gain the independence, depending on the foreign forces. They were divided into different groups. Each group went to the Comintern for approval and some petitioned for independence to imperialist powers like the US.
The result was tragic.
"The Hague Emissary Incident" is an example.
In June 1907, Kojong, the then king of Korea sent Korean delegation to the 2nd International Peace Conference held in The Hague, the Netherlands, with a view to disclosing illegality of the "Ulsa Five-Point Treaty".
The Japanese aggressors fabricated the "Ulsa Five-Point Treaty" on November 17, 1905 and deprived Korea of its right to diplomacy. As a matter of fact, the internal affairs of Korea were controlled by the Japanese "Residency-General."
When the destiny of the country and nation was on stake by the Japanese aggressors, Ri Jun, Ri Sang Sol, Ri Wi Jong and other patriotic cultural enlightenment movement activists planned to appeal to the international public opinion, pinning hope on it. Taking advantage of the 2th International Peace Conference, they made efforts to persuade the king to agree to send the delegation to the conference.
King Kojong had an illusion about the conference for preserving his rule. So he planned to send a delegation headed by Ri Jun covertly to disclose the treaty was fabricated by force of the Japanese imperialists and thus restore the state sovereignty by the help of the foreign forces.
Ri Jun and other two persons arrived in The Hague, the Netherlands with the king's secret letter and applied for participation in the conference as a Korean delegation.
The imperialists headed by the US, however, refused their participation under the pretext that they could not recognize Korean delegation, as the Korean diplomacy was in the hands of Japan according to the "Ulsa Five-Point Treaty," supporting Japan.
This being the case, the Korean delegates took every opportunity to expose and denounce the gangsterous invasion of the Japanese imperialists. They reported the criminal acts of the Japanese imperialists to the International Journalists' Association and its publication, appealing upon the world public opinion to support the Korean people's struggle to destroy these acts.
But due to vicious disturbance of the Japanese imperialists and cool reaction of the foreign delegates, the emissaries' efforts seeking the sympathy of the big powers were all frustrated.
Late as it was, Ri Jun knew that the Western powers and the US were on the side of Japan. He resisted their moves, disemboweling himself to death.
This incident could not break the Japanese imperialists' aggression to Korea.
The Japanese imperialists did not hesitate but further strengthened their aggression, taking this as an opportunity. In excuse of having sent the emissaries, King Kojong was abdicated and Korean sovereignty was completely deprived by fabricating the "Jongmi 7-Point Treaty."
The blood of Ri Jun shed in the conference hall warned that any big powers would not bestow independence on Korea and that it is impossible to save and shape the destiny by the help of others.
With the insight into the historical lesson and situation of the then national liberation movement, great Comrade Kim Il Sung discovered valuable truth that the ability to save one's destiny is in himself.
Man has ability to save his own destiny!
At the very inception of human history, man has craved for the savior who would help to shape his destiny.
The ancient Egyptians offered a large amount of sacrifice to the shrine of the sun and the Mayas begged for fortune, offering twenty thousand hearts of the slaves.
The Incas built the "city of the sun" on the 3,400-m-high top of Mt. Andes instead of the vast fertile lands, with a view to staying close to the sun for its benefit.
And the exploited working masses had expectation on God or king or a hero to get help of savior. This desire, however, could not be satisfied for a long time.
That is because man has the ability to save his destiny in himself.
Let's come to details.
Man plays decisive role in transforming nature and society.
Material and technical means and other factors play big part in this transformation.
For instance, the objective conditions, namely the international circumstances or internal political situation are important in transforming society.
In this IT era, science, and technology play admiringly big part in the development of social economy.
So, some people think as if science and technology are the driving force in shaping man's destiny, namely in the change and development of society.
So is the case of argument of "information society."
The advocates of the "information society" define that information equipment is the basis of the production of material wealth and social life.
Their claims are based on the view of technical determinations.
According to this theory, technology is the driving force for social change. Technology brings about the change of powers between those who can possess and use technology and those who can not do so.
Taking this advantage, they claim that the capitalist society changes into "information society" by the help of "revolution in science, technology, and information," exaggerating the effect of the highly developing information technology upon the social life.
Can science and technology be the "powerful and important driving force" in making history?
Are science and technology the decisive factor in shaping man's destiny as they claim?
Those who think so make big mistake. They forget one aspect. Or they turn away their face from it.
Since the material and technical means including IT are made by man, they can play their part only by the control of man.
Science and technology play important part in shaping man's destiny. But they can not be replaced with man's role, however advanced they are.
Likewise, in the transformation of society, according to the preparedness, man can turn unfavorable objective conditions into favorable ones or cannot properly use the favorable conditions.
Man transforms nature and society, actively using the favorable circumstances against unfavorable natural conditions and social effect.
Man is the more decisive factor than the objective factors including material and technical means in the transformation of nature and society.
That man plays decisive role in transforming nature and society means that he plays decisive role in shaping his destiny.
As is known, man's destiny is shaped in the process of transforming the world. Since man plays decisive role in transforming the world, no other force can shape his destiny in his place.
Man has the ability to shape his own destiny.
In conclusion, man is the master of his destiny and has the ability to shape his destiny.
This is the fundamental principle in shaping man's destiny and is the essence of the Juche idea. All other principles and contents of the Juche idea were evolved on the basis of this principle.
Accordingly, in one word, the Juche idea finds its expression in the principle that man is master of his destiny and has the ability to shape it.
How, then, can man transform nature and society and shape his destiny as master of nature, society, and his destiny?
3. What Kind of Being Is Man?
"Man is a social being with independence, creativity, and consciousness. Herein lies his essential qualities."
Kim Jong Il
What kind of being is man in terms of world outlook? This question can be answered by clarifying the essential attributes peculiar only to man that are absent in other material beings.
This question had been argued for centuries in the study of world outlook. In this process, various views came out but not a view could give correct philosophical answer to it.
The perfect scientific answer was given by the Juche idea at last.
1) The "Key" to the "Door" of Destiny
Socrates, the famous ancient Greek philosopher used to speak "Knowest thyself."
These words were hung on the gate of Derpoy divine palace which had close connection with him.
"Knowest thyself."
Socrates who spoke this had no correct answer to the question of what kind of being man is.
With what view of man, then, would the ancient people have opened the gate of the divine palace?
Why do these words hung on the gate of Derpoy divine palace give meaning to us today?
In similitude, the understanding of man in terms of world outlook is the "key" to the "door" of destiny. On the basis of his understanding of man, each man decides the goal of his life and finds the way for its achievement.
To lead a life means to meet his essential demand. The essential attributes means the characteristics or quality of man and the essential demand means not only material but also mental, cultural, and socio-political demand. Everyone, therefore, has his own view of man's essence, and on this basis, he chooses the road of life.
For instance, human history witnessed numerous "keys" to different "doors" of destiny.
What kinds of "keys," then, had been there and what kind of destinies were there before the "doors" opened by those "keys"?
It is impossible and not necessary to tell the century-long history of the development of world outlook. We will see only the views of man in some categories.
In the past, there had been mainly the view that regarded man as spiritual being and the view that regarded him as a material being, that is, a natural and biological being.
The former view is represented by Hegel.
In the days of his study in Tubingen University, his movement was so slow that his nickname was "old man." When graduation, he received the rating "he can practice theology but has no philosophical talents." Surprisingly, however, Hegel (1770-1831) dominated German bourgeois philosophical world. According to Hegel, the world is in the process of evolution of "absolute idea" or "absolute spirit." He regarded man as mental expression in a certain stage of the development of "absolute idea" or "absolute spirit." He said "the essence of human being is thinking."
In this kind of view, there had been the views of regarding man's essential attributes as "will to survival" or "will to power" or "religious devotion."
The latter view found its expression in the view of Freud.
According to Freud (1856-1939), consciousness is submitted to the "potential consciousness" which is libido in essence. Consciousness is created by the conflicts between "libido" and social circumstance. This conflict begins in the childhood, and human destiny is predestined depending on the types of the conflict. Freud psychology explains that not only all the mental activities including human psychology but also people's struggle to transform the old society such as class struggle and revolution are different expressions of "libido" and that they are abnormal phenomena caused as the result of suppressing it.
These two kinds of view assumed socio-political character reflecting class interests and had been point of argument historically.
The view that regarded man as the being dominated by instinct had been used for defending capitalist society where the law of jungle prevailed, causing corruption among the working masses.
Man is not pure mental or biological being.
Man is a social being. Herein lie important characteristics of man that are absent in other biological beings.
Marxism defined man as the totality of social relations. In his "Thesis on Feuerbach" published in 1845, Marx wrote "the essence of man ...is the totality of social relations."
This means that man lives in social relations and that man's attributes are defined by social relations.
This is, however, not the clarification of the essence of man.
There had been attempts to clarify the essence of man on the basis of his characteristics.
For instance, man had been defined as talking being, working being or thinking being. Of course, these are peculiar to man.
They are, however, individual aspects of his activities, namely the expression of the essential attributes of man. Accordingly, these views could not clarify the essential characteristics of man in a scientific and comprehensive way.
Like this, the previous thinkers had argued much about the destiny of man but failed to correctly clarify the essential characteristics of man. As they could not understand what kind of being man is, they could not correctly show the road of man's destiny.
The Juche idea scientifically clarified that man is a social being with independence, creativity, and consciousness, at last.
As a result, man could have the key to shaping his destiny properly.
Now, we come to the details of the Juche idea's view of man.
2) The Starting Point
While clarifying the essential characteristics of man, the Juche idea starts from that man is a social being.
When we button up, if the first button is wrongly put on, all other buttons are wrongly put on.
Like this, it is important where to start in clarifying the essential characteristics of man.
Success depends on the starting point. That is whether we start from the view that man is natural and biological being or the view that man is a social being.
If we start from the former view, we may understand that the essential attributes of man are the development in perfection of the instinctive attributes that are available in the general living matters. This leads to the understanding of man as the general living matters and particularly the animals.
As a result, we cannot find the fundamental boundary between man and the general living matters. This may lead to wrong view like racist theory.
The racist theory is reactionary theory that claims that national culture, national mentality and national identity are defined by the character of a race and that social inequality is based on the race's heredity.
Gobineau(1816-1882), a French diplomat who theoretically systematized racist theory defined the white as "superior race" and the colored as "inferior race," claiming that the white must dominate the colored. This theory served Hitler Fascism and those who follow the policy of race discrimination.
Of course, man has the same points with other natural and biological beings. For instance, like all other things, man consists of matters. Human body contains water, protein, fat, carbohydrate, and salt, in detail oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and other elements that are present in other beings.
Man has at once the same points with and different points from other living matters. The same points are that man makes metabolism as the other living matters do. And the different points are that man has incomparably developed brain, upright walking and delicately moving hands. With these biological differences, we can not understand why it is only man who dominates and transforms the world. There are biological differences also among animals.
But as is known, the animals cannot dominate and transform the world even in the lowest level, however developed they are.
Only human being becomes master of the world, unlike monkeys and anthropoids, because he lives in society.
Therefore, the special attributes of man that are not available in any other material beings must be found in the aspect of social being.
Starting from clarifying that man is a social being, the Juche idea clarified the essential characteristics of man.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"...the philosophical consideration of man must start from the fact that man is a social being."
Man is a social being.
This means that man is the being that lives and acts in social relations, in the social collective. This is the important characteristic of man that is fundamentally different from other natural and biological beings.
Man has highly developed organic body. But if he did not have social relations in social collective, he could not have been the being like today.
Man can survive and develop only in social relations.
To survive, man needs material means such as food, clothes, shelters, etc. and these are obtained only through social labor. That is because all things necessary for creating material wealth, namely, knowledge, technology, experience, and labor tools are the social products.
Man's quality and ability are formed and developed through social education and practice, namely in social relations. That man can survive and develop only in society is proved by the fact that the transformation of society is possible only with social strength, not an individual's will and strength.
Only man is the social being in the world.
Of course, animals like ants and bees live in groups according to a certain order, jointly making houses and getting food. But the relations of the animal groups are blindly maintained, as they were spontaneously formed in the process of biological evolution. Moreover, they are additional means to adapt themselves to the natural environment. So these means are not the conditions to overcome the fetters of the surrounding world.
Social relations are formed and maintained in a purposive and conscious way by people. This is fundamentally different from the animal groups.
Some may have doubt that it is not the Juche idea that clarified that man is a social being, for the first time.
Of course, the founders of Marxism used the concept of social being.
This concept, however, meant material conditions of social life and economic relations that are reflected in social consciousness, existing objectively. The founders of Marxism divided society into the material and the spiritual. And they produced concepts that the material belongs to social being and the spiritual belongs to social consciousness. They clarified the starting principle that social being defines social consciousness.
Since Marxism regarded man as a component part of productive forces, man belongs to the concept of social being, according to Marxist philosophy.
This concept does not mean that man is the only social being. In other words, man is in the same position with the material conditions of social life and economic relations.
Unlike this, the Juche idea uses the concept of social being different from natural being. That means social wealth and social relations do not belong to social being. Only man is the social being in the world. The man who lives in social relations is a social being.
As he is a social being, man can have essential characteristics of independence, creativity, and consciousness.
Now, we come to details.
3) Freedom or Subjugation?
"Believe me that I do not change my sorrow with slave's life." This is the saying of Prometheus, the hero of tragic story written by Aeschylus (B.C. 6th century-B.C. 5th century), an ancient Greek writer.
Prometheus is the god of savior of man that brought fire to human beings according to Greek mythology. By the order of Zeus, the god of thundering, Prometheus, and his brother Epimetheus made living matters on the earth. At that time, people had nothing but naked bodies, so they were shivering from cold. After consultation with his brother, Prometheus went to Zeus to ask for fire for human beings but he flatly refused him.
Being extremely disappointed in this, Prometheus stole fire of gods for human beings. Since then, human beings could lead civilized life.
Angry at this, Zeus bound Prometheus on the top of the highest mountain, making him suffer. Thinking that his behavior was right, Prometheus accepted severe punishment and fought against Zeus, the oppressor who gave all kinds of misfortune to human beings.
This mythology was made by ancient Greeks thousands of years ago. But still people love this story. Why, then?
Is that because Prometheus really brought fire for people?
It is true fact that the discovery of fire has great significance in the development of human civilization. The fire was discovered and used by human beings, not by Prometheus.
Sympathizing Prometheus, other gods advised Prometheus to apologize to Zeus, but he shouted.
"O, Zeus, the god of thundering, although you make me suffer, the day when you fall will come. After you die to be a handful of ashes, you will know the difference between power and subjugation."
Freedom or subjugation? Prometheus resolutely chose freedom.
Because of this, people praise the indomitable will and fighting spirit of Prometheus who paved his way, overcoming all sorts of sufferings against the oppression.
Man lives in a certain natural and social environment. This environment is necessary condition for human life.
Those people who live in a certain historical period get natural and social fetters conditioned by the level of development of that society.
For instance, people get natural fetters, threats, and destruction such as flood, drought, typhoon, earthquake, and lack of living materials, hard labor, etc. and in exploiter society, they get class exploitation, national domination and subjugation.
These natural and social fetters are unfavorable for the survival and development of human beings.
Man hates and rejects such fetters, not accepting and adapting himself to them.
Other living matters like animals can neither understand the surrounding world and themselves nor fight against the disasters given by the surrounding world. In other words, they are totally subjugated by the surrounding world.
Man, however, struggles to turn unfavorable natural geographical conditions into the favorable ones to live, free from the fetters of nature. He also fights against national and class domination, outdated ideology and techniques and culture to live, free from social subjugation and shackles.
This tells that it is peculiar characteristic of man to live freely against all kinds of natural and social fetters without being subjugated by the surrounding world.
The Juche idea defined this characteristic of man as independence.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Independence is an attribute of social man who is desirous of living and developing in an independent way as master of the world and his own destiny."
Man is the being with independence, the independent social being that is different from all other natural beings.
With independence, man tries to make everything serve him against all sorts of natural and social fetters.
The other living matters live, adapting themselves to the surrounding world. If not, they become extinct.
Man, however, lives, making the surrounding world serve him, as he has independence.
By making nature serve him, man produces bountiful means of life, enhancing his living standard. And by creating and developing the labor means that replace and increase his strength, man makes labor joyful, free from the arduous labor.
By transforming society, man makes it serve better the collective common life. By doing so, man establishes and develops new social relations in which social equality of the social members is fully realized, against political oppression and economic exploitation of one class and nation by other class and nation.
It is peculiar characteristic of man that makes him different from natural beings to make nature and society serve him against all sorts of subjugation and exploitation.
Independence is the most important attribute that defines what kind of being man is. Independence is the life and soul of man.
This life means socio-political life. Along with physical life, man has socio-political integrity. Physical life is the life of man as bio-organic being whereas socio-political integrity is the life of man as social being.
Man's socio-political integrity can be maintained only with independence. If man is subjugated by others without independence, he is as same as the dead, though he is in life. Independence, therefore, is the life and soul of man.
The concept of independence defines not only the fundamental characteristics of man but also socio-political concept defining the life and soul of country and nation.
The independence of a country and nation is the characteristic that makes it decide its own destiny and shape it by itself.
Independence is the life and soul of man and country as well. This means that independence is the fundamental attribute that makes country and nation exist as an independent social collective and is the source of development of country and nation.
We should know some points in understanding independence.
First, it is wrong to understand that independence is the entity inherent in human body.
Independence is not an entity.
Independence of man finds its expression in that he makes independent activities with the demand for independence.
The demand for independence means the demand to live and develop as master of the world and his destiny, free from all sorts of domination and subjugation.
It is the demand to lead a rich material life, free from natural fetters, the demand to live and develop helping each other forward as equal member of society, free from social bondages and the demand to lead noble, civilized, and beautiful ideological and cultural life, free from all sorts of wrong ideology and ignorance.
The demand for independence finds its expression in that of collective and that of individual as well, because man is a social being.
The demand for independence of the collective is the common demand of the members of the collective that strive to survive and develop. Man lives in social collective. Only in collective, can man be social man. The collective comes before individual, and the development of the collective helps the shaping of individual's destiny. That is why every member of the collective demands for good maintenance and development of social collective. This demand is the common demand of the collective for independence.
An individual's demand for independence is the demand of man as an equal member of social collective, and it is given as he contributes to the social collective.
An individual's demand for independence is fundamentally different from individualistic greed. This demand puts the interests of social collective to the fore and agrees the collective's demands with individual's demands, realizing individual's interests in the collective's interests. The individualistic greed is wrong demand that neglects the collective, makes individual's interests go against collective's, places individual's interests before the collective's and tries to make everything serve individual's interests. Therefore, individual's greed is fundamentally different from individual's demand for independence, having nothing to do with man's essential demand.
Collective's and individual's demand for independence can be better realized only through collectivism, because the fundamental demand of collectivism gives enough benefit to everyone, placing its demand and interests to the fore. Collectivism only can strengthen collective's unity and cooperation, enhance its members' creative zeal and combine properly the collective's demand and individual's demand, realizing the demands of the both.
Man who fights to be master of the world and his own destiny against all sorts of subjugation, with the demand for independence is the very social being with independence.
The life of man is, in essence, the process of realizing independence.
It is wrong to understand independence as individual's "autonomy" or "freedom of will" as claimed by some bourgeois philosophies, especially the existentialism.
These claims are nothing but bourgeois self-indulgence with which one decides and behaves as he wishes according to his pure will, negating all effects of social environments.
The man isolated from society and individual's "autonomy" and "freedom of will" that do not get any social influence exist in idea as an illusion. There really does not exist the man who does not get social influence of capitalism, free from the domination of capital, in capitalist society. The argument about individual's "autonomy" and "freedom of will" is nothing but sophism to rationalize individual egoism and liberalism and to defend capitalist system.
It is important to have correct understanding of the relations between independence and freedom.
Independence is man's attribute that contains freedom.
By independence, we mean that one becomes the master.
To be master of a certain object means that one can deal with something according to his interests and demand, free from any shackles.
Freedom is the concept meaning the state in which one is free from any subjugation.
Independent life as the expression of independence is common with freedom in the aspect of not tolerating any subjugation and shackle.
Independence, however, has the characteristic that is different from freedom.
Independence is the essential characteristic of man whereas freedom is the status of living. This characteristic is called independence.
Freedom or subjugation?
Let's try to answer this question sincerely.
4) The Look of Human Being Reflected in Science and Technology
We are in the era of science and technology. Since the 1st technical revolution in the 18th century, the 2nd and 3rd technical revolutions took place and the science and technology develop explosively, now.
With the miraculous development of science and technology, economy makes leaping development and big change occurs in the human life.
"IT" is on the lips of the people and the science and technology have great influences on socio-politics, economic development and everybody's life.
Many things human beings had imagined become reality, accelerating the development of humanity towards the future.
How, then, does the development of science and technology have link with the understanding of man?
According to dictionary, science is the system of knowledge on the essence of things and phenomena and the law of their development and change. Technology is different as it is knowledge, skill, and means of labor on the method of transforming things and phenomena by using the law of science.
Science and technology is one aspect of human beings and their characteristic to cognize and transform nature and society.
By the help of science and technology, man transforms the old things and phenomena to create the new.
This is creativity, according to the Juche idea.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Creativity is an attribute of social man who transforms the world and shapes his destiny purposefully and consciously."
Man is the being with creativity, the only creative social being in the world.
Along with independence, creativity is one of the essential characteristics of man. Like independence, creativity is peculiar to man only. It is not available in other living matters.
Animals have no creativity. They cannot transform things, however developed they are. Animals like bees build their houses with their secretion and birds build their nests with tree twigs or mud, namely using the surrounding things. But this is not creation, because they cannot transform the existing forms to make new things. This is proved by the fact that their method is the same even after the change of conditions and environment with the passage of time.
Unlike animals, with creativity, man develops the method of his activities with the passage of time.
In the early period of human history, people had lived, collecting plants and hunting animals. But those were not enough for their food. And they began to do farming. There are data that the ancient people ten thousand years ago began to cultivate crops.
Since then, the farming methods have constantly changed and today we have the method of cultivating even without soil.
Like this man only constantly changes the old into the new.
In addition, they make the new that did not exist in the world. So is the case of the development of nano technology and the emergence of socialist society that suits human nature of independence.
Why, then, can man only have creativity?
That is because man only has creative ability.
The creative ability is scientific and technical knowledge, experience, and skill man obtained in social practice. In other words, it is the strength to transform nature and society to make them more useful and favorable for him, replacing the old with the new.
With creativity, man changes things in the surrounding world to suit his life demand or makes new things.
In the surrounding world, there are large animals like whales or elephants and wild animals like tigers or lions, but man is the most powerful being because of his creative ability.
The main in his creative ability is the science and technology.
The leaping development of science and technology tells that man is the most powerful being in the world.
The starting of the operation of the hydron collider accelerator, successful landing of the Mars survey "Phoenix," the development of artificial chromosome, the discovery of unknown planets, production of invisible coat, the 80 % interpretation of mammoth's genome, the unearthing of tomb of 4,600 years ago, etc.—these are 10 major scientific successes in 2008.
According to a magazine, the design of mechanical device operating in the scope of quantum, the rise of synthetic biology, the measure of genome of Neanderthal (a woman of 40 thousand years ago discovered in Croatia), the development of new preventive medicine of HIV, the discovery of genetic mutation by the measurement of exon arrangement, the success in observing the movement of atoms in protein by the help of super computer, the production of quantum simulation device, the invention of the measuring technique of next generation genome arrangement, the synthesis of RNA, the invention of the technique of using rats in laboratory—these are 10 scientific successes in 2010.
It is true that many living matters became and become extinct. As they do not have creative ability, animals cannot overcome the influences of natural environment.
As man has unlimited and quickly developing creative ability, he has made constant development since his rise in the world and will do so in the future, too.
According to the scholars in London branch of "British Telecommunications" company that develops the techniques of remote communications and electronic engineering in the early 21st century, the new scientific inventions and research successes in this century are anticipated as follows.
- the emergence of artificial "brain" that makes scientific research in 2018
- the emergence of 3-dimentional TV that uses hologram technique in 2020
- the emergence of "electronic society" that connects human brain with computer in 2025
- the emergence of robot shaped after human being with the brain like Einstein's brain in 2030
- the input of all data in US parliament library to cube sugar-size electronic device in 2032
- the introduction of tooth paste made with nano technique, and atom-size micro robots in the paste will remove tartar and caries of teeth in 2035
- the fall of electricity price with the introduction of thermonuclear fusion technique in the production of energy in 2040
- the development of the method by which man can move from the present to the future and vice versa, without timely "barrier" in 2075
- the development of the technique of permanently restoring a man's personality in the electronic world by introducing the technique of computerizing and preserving his personality even after his death in 2100
Along with the fast development of modern science and technology, man will advance towards the future, demonstrating himself as creative being.
5) Conscious Social Being
Along with independence and creativity, man has consciousness.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Consciousness is an attribute of social man, which determines all his endeavors to understand and reshape the world and himself."
Man is conscious social being as well as independent and creative being.
Man makes constant activities to understand and transform the surrounding world and himself, and it is consciousness that makes the activities consistent. Consciousness guarantees the independence and creativity of man as social being and his purposive, cognitive, and practical activities.
We come to the details.
By the help of consciousness, man understands the surrounding world and himself.
For instance, in order to produce iron from iron ores, we must know in what temperature iron ores are melted, how to sort out iron from the ores and how to use it.
And with consciousness, man plans his activities.
On the basis of the understanding of his demand and interests, man sets his action goal and then chooses the means and method to achieve the goal. Man always thinks whether a certain thing is useful or not and how to make it useful for life, whenever he meets the thing. This tells he has consciousness.
By the help of consciousness, man controls his activities in accordance with the changing conditions of reality and also controls himself so that he can overcome difficulties.
Of course, some of man's activities are biological. For instance, eating, and sleeping are the actions to realize biological and instinctive demand. But with consciousness, he endures hunger and sleepiness to achieve his goal. And when he meets difficulties, he finds out the way of overcoming them.
As a result, with consciousness, man understands his demand for independence and makes creative activities in a purposive and conscious way to realize the demand.
When consciousness is highly displayed, all our activities will be successful.
Like independence and creativity, consciousness is peculiar to man only.
Animals have no consciousness. They live according to biological instinct. Animals eat, sleep, and run away from the wild beasts; spiders weave webs to get insects; birds build nests: these are the actions made according to biological instinct.
Animals can understand neither things and phenomena nor their principles. Therefore, they can not transform them but adapt themselves to the changing situation.
It is only man who can control his actions, because of consciousness.
Consciousness is the high function of brain, the most developed among man's inner organs. His brain plays pivotal role in his life activities and the consciousness, the function of brain controls all his activities.
Consciousness is divided into ideological consciousness and knowledge. Reflecting man's demand and interests, the ideological consciousness directly defines and controls his activities.
This is the consciousness, the attribute of man.
To understand consciousness in detail and why it is peculiar only to man, we need to know animal's instinct.
As animal's instinct is complicated, some of its actions seem to be purposive and conscious. Animals do not make mistake in the fixed condition but mechanically make mistake when the conditions change.
It is clear that animals' actions are instinctive, not conscious at all. As a result of adapting themselves to certain natural conditions for a long time, their actions became inborn and are unconscious reaction. It is important to understand that consciousness is the attribute that has been formed and developed socio-historically, along with independence and creativity.
The attribute of man by which he behaves in an independent and creative way with ideological consciousness and knowledge is not inborn or hereditary. Man can have ideology, science, and technical know-how only through education and social practice.
According to the result of research, man's inner organs became perfect in the process of social cooperation. Man's brain developed in the process of social labor.
In other words, consciousness is a social attribute that was formed and developed socially and historically.
We must not forget that independence and creativity too are formed and developed socially and historically.
Now, we can understand that independence, creativity, and consciousness are special attributes peculiar to man, the social being. Only man in the world has independence, creativity, and consciousness. That is because man is the only being who lives in society.
Since he is social being with independence, creativity, and consciousness, man can dominate, transform, and develop the world. And he becomes master of his destiny and powerful being that shapes his destiny by himself.
4. Approaching the World Centering on Man
"The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung has established a man-centered philosophical out- look on the world for the first time in history, an outlook which places man in the position of master of the world and clarifies the essence of the world and the laws governing its change and development."
Kim Jong Il
We know that man is a social being with independence, creativity, and consciousness.
Now, we come to the viewpoint, attitude, and understanding towards the world.
The viewpoint towards the world answers the question of how the world as a whole is consisted of and how it changes and develops. And attitude and stand answer the question of on what stand we act in the world, the object.
Placing man in the position of master of the world, the Juche idea clarifies the viewpoint, attitude, and understanding towards the world.
We can divide them into two parts; one is the man-centered viewpoint and the other is the attitude and stand towards the world.
1) The World Is Dominated and Transformed by Man
Man lives in the world. This means that man always has a certain viewpoint towards nature and society and takes a certain attitude and stand. His viewpoint and stand towards individual things and phenomena always presupposes the most general viewpoint and stand towards the world as a whole.
(conf. "Lighthouse of Human Life," the first paragraph, the first chapter)
If a man is to deal with anything properly, he should have correct world outlook, attitude, and understanding towards the surrounding world.
On the basis of the essential characteristics of man, the Juche idea clarifies the viewpoint towards the world.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"That the world is dominated and reshaped by man is a new viewpoint on the world in relation to man."
Have you ever thought of when the words "domination" and "transformation" were made. People may not be interested in these words. But these two words have important meanings, because they are directly linked with man's life.
It is difficult to say exactly when they came out, but these words must have been used with the emergence of man.
Before the birth of man on the earth, the world consisted of nature only. In nature, diversified things and phenomena in different level of development, structure, and function had been linked through interactions. These relations had been spontaneous and blind. In this nature, nothing was submitted to others or nothing was changed in a purposive and conscious way.
With the emergence of man, however, the situation changed. Man has active, purposive, and conscious relations with the surrounding world, not spontaneous and blind relations. The concept that reflects such relations is domination and transformation.
The present world is dominated and transformed by man. In other words, nature, and society become the world for man by his independent and creative actions.
We come to nature, first.
Man has close relations with diversified things and phenomena in nature, living in nature. Man cannot survive even a moment apart from nature and he is affected by natural environment.
Man, however, is not an appendage of nature. Man lives, controlling, and using diversified things and phenomena in the surrounding world. He dominates and transforms nature through his independent and creative activities.
Through his activities, the things and phenomena such as thundering and typhoon that had given great disasters and the destructive blind power are becoming restricted and overcome by man. Wild animals and plants are turned into domestic ones by man and mineral ores are tapped and used by man. Namely, the things and phenomena that did not serve him are used as his means of production and living materials.
Not only nature but also society are dominated and transformed by man.
The social relations that infringed upon man's independence are turned into the ones that guarantee his independence, serving him.
Apart from social relations, man can neither survive nor develop. The formation and development of social relations are made according to the objective law, independently of people's subjective will. When people do not cognize and dominate the laws, society hampers the realization of his independence in this or that way.
Social relations have been constantly improved, corresponding to the development of man's independent consciousness and creative ability.
This is proved by the fact that the slave-holder society was transited into feudal society which again turned to capitalist society and finally to socialist society. With the establishment of socialist society, people could manage and develop all fields of social life according to their will and demand.
The world is dominated and transformed by man, because he is a social being with independence, creativity, and consciousness.
With the emergence of man, the world that had blindly changed according to its own law was turned into the world dominated and transformed by man.
We, therefore, cannot neglect the fact that the world consists of matters and changes and develops according to its own law.
If the world moves accidentally and at random, man cannot cognize the world and, after all, cannot dominate and transform it. The world changes and develops according to its law, not by accident or in disorder. Therefore, man can cognize the objective law and control and transform the world.
In understanding this, we must pay attention to the following points.
That the world is dominated by man does not mean that the world is made with man in the center. The world has existed before the rise of man. The world is not created with man in the center.
That the world is transformed by man does not mean that all changes in the world are made by man.
Before the emergence of man, nature has changed and developed according to its law and this process is the same today. Social relations are not made at random according to man's subjective desire or contract. Man transforms and develops the world only by discovering and using this law of movement.
Even at this moment, people change things and phenomena of the surrounding world or create the new, according to their demand. New cities are built, new oil fields are developed, changing the look of mountains and rivers. New laws are stipulated to improve social relations.
The world is dominated and transformed more and more by man day by day.
2) Man-centered Value Concept
Normally, we see the same knowledge is used favorably or unfavorably by different peoples. And peoples take different attitudes towards one social phenomenon.
For instance, the technique of atomic power was firstly used not for civilized life but for producing the weapons of mass destruction by the imperialists, bringing about holocaust in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This is because people's attitude and stand towards the present world are different.
It is the most general attitude and stand of the people towards the surrounding world to decide direction and principle of their action.
In order to lead a true life, therefore, it is important to have proper attitude and stand towards the world.
What, then, are the proper attitude and stand towards the world?
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Taking a man-centered attitude towards the world means approaching the world from the viewpoint of interests of man, the master of the world. The world should naturally be approached from this angle because man is the master of the world."
The attitude and stand towards the world clarified by the Juche idea is the attitude and stand towards the world centering on man, the master of the world.
This firstly means to approach the world starting from the interests of man, the master of the world.
In other words, this means to have man-centered value concept. This means to evaluate things or phenomena or do things in the aspect of whether to do good or harm to man.
As man is the master of the world, we must approach the world in the interests of man. Man cognizes and transforms the world to make everything in the world serve him. Man and his interests are the most valuable in the world. All things have value only when they serve man. It is, therefore, the most correct attitude and stand towards the world to approach it in the aspect of making it serve man better and better.
Some people may think whether there is any person who does harm, as people act in his interests.
The question is how to understand man's interests. Man's interest clarified by the Juche idea is not individual's interest apart from social collective. It is the interest of man, the social and collective being. It is the interest of social being who wants to live in an independent and creative way, free from natural fetters and social bondages. It is not individual's selfish demand such as lining his pockets or promotion.
These exist in capitalist society that systematizes exploitation and oppression on the basis of individualism. And there exist exploiter class and individualistic egoists.
An individual starts from his interest when approaching things and phenomena. And the interest becomes different according to his socio-class status.
The "interest" of those who make aggressive war, arms race and all sorts of crimes often occurring in capitalist society is not human interest.
Look at pragmatism that advocates American way of life.
Pragmatism claims that it is 'interest" to behave, resorting to every mean and method to satisfy animal-like desire and accumulate wealth. It is the basis of all sorts of crime and corruption in American society.
Can this be called human interest?
In class society, the true human interest is that of the working masses, not that of the exploiter class.
There is no super class "interest." When we recall "all human value" trumpeted by Gorbachev in the Soviet Union, we can understand that such "value" apart from class interest does not exist and that is mere signboard to restore capitalism against the interest of the socialist working masses. This is told by historical fact.
In capitalist society, they regard money or gold as the one more valuable than human dignity and value but the Juche idea claims that money and gold have value only when these serve man.
What is necessary, then, to approach the world starting from man's interests?
What is important is to estimate value of things and phenomena with man's interest as criterion. Namely, it is to have man-centered value concept.
The estimation of value is necessary precondition for all human activities. After he estimated the value of certain things and phenomena, man begins his activities. In other words, man decides his attitude towards the things and phenomena and then begins his activities. In capitalist society, they evaluate not only things' value but also even human personality only on the basis of money.
What is the result, then?
The DPRK's paper "Rodong Sinmun" dated June 13, 2008 carried an article under the title, "the society where human life becomes victim of gold."
"It happened in Higashiosaka city, Osaka Prefecture, Japan several days ago. An ambulance vehicle was running in the busy street and slid into the campus of a hospital. A patient seriously injured by traffic accident was in the vehicle...
After examining the patient who is panting in the threshold of death, the head of the hospital flatly refused medical treatment for him in excuse of lack of doctors in the hospital...
...no hospital welcomed him, because the patient had no money. The patient in emergency died without receiving medical treatment, lamenting over the cursed society. This tragedy is not surprising in Japan."
Money-centered value concept corrupts man and makes him beast without beautiful human morality and affection.
The DPRK makes everything serve the masses of the people.
In the DPRK where the Juche idea is applied, comprehensive free medical care system is introduced.
This medical care system has been enforced since January 1, 1953 when the DPRK had fierce death-defying war against the enemy's armed invasion.
Thanks to great Comrade Kim Il Sung who created man-centered Juche idea and thoroughly applied it in the building of a new society, the DPRK liquidated once and for all in the 1950s the capitalist evils that played with human life with money.
In the DPRK, the comprehensive medical care system has developed to higher stages by Comrade Kim Il Sung, Comrade Kim Jong Il and now by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un who does not calculate price, sparing nothing for the people, though it is like shooting a sparrow with gun or building dam with gold.
In the comprehensive medical care system, the Korean people are provided with all medical benefits by the state, free of charge. Medical examination fee, laboratory test fee, medication fee, in-patient treatment fee, diagnosis, and treatment fees, travel expense to and from sanatoria, medical check-up and consultation fees and preventive vaccination fee and other fees—this is born by the state for the people.
This free medical care system in the DPRK is the brilliant embodiment of the attitude and stand that regard man's interest as the main.
Like this, the standard of evaluation must be only man's interest.
To approach the world, starting from man's interest, we must orient the whole process of man's activity to serving the realization of his demand for independence.
This means that we must adhere to the principle of defending man's interests in all cases such as setting goals, defining the object, choosing the means and methods, evaluating the result, etc.
What will be the result, if only the betterment of an individual is set as goal? This will bring about only satisfaction of animal-like physical demand.
Mr. and Mrs. Curie, the eminent scholars set it as goal in their research to contribute to the benefit of humanity instead of their individual selfish accumulation of wealth. Therefore, when they discovered polonium and radium and the technique of its separation through research, they disclosed it for humanity instead of making money with that.
Like them, the goal of activities should be set to defend interests of humanity instead of pursuing individual's hedonism.
The principle is whether it defends man's interests or not in choosing the means and methods and evaluating the result.
The glittering capitalist "material prosperity" is made with severe exploitation of the local masses and the means of colonial pillage of other countries. However glittering it is, it increases the gap between the rich and the poor. It brings about bad result.
Capitalist "material prosperity" does not contribute to defending man's interests in its means, methods, and result.
At present, many countries aspire for socio-economic prosperity. But if this goal is achieved by means of pillage of other nations or exploitation of the working masses, it goes against man's essential interest to live free from all sorts of subjugation.
The development of a country must be evaluated on the principle of defending man's interest.
This is the attitude and stand of approaching the world from man's interests.
3) Happiness Does Not Come of Its Own Accord
Every human being desires for happy life. He wants his ideal to come true in his work and life.
But the attitude and stand towards happiness are not the same.
Those people who try to get good result without efforts, waiting for fortunes cannot properly shape their destiny.
Happiness does not come of its own accord. With the attitude and stand of expecting accident, one can neither get happiness nor shape his destiny properly.
What attitude and stand are necessary to get happiness and properly shape one's destiny?
The Juche idea answers this question.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Approaching the world by focusing on man means dealing with the change and development of the world mainly on the basis of the activity of man who transforms it."
To approach the world, centering on man's activities means to regard his active actions as the main and depend on it in cognizing and transforming the world.
We come to the details.
The movement and change of the surrounding world take place according to its law, without any purpose. This blind movement and change of the world may give favorable living conditions for man or unfavorable influence on him. The world does not change in favor of man of its own accord. If only waiting for the change and development of the objective world, man cannot realize his demand and interests. Only with his activities, can he restrict unfavorable influence of the material world and create favorable conditions and thus transform the surrounding world in conformity with his demand.
In the process of transforming the world, different material and technical means are used and political, economic, and cultural conditions of society have influence on it.
The material and technical means such as labor tools, mechanical equipment, propaganda means and violence means and social conditions play big role.
But these means do not transform nature and society automatically. Its might depends on man's role. Good social environment is favorable for transforming the surrounding world but however good it is, it cannot prove its merit, if man is not active.
Everything depends on man's role. Therefore, man's role is more important than the objective conditions and material and technical means. We should solve all problems by enhancing man's role.
Happiness comes to those people who have active stand to achieve the life goal with their big efforts.
In conclusion, to have the attitude of actively transforming the surrounding world into favorable one for himself instead of expecting accidental influence or objective conditions is the viewpoint and stand of approaching the change and development of the world in terms of man's activity.
We must set it as the first process to train people to be powerful beings.
When Korea was liberated from the colonial rule of the Japanese imperialists in the 40s of the 20th century, her education situation was bad with a handful of college graduates.
Great Comrade Kim Il Sung raised the issue of producing pencils as the agenda of the first meeting of the newly established Provisional People's Committee of North Korea after the liberation. He also saw to it that university be built, though the country was short of fund immediately after liberation. In the period of war deciding the destiny of the country, he called back university students from the front to make them continue to study. This is the measure unprecedented in history.
Afterwards, great Comrade Kim Il Sung and Comrade Kim Jong Il paid deep attention to education, placing it to the fore.
The DPRK adopted a new act to enforce universal 12-year compulsory education system in 2012, and is now pushing ahead with this work.
This tells that the requirement of the Juche idea to regard it as the first process to train people to be more powerful beings is fully satisfied in the Party and state activities by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un.
At present, the DPRK has a huge army of more than 2 million intellectuals who push ahead with the development of the country.
All activities of man, the decisive factor in cognizing and transforming the world depend on the level of their preparedness. Without their preparedness, nothing can be properly done. Therefore, it is necessary to keep it as the first process to train people to be more powerful beings, before any other works for building an independent new society.
And it is also necessary to solve all problems arising in building an independent new society by enhancing people's creative ability.
In the activities to shape the destiny of the country and nation, there are two factors as in all other social movements; they are subjective and objective factors.
These are the role of the people in that country and the objective factors like economic and geographical conditions.
On what, then, should we depend?
Noteworthy is the success in the DPRK's development of science and technology. In terms of material conditions, Korean scientists and technicians have difficulties. With ardent patriotism, however, they developed science and technology to a high level, contributing to the prosperity of the country. With their own efforts, they successfully launched satellite "Kwangmyongsong-1" and "Kwangmyongsong-2." In 2012, they also launched "Kwangmyongsong 3-2" and thus made the country the manufacturer and launcher of satellite.
Considerably enhancing people's zeal and creative ability, the DPRK is leaping to a thriving socialist country.
To solve the problem by enhancing man's role does not mean to neglect the objective and material conditions.
The material conditions play big role which cannot be neglected. Good material conditions are more favorable.
But we should not totally depend on them. Although the material conditions are good, they are useless, if man's role is neglected.
Man's role is the main among the two; that is man's role and objective material conditions.
Only doing so, can we shape the destiny in a true way, seeking happiness.
The Torch of Juche That Illuminates Human Society
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-centered 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 focusing 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 is 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.
The 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 71th 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 labor 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 labor 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—Theater 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 labor 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 the vicious and shameless final exploiter of 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 labor 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 savior" 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 centers 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-centered 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 favorable 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 behavior 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 19th 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 Nations
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.
A 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 20th century. Africa that was deprived of a large amount of "healthy laborers" 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 bulls and pigs and therefore, do not eat their oil. British behavior was an 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 a huge army to repress the rebellions. These rebellions failed but left a big influence. After these rebellions, a 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 fulfill 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 saviors. The bourgeoisie are not exception.
The bourgeoisie 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 savior 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 saviors 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 center 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 center 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 labor 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 a 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 a 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 21st 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 frustrated 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 centering 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 he built a single-heartedly united invincible socialism in the DPRK.
He created an example of socialism humanity has century is that 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 an 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 will be told.
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 a 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 center on the principle of revolutionary moral obligation and comradely love.
The center is the leader.
As the things have nuclei, there must be a center like nucleus in unity. The leader is the center of the unity.
In the position of the center, 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 center, 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 demands 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 behaviors 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 weapons, 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-governed 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 remolding.
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 remold 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 centering 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 center 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 labor. 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-remolding.
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-remolding 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-remolding 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 neighbor 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 a 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, ideological, cultural, 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 the 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 breaking machines 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 labor hours, 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.
Fundamentals of Rise and Fall of Country and Nation
http://bannedthought.net/Korea-DPRK/Ideology/JucheIdea-3-FundamentalsOfRiseAndFall-2014.pdf
"The guiding principles of the Juche idea are the guide to establishing Juche in Party and state activities, and in all spheres of revolution and construction."
Kim Jong Il
Preface
As everybody has and loves his parents, man has and loves his country and nation.
That is because individual’s destiny is in the destiny of a country and nation.
Numerous countries and nations exist on the earth, with their own history. This history is the history in which each member of a country and nation has shaped his destiny. The history has witnessed the development, prosperity, collapse, misfortune, creation, struggle or bloody tragedy of the members of the countries and nation.
People, therefore, are keenly interested in the destiny of the country and nation. Many people desire their nations to be dignified, proud, and strong nations that gather envy of the world people.
Many countries are now struggling to achieve independent development and prosperity against all sorts of domination, subjugation, and challenges of the foreign forces, under the banner of independence. On the contrary, however, some countries suffer from setbacks, without finding the correct way of their development.
What decides the rise and fall of a country and nation?
Which is the true way to the development and prosperity?
To go straight on the way of shaping the destiny, all countries should have a correct ideology that tells the direction of development like compass. Those nations that have not correct ideology are the same as the drifting ship without knowing the directions.
Regarding the guiding principles of the Juche idea as compass, we’d like to think about the rise and fall of a country and nation and find out the true way to national prosperity.
1. Firmly Adhering to the Independent Principle
"If the revolution and construction are to be carried out as required by Juche idea, independence must be maintained and realized in Party and state activities."
Kim Jong Il
It is the desire of humanity to lead an independent life.
To follow independence is the trend of the time no force can check in hold.
Independence serves as the banner of struggle, attracting the progressive peoples who love the justice and truth.
The guiding principles of the Juche idea mention that the independent stand must be maintained in shaping the destiny of a country and nation.
The independent stand finds its expression in handling all problems arising in the shaping of the destiny of a country in its interests, according to its own independent judgment and decision and dealing with all the problems by itself in a responsible way.
This stand fully conforms to the people's fundamental demand to live independently free from all sorts of domination and subjugation.
The principle of maintaining the independent stand contains the principles of Juche in ideology, independence in politics, self-sufficiency in economy and self-reliance in defense.
Now, we discuss one by one.
1) Juche and Flunkeyism
December 28, 1955 is recorded as the day of great importance in the modern history of Korea.
On this day great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung published the work "On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work."
In this work, he stressed on establishing Juche in ideological field.
What is the meaning of this and why is this important in building a new society for the Korean people?
Establishing Juche in ideology means thinking and practicing centering on one's own country and nation with the awareness of being master of his destiny and taking the viewpoint and attitude of solving all problems by his own wisdom and strength. In other words, this means to have a mind of one's own.
As in the old saying "All is not lost that is in danger," one can win victory, when he fights with a mind of his own against whatever dangerous enemies and difficulties.
When establishing Juche in ideology, one can independently and creatively solve all problems arising in shaping the destiny of a nation his own way and by his own strength, not with others' way and strength.
If one does not establish Juche in ideology, he is bound to be influenced by flunkeyism.
Flunkeyism is the idea of servility to worship big countries. Flunkeyism makes a man look up to big countries, without believing in him.
If a man follows flunkeyism, he becomes a fool and if a nation follows flunkeyism, it will be ruined.
Flunkeyism was the big ideological poison that made the Korean people suffer from the misfortune of ruined country.
Flunkeyism was absent in the period of Koguryo Dynasty which was powerful and strong in the East in Korean history. After the fall of Koguryo Dynasty, the corrupted and incompetent feudal rulers began to be influenced by flunkeyism, following reactionary Confucian doctrine, and the flunkeyism did harm to the independent national development in the end of Feudal Joson Dynasty. Flunkeyism-influenced feudal rulers outwardly worshiped and obeyed the big countries and inwardly were engaged in factional strifes, when other countries made capitalist development. And when Japanese militarists and the European and the US capitalist powers stretched out aggressive tentacles, the feudal rulers tried to survive depending on foreign forces, instead of depending on the people's strength.
As a result, when pro-Japanese group took upper hand, Japanese army guarded Korean royal palace, when pro-Russian group was on the top, Russian army guarded Korean king and when pro-Qing group ruled, Qing's army guarded the palace.
Royal palace was guarded by the foreign army. Who, then, will defend the country and what will happen in the national destiny?
Owing to the flunkeyism-influenced corrupted and incompetent feudal rulers, the Korean nation that has been proud of 5,000 years of its history was deprived of its sovereignty in a day by the Japanese imperialists and was forced to tolerate the destiny of the ruined nation.
At the inception of his liberation struggle, great Comrade Kim Il Sung drew serious lesson in the aftereffect of flunkeyism and made strenuous struggle against it.
The outdated ideological remnants including flunkeyism do not easily give their way to the progressive ideology.
Flunkeyism that remained in the minds of the people for a long time did great harm to the Korean people who advanced for independence in the period of anti-Japanese armed struggle to achieve Korea's independence, in the period of building a new democratic Korea and in the period of post-war socialist revolution.
The harmfulness of flunkeyism was revealed in the 3-year long severe Fatherland Liberation War against the US imperialists and was intolerable in the period of accelerating the socialist revolution and construction after the war.
In these days, the flunkeyists and dogmatists tried to do all in a foreign way depending on them, being affected by national nihilism with which they think their own things are all bad and all the foreign things are good, turning their face away the specific Korean situation.
The harmfulness of these ideas was serious in the field of ideology.
The flunkeyists and dogmatists blindly imitated foreign voices and mechanically imposed foreign things on the people, instead of studying and explaining the policies of the Workers' Party of Korea and neglecting our Party's revolutionary tradition and the Korean people's history of struggle.
There were the picture of foreign landscape in a People's Army rest home instead of beautiful mountains such as Mt. Kumgang and Mt. Myohyang in Korea and the diagrams of foreign Five-Year Plan instead of Korea's Three-Year Plan at a local democratic publicity hall.
Worse still, the factional flunkeyists in the Party hampered the Party building and its activities by all means. They misused authority and spread bureaucratism within the Party and made vicious moves to break the unity of the Party. They even hatched a plot to overthrow the Party and government in league with revisionists in big country.
Without liquidating flunkeyism, it was impossible to advance even a step in the post-war socialist revolution and construction.
In this situation, great Comrade Kim Il Sung published his work.
In his work, great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said.
"What is Juche in our Party's ideological work? What are we doing? We are not engaged in any other country's revolution, but solely in the Korean revolution. This, the Korean revolution, determines the essence of Juche in the ideological work of our Party. Therefore, all ideological work must be subordinated to the interests of the Korean revolution. When we study the history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the history of the Chinese revolution, or the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism, it is entirely for the purpose of correctly carrying out our own revolution."
In his work, he mentioned the detailed phenomena of flunkeyism and dogmatism that severely appeared and their harmful effects and establishing Juche in all fields of revolution and construction including the field of ideology after decisively liquidating them.
After the issue of the work, the DPRK made great efforts against flunkeyism and dogmatism in all fields such as Party building, government building, army building, economic construction, external affairs, etc., while giving priority to the struggle of establishing Juche in the field of ideological work.
This struggle accompanied the struggle against modern revisionism and factionalism.
In these days, the Workers' Party of Korea flatly repudiated the moves of great powers who overtly interfered in the Party work on the side of the anti-Party, anti-revolution factional elements, the arrogant moves of the modern revisionists who imposed to compromise with the US imperialists, giving up the anti-imperialist, anti-US struggle and their pressure to bring the DPRK into the CMEA they created under the slogan "integrated economy."
Through this serious political and ideological struggle, the dangerous and harmful flunkeyism that leads the country and nation to the ruin was removed from the minds of the people and the fundamental change occurred in the people's ideological view and thinking method with the result that Juche was established in the field of ideology.
The Korean people, therefore, could advance straight along the road of Juche and socialism they have chosen, believing in their own strength in the interests and demand of themselves.
If Juche was not established against flunkeyism at that time, the present Korea dignifying itself as political and ideological giant, the Juche Korea that gathers envy of the people over the world is inconceivable.
Why, then, is it important and primary in shaping the destiny of a country and nation to establish Juche in ideology.
In one word, that is because it is ideology that controls all activities of man.
The people in each country are the direct agents in shaping the destiny of that country, and their activities are defined and controlled by ideology.
Establishing Juche in ideology, therefore, is the precondition for meeting the requirement of the Juche
idea in all social fields such as politics, economy, and defense.
For this end, one should arm himself with a correct ideology that shows the way of shaping the destiny of a country and nation, with the awareness that he is the master of his destiny.
The correct ideology is the Juche idea.
On the basis of the principle that man is the master of everything and decides everything, the Juche idea tells the truth that the people in each country are the masters of the destiny of the country and they have the strength for shaping the destiny. It awakens the people to being masters of the destiny of the country and enables the people to have the view and attitude of solving all problems depending on the strength of the country and nation.
At present, the Juche idea grasps the hearts of hundreds of millions of the people for its scientific accuracy, truthfulness, and invincible vitality. All the countries and nations that aspire after the justice and truth choose and accept this idea. The reality tells that it is none other than the Juche idea that illumines the way of the development of a country and nation.
In order to establish Juche in ideology, it is also necessary that the people in each country should be well versed in their own things.
This means that one must be well aware of his country.
Over 200 countries exist, sharing different histories, languages, natural, and geographical conditions. This being the case, if one does not know his own things, he cannot work for his country and nation.
Without knowing the history, custom, and feelings of his country, one cannot do anything in the interests of his own people. And without knowing the natural and geographical conditions of his country, one can neither build industry suiting to the situation of the country nor do farming suiting to the soil of the country. That one does not know his own things means that he does not know his strength. The ignorance of his people and the natural resources of his country makes him blind to his own strength. This makes him unable to build the prosperous country by the strength of his own people.
In the early June, 1957, great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il was studying at the Pyongyang Middle School No. 1.
Before the botanical examination, some pupils were reviewing the variety of fruit cultivated by a foreign botanist.
Listening to them, great Kim Jong Il asked them about Korean apple. The pupils were dumb-founded. Neither textbooks nor teachers taught them the varieties and characteristics of the Korean apple.
Kim Jong Il spoke to himself that they do not know because they were not taught and worse still it is unnecessary to know as it is not the homework.
Looking out a window in deep pondering, he said in a low but serious voice that they know in detail about the biological characteristics of fruits of the foreign country they had never been to but do not know nor want to know the Korean apple they eat normally. Saying this is shameful, he explained the advantage and characteristics of the Korean apple.
He further said that the goal of studying the foreign apple is to know and make better the Korean apple. He said that if they know the foreign things only without knowing their own things, they would harbor illusion about foreign country, neglecting their own things. Saying that they must study with their own spirit, he added that they must learn for the Korean revolution and for the better and more rapid development of their own things, even if they learn one thing.
Correcting their wrong thinking method in time, he led them to grow to be reliable Korean talents who would support the country and nation with the deep knowledge of their own things.
It is important in establishing Juche in ideology to develop the national culture and have high sense of national self-respect.
A saying goes "Backwardness leads to humiliation." Only when we actively develop our culture, science, and technology and enhance the people's cultural and technical level, can we establish Juche in ideology, removing the idea of depending on others.
National self-respect is the mental power that ensures national prosperity. Without it, we can neither live independently nor defend the national sovereignty and dignity. Those people who have high sense of national self-respect can fight at all cost to defend the national dignity and destiny against all sorts of humiliation and thus successfully shape the destiny.
It is especially important for a small country to have high sense of national self-respect. Small as they are in the size of territory and population, they should have ideological feeling that their nation is not so bad as others but their own national things are best. This enables them to love and develop their own things. If not, one would follow national nihilism and flunkeyism to cast away his own things, accepting others and expecting foreign "aid" neglecting his own strength. Those countries that try to achieve the national "prosperity" by the help of foreign "aid" will be ruined instead of making progress and prosperity.
Small as it is, the people of the country can be the genuine masters, not salves, when they have strong self-respect against flunkeyism and submission.
Juche and flunkeyism!
Flunkeyism leads to ruin and the establishment of Juche in ideology leads to national prosperity.
Those who really love the country and nation and wish their prosperity must keep this truth of Juche.
2) The Lifeline of the Modern Politics
Many people are deeply interested in politics.
The destiny of a country, nation, and individual depends on politics in that country. When the progressive politics are enforced, the country prospers and society develops but when the reactionary and conservative politics enforced, the country falls into misery, causing social evils.
Human history knows numerous cases of this.
"Bad politics is more dangerous than tigers." This is the saying of Confucius, a famous philosopher and politician in ancient China.
In 516 B.C., Confucius was passing by the foot of Mt. Taishan with his disciples and saw a woman crying on the ground. The tigers killed her father-in-law and her husband and then her son.
Confucius asked her why she did not leave the dangerous place. She answered that the place is good to live except the tigers because she did not need to pay heavy tax there.
Listening to this, Confucius asked his disciples "Keep this saying in your minds. Do not forget that bad politics is more dangerous than tigers."
This is not a story of the past.
The present world knows many suffering countries because of wrong politics.
At present, rampant is the arbitrary politics of the imperialists headed by the US that is running wild for hegemony in the world political arena. Under the pressure of this arbitrary and dominating politics, some countries enforce servile politics, eventually failing to defend their national sovereignty and dignity and putting their destiny in the play hands of the foreign forces.
Humanity aspires after the genuine politics for the people.
What kind of politics, then, is a genuine politics?
What is the lifeline of the modern politics?
It is independent politics.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The masses' destiny is likened to the destiny of their country and its people as one, which is guaranteed by the politics of independence."
The independent politics is the politics that defends the people's national independence, sovereignty, and interests and that relies on the people's strength. In other words, it is the politics that makes all policies according to the people's demand and the specific conditions of a country and solves all problems depending on the people's strength.
The independent politics defends the national demand and interests against depending on or following the foreign forces and places the demand of the people to the fore, regarding them as the masters.
In modern politics, the firm maintenance of independence leads to national prosperity, materializing the people's independence but flunkeyism and dogmatism lead to national ruin.
Look at the DPRK that shines in the world political arena with her independent politics.
Her politics is thoroughgoing independent politics.
Regarding the independent politics as firm political creed, great Comrade Kim Il Sung and Comrade Kim Jong Il, the well-known political veterans led the Korean people's struggle to victory with thorough independent politics in the whole period of their leadership over the revolution.
The Korean revolution started and led by great Comrade Kim Il Sung was conducted in the acute conflict and struggle that decide independence or subjugation from the inception but he always maintained the independent principle.
After the war, with scientific analysis into the people's desire and the country's concrete situation, the great leader confirmed the matured subjective and objective conditions for the socialist revolution and was preparing the thesis on socialist revolution.
In the early 1955, a man of high ranking in a foreign country preposterously said that the thesis mentioned that the Korean party's decision to transform the urban handicraftsmen in a socialist way was to introduce capitalism. The revisionists blamed our Party's policy for agricultural cooperativization, saying it is subjective. They further said that the European socialist countries make socialist revolution without thesis, so Korea does not need to have thesis.
At this, the great leader said that what is wrong to have thesis, declaring that we do everything in our way whatever blames of foreign forces are. He added that there is no law that we cannot do because others did not do.
A week after the argument with the revisionists on the programme of building socialism, the great leader published the historic work "Every Effort for the Country's Reunification and Independence and For Socialist Construction in the Northern Half of the Republic" that clarified the character and tasks of the Korean revolution. Under the wise and energetic guidance of the great leader, Korea fulfilled in a short span of 4-5 years the socialist revolution that the others had not fulfilled even in a decade.
Thanks to the independent politics of the great leader, Korea neither tolerated foreign interference nor played to the tune of others, kneeling down before the foreign pressure.
Witnessing the miraculous reality made by the great leader's independent politics, great Comrade Kim Jong Il confirmed that the independent politics is the lifeline of the modern politics.
Constantly adhering to the independent principle in political field, great Kim Jong Il led the Korean revolution to the way of independence.
In the late 1980s and the early 1990s, socialism collapsed in the former Soviet Union and East European countries, introducing "reform" and "openness." In this period of grave trials, great Kim Jong Il demonstrated that his independent conviction does not agitate, clarifying his political conviction to defend socialism to the last.
With clear political conviction in independence, he actively improved the relations with the big countries on the independent stand and solved all problems arising in the international political arena independently, under the banner of independence in the new century.
It was when the DPRK was going to launch satellite Kwangmyongsong-2.
As stipulated in the international treaty, the development and the use of the outer space is the legal right of all sovereign states.
Nevertheless, the hostile forces pushed the situation on the Korean peninsula to the extreme, saying it is the launch of missile not satellite and insisting on their interception and sanctions. The neighboring countries laid obstacles to Korea's launch of satellite, advising "self-control."
Independence or subjugation, confrontation or submission?
The Korean peninsula was in the limelight of the world.
Leader Kim Jong Il saw that they sternly launched the satellite, as this is the way to exercise independent national sovereignty and cement the country's power.
The independent politics of the DPRK is invariably carried forward by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un.
History knows many cases that strong anti-imperialist countries abandoned anti-imperialist independent stand with the change of generations.
When the DPRK was in tears after losing Kim Jong Il whom they believed in as in heaven, the enemies expected "system change" in the DPRK.
This was a wild ambition.
Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un stands in the van of the Korean revolution.
Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un is the great statesman who does everything as Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il did, embodying their gut and spirit.
In his first public speech delivered at the military parade held in celebration of the centenary of the birth of Generalissimo Kim Il Sung, respected Comrade Kim Jong Un clarified his decision to march straight along the road of independence, the road of Songun and the road of socialism, as indicated by President Kim Il Sung and General Kim Jong Il.
Without strong guts, it is impossible to hold the banner of independence in this era.
Bamboo keep their straightness even after being burnt and white gems keep their color even after being broken. The independent politics in the DPRK does not tolerate any move to do harm to her supreme interests.
Amidst vicious moves of the hostile forces headed by the US imperialists, the DPRK launched application satellite as she wishes against enemy's moves of war. This is attributed to the independent politics of respected Comrade Kim Jong Un.
Through the epoch-making events in 2012 and 2013, the world knew the essence and power of the independent politics of respected Comrade Kim Jong Un who is afraid of nothing.
The fair public opinions tell that no power can control the DPRK's self-defensive measures and the sanctions that had effects in other countries do not have any meaning in the DPRK and that the imperialist forces have no other option but to compromise with the DPRK.
The DPRK became political giant that neither retreats in the confrontation with the imperialist super power nor moves before the pressure of the big powers. This is attributed to the fact that she has advanced under the leadership of peerlessly great men, the masters of the independent politics.
A century ago, Korea was in a miserable status of colonized weak country, suffering from flunkeyism and dogmatism.
A French cartoonist painted Korea as a ground of competition of big powers, a century ago, symbolizing her as fish called "Korea" in the river water where the big neighboring powers vied with each other to catch, with fishing rods.
Korea has as same nation and geographical position as before. It is historic miracle that she became independent power recognized by the world as today. This drastic turn proves the profound truth that the people become great and the country becomes powerful, when they have the great leader who makes the people strong in political conviction and gut and defends the national sovereignty and dignity by the help of the independent politics.
The DPRK is ever-victorious with the independent politics in the world arena.
And the anti-imperialist independent countries like Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, and many other progressive countries follow the road they have chosen, defending their national interests amidst ever-increasing imperialist moves for sanctions, threats, and obstacles. This is due to the fact that they follow the independent politics.
This experience encourages many other countries to aspire after the independent politics and follow the road of independence.
To enforce the independent politics, each country should decide and implement policy independently according to their own decision with their own guiding ideology.
What is the main in politics is to define and implement policies. When all policies are defined and implemented independently, the politics can be independent. If a country plays to the tune of others without considering the people's demand and the country's situation in policy-making, it will go to ruin.
In the independent politics, it is important to exercise complete sovereignty and equal rights in external relations.
The independence of a state finds its expression in external relations. It is fundamental issue in ensuring political independence to exercise complete sovereignty and equal rights in external relations. Sovereignty is the sacred right of all countries and nations. There are big or small and economically developed or backward countries but all countries and nations are equal and independent. We must not infringe upon other's sovereignty or tolerate our sovereignty to be infringed upon.
African countries accepted "multi-party system."
The US imperialists imposed "multi-party system" upon African countries, propagating it as the "best way for ensuring democracy."
The "multi-party system" is a cunning "accelerator" that causes antagonism, division, and conflict, destroying the unity of the progressive peoples and "trap" that spoils the destiny of a country and nation.
Ignorant of the reactionary nature of the "multi-party system," some African countries failing to maintain independent stand in external relations knelt down before the Western countries that imposed "multi-party system" under the strings of "economic aid."
Those countries that introduced the "multi-party system" became miserable.
In these countries, the ruling parties became opposition parties and those presidents who advocated for the building of a new society were expelled from presidential offices in a tragic way, causing social disorder and chaos, economic deterioration and ethnic disputes.
Now many countries that suffered from the "multi-party system" are fighting against it under the banner of independence.
A president of Africa warned the Western countries not to interfere in his political system, saying his country does not need to wear the wrong suit.
This is right.
If a man wears the wrong dress, he becomes puppet and if a country wears the wrong suit, the whole country becomes puppet.
The independent principle is the truth that always wins.
Victory is in store for the countries that maintain the independent politics constantly even in the complicated world political situations.
3) Economic Crisis and Its Solution
The recent economy of the capitalist world is very unstable.
The economic crisis started a few years ago in the housing markets that constituted a pillar of the US consumption markets and a center of speculation and gambling led to the sharp rise of oil price and destruction of big monopoly banks, totally destroying economic chains. Even now, the overall capitalist countries suffer from serious economic and financial crises.
Due to the grave economic situation and food crisis, 1.2 billion people faced the threat of starvation in 2009.
In this era that witnesses rapid development of science, technology, and civilization, one out of six people starves. This is unbelievable.
The economic crisis inevitably comes from the nature of the capitalist economy. The present capitalist economic crisis, however, is much bigger than before.
The US magazine "Time" mentioned the "capitalists became the most dangerous enemy of themselves" under the title "How to save capitalism?" A French analyst of a stock company stated "the point is to reform capitalism." This is the recognition of the limit of capitalism. The economic "Tsunami," the crisis that sweeps over the capitalist world has its root in unfair capitalist economy.
The capitalist economy is profit-making and liberalization economy. This economy that demands liberalism and is based on individualism inevitably results in spontaneity and disorder in the economic life. This causes the cheating and speculation among the businessmen.
The international monetary and financial dollar-based system tells this. The US established this system in July 1944, on the basis of "Bretton Woods Agreement," the international monetary accord favorable for the role of US dollar, in order to intensify exploitation and pillage on a worldwide scale, using the world market as a national market.
This being the case, the change of value and instability of credit of US dollar, the currency of a country leads to the worldwide financial crisis. In reality, the aftereffect of the world financial crisis started in the US in 2008 had influence upon Europe. As a result, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus, and other countries suffered from debt crisis.
After all, when the US economy sneezes, the world economy gets cold. This tells the weakness of the capitalist economic system depending on the US.
It is impossible to cure the chronic "disease" of the capitalist economy, until and unless the unfair dollar-based capitalist economic system and the corrupt and contradictory capitalist economy system are removed.
The society that develops economy in a smooth and rapid way is the socialist society where the people become masters and manage the economy in a planned and scientific way.
Many people cannot help admiring the leaping development of the DPRK that makes general march towards the building of an economic giant, making industrial revolution in a new century for the building of a thriving socialist country.
The secret of the DPRK that develops economy without agitating before any economic upheavals is that she had built the independent national economy.
An independent national economy means an economy which is free from dependence on others and which stands on its own feet, an economy which serves one's own people and develops with the resources of one's own country and by the efforts of one's own people.
Such an economy makes it possible to develop the productive forces and improve the people's living standard. It is vital to build an independent national economy particularly in those countries which were backward economically and technically because of imperialist colonial rule in the past.
The imperialists try to subordinate other countries economically. This being the case, without building the independent national economy, we cannot be completely free from the imperialist domination and subjugation.
It is not so easy to build the independent national economy for the economically and technically less developed countries that had been handed over the backward and deformed economy. If we do not build the independent national economy, however, we will remain in the backward state for ever, in begging status.
To avoid this, we must build the independent national economy at any cost. No cross, no crown. When we build the independent national economy, we can enjoy better life, defending national dignity.
In order to build an independent national economy, it is essential to adhere to the principle of self-reliance in economic construction.
Self-reliance enables one to build the independent national economy in any adversity.
The heroic fighting spirit that sparked Chollima upsurge movement in the DPRK after the war was the fruit of self-reliance.
In that period, the DPRK was short of fund, raw materials and labor power, with low standard of living. Some people claimed to delay the development in defeatism and some others expected foreign aid.
In this situation, the Korean working class and people overcame all difficulties, creating the new and tapping reserves in the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance, learning after the fighting spirit of the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters who defeated the enemy with the self-made bombs.
Self-reliance made them produce electric locomotives, cranes, excavators, bulldozers, and large-size machine tools in a short span of time with their own raw materials, techniques, and by their own strength. Workers in the small- and medium-size factories displayed the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance, thus performing miracles of producing 13,000 machine tools more than the state plan in one year, through the let-one-machine- tool-make-another movement.
Recalling those days, great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said that we could be able to ride Chollima because we had the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance; no one helped us to mount him.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il led the Korean people's struggle to build a thriving country under the banner of self-reliance.
On December 24, 2008, leader Kim Jong Il visited the working class in Chollima Steel Complex and asked to spark the flames of a new revolutionary upsurge with the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance. He further said that victory in the building of a thriving country is in store for our people who have the spirit of self-reliance and inexhaustible creative ability, although there are difficulties.
In January 2009, he asked to hold the slogan Self-reliance Is the Only Way Out, adding that we must spark the flames of a new revolutionary upsurge and open the door of the thriving country with self-reliance. With the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance, the Korean people are now confidently taking the shortcut to the building of a thriving country.
If an independent national economy is to be built, the economy must be developed in a diversified and integral manner.
People need numerous varieties of commodity. To meet their need, economy must have all economic sectors. The economy devoid of a highly developed sector or process can not make rapid and stable development.
In the mid 1950s, the modern revisionists tried to impose their "policy" upon the DPRK, resorting to arbitrariness in the world socialist movement. The main line of the DPRK's socialist economic construction was to simultaneously develop light industry and agriculture while giving priority to the development of heavy industry.
They blamed this line, saying it was impossible in Korea where everything became ashes because of war. They claimed it was too early and expensive to produce modern machines in Korea, recommending her to buy the machines, producing only raw materials.
If we had tapped and sold out mineral ores as they asked, we could not be free from the backward status forever, with only empty tunnels left. And if we were to industrialize and rehabilitate techniques, it would take several decades and we were not able to build the independent national economy.
After all, this was a grave key issue that decides independence or subjugation. If the DPRK had followed their "policy" at that time, she could not have escaped the same destiny of the fall of socialism as the former Soviet Union and East European countries had undergone.
There is no other choice but to develop the economy in a diversified and comprehensive way so that it can mainly produce what it needs, in order to develop the economy on a stable basis against world economic crisis.
Equipping the economy with modern techniques and training the nation's technical cadres on an extensive scale are indispensable for the building of an independent national economy.
Many countries have rich natural resources. But they could not actively tap them but sold out raw materials or semi-products at a cheap price because of lack of their own techniques. On the contrary, they import machines and other commodities at expensive price. To be free from this unequal status, it is important to solve the technical problems and on this basis develop the economy.
This is the era of science and technology, the era of IT industry. In the 21st century, the material wealth is created and society developed by intellectual labor. In the past century, the main in distributing the material wealth was the possession of the means of production. In this century, the point is the possession of think tank.
This tells that the training of the nation's technical cadres is important in the building of an independent national economy. Depending on foreign technicians, it is impossible to build the economy that serves the people and depends on their strength.
In general, science and technology develop through certain stages of development. But if we go through all these stages, we cannot overtake others forever.
In order to overtake others in a short span of time, the DPRK develops the cutting-edge technology, boldly skipping the stages of development.
The scientists and workers in the DPRK discovered the method of producing iron with anthracite bountiful in the country, instead of using coke coal. On this basis, Songjin Steel Complex and Chollima Steel Complex and other steel production plants introduced the production system of Juche-iron. This is a great revolution in the development of the metallurgical industry. In the agricultural field, they cultivated high yield varieties of grain including hybrid rice suiting to their condition, introduced new organic farming method and the ring cyclic production system, etc. to establish scientific farming method and techniques that meet the requirement of the new era.
The reality tells that the economy can successfully develop only when training the national technical personnel.
In order to build an independent national economy, it is necessary to establish reliable and independent bases of raw materials and fuel.
Without them, one cannot produce anything. Depending on others for raw materials and fuel is the same as leaving one's economic lifeline in the hands of others.
One must supply the raw materials and fuel that are required in large amount by one's own. To this end, one must exploit the natural resources of one's country to the maximum and utilize them rationally and, at the same time, develop the industry to be oriented to the one which relies on domestic raw materials and fuel from the outset.
What must be clear here is that the building of an independent national economy is not contrary to the international economic cooperation. Building an independent national economy does not mean building an economy in isolation. An independent national economy is opposed to economic domination and subjugation by foreign countries; but it does not rule out international economic cooperation.
Close economic and technical cooperation and exchange among the developing nations, in particular, plays an important part in ensuring economic self-sufficiency in these countries and in increasing their economic power.
The developing countries are fighting against the imperialist policy of aggression and pillage to set up a new fair international economic order, defending their sovereignty and natural resources and putting an end to the old economic order. These countries share the same goal of independence, a lot of human and material resources and good experience and techniques. If they cooperate, they can possibly build the economy, without the "help" of the developed countries.
Each country must have economic cooperation on an equal footing on the basis of the firm independent national economy.
The building of an independent national economy leads the country to prosperity, free from economic domination and subjugation of the foreign forces.
4) The Lesson of Kosovo War
Kosovo War that was started by the US and NATO on March 24, 1999 lasted for 78 days. In this period, the NATO launched over 2,000 cruise missiles and mobilized more than 1,200 planes, recording 25,000 sorties to commit indiscriminate air raid.
This killed about 2,000 innocent peaceful civilians, injured about 6,000 and caused over 1 million refugees. The former Yugoslavia had material and cultural damages worth of about one hundred billion USD. She knelt down before the imperialists at last, recognized the autonomy of Kosovo according to the imperialists' "Rambouillet Plan" and withdrew, leaving her land with them. Milosevic, the former president who had been recognized as anti-imperialist fighter was accused of a war criminal in the international tribunal and was doomed to death.
Kosovo War eloquently tells that we must build strong defensive power to counter the arms with arms.
It is the nature of man to defend himself. To this end, one must build his power. Without power, one will be a laughing stock.
So is the case with a country. With strong national power, one can defend the people's safety against the enemy.
Yugoslavia was hit unilaterally, because she had no anti-aircraft forces and missiles to attack the enemy's bombers at the latitude of 12,000 meters, the enemy's airfield 300 kilometers away and the US aircraft carrier stationed in the Adriatic Sea.
In Kosovo War imposed by the US and the NATO, Yugoslavia had no other measure than defense. She dealt with the enemy's air raid, using her anti-aircraft system and mobilized 150,000 ground forces to check the enemy's ground forces.
In this war, the Yugoslavian people countered the enemy with "human shields", kidding their air raid with romantic humors. Calling the siren "Serbian national orchestra", they encouraged their army men who made anti-aircraft fire and encircled bridges and other necessary buildings hands in hands and shoulder to shoulder to defend them from the air raid.
This, however, did not work, as this was the resistance of the weak. The imperialists including the US and the NATO made indiscriminate air and missile raid upon factories, cities, schools, hospitals, running buses, ambulance vehicles and even on refugee procession, killing numerous peaceful civilians.
If the former Yugoslavian army had made active counter attack, it could have defended its national sovereignty, avoiding the severe disasters.
A Yugoslavian of high raking drew a lesson lately, saying "we badly felt the necessity of strengthening the self-defensive military power through this war. I lamented over the fact that the neighboring countries joined the NATO and Russia turned away its face. The conclusion is to cement our own military power. This is the only way out."
If we have weak fists, we must wipe our tears with those fists. This gives serious lesson that the inability to defend himself leads to miserable fate.
The people's struggle to shape their destiny is a fierce struggle that accompanies showdown of power with the imperialists and counter-revolutionary forces.
As a matter of fact, the imperialists have the nature of aggression and pillage and resort to power as an important means for its materialization. This nature to press and dominate other countries by the help of power becomes more overt at present.
The US imperialist cannot do anything to the strong countries but commit military aggression to the weak countries that go against it. Leading the NATO, the US imperialists started Kosovo War, making air raid on Yugoslavia, as she had weak military power.
It is necessary to strengthen military power, in order to defend national sovereignty and the people's destiny.
We must build our own military power on the stand of defending the country with our own efforts, not depending on others. In other words, we must maintain the stand of building powerful defense power and solving all problems arising in the building of defense power and military affairs in the interests of our people according to our concrete situation.
This is the fundamental principle for building an independent sovereign state. As long as there are imperialists, a country must have self-defensive power to defend her people and territory. Otherwise, the country is not completely independent sovereign state.
To strengthen self-defensive military power, we must, first of all, strengthen the army.
Army is inseparably linked with war. War is an organized struggle made by a class, a nation or a state to realize its demand, depending on special means of violence.
At present, the arbitrariness and unilateralism of the US that dreams of the world supremacy have gone to the extreme. It arrogantly thinks that strong US does not need to study other's face or be bound by international organizations or international treaties.
From this, the US evaluates the international stability and instability with its interests as criteria, casting aside the existing international norms and rules and conventions. The US does not hesitate to make military intervention, when it thinks its "state interests" are "infringed." Army must be ever-stronger, under the situation in which the imperialists resort to brandish military means at random, regarding it as the universal means.
When we build strong army, we can defend the destiny of the country and socialism.
It is important in building self-defensive military power to establish the all-people, all-state defense system.
In the past, the imperialists mainly made ground offensive operations. But now, they deploy the ground forces, after having scorched the enemy's area with the preemptive strike means such as medium- or long-range precision guided weapons, the sophisticated military and technical equipment and large-size strike means. After all, the modern war is the three-dimensional war that has no distinction between the forefront and the rear.
Korea has small territory with small depth of defense and is surrounded by sea on three sides. This being the situation, if war breaks out in Korea, the US imperialists will attack simultaneously on the sky, ground, and sea.
Therefore, it is necessary for the DPRK to strengthen the army, make all people have arms and build fortresses in all parts of the country. Only then, can she defeat the enemy everywhere.
Let us make the whole country like Xiaowangqing guerrilla base!
This was the initiative of great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung and determination of great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il.
In the first period of the anti-Japanese armed struggle, the headquarters of the Korean revolution was situated in a small area, the Xiaowangging guerrilla base. The Japanese imperialists committed persistent "scorching operation" for about 90 days, mobilizing 5,000 strong elite forces in all directions. In the guerrilla base were only two companies.
There was big difference in the military equipment and the balance of forces, but the Korean guerrillas defeated the Japanese imperialists, because great leader Kim Il Sung established unique all-people defense system.
The guerrillas and people deprived the enemy of their weapons to arm themselves and built defensive facilities in all parts of the guerrilla base and fought death-defying battle in firm unity of the army and people. Even the aged and children fought at the cost of their lives. The Japanese imperialists thought they could easily destroy the base with planes and guns but the Xiaowangging guerrilla base was strongly defended to become people's nest and for the success of the Korean revolution.
In the whole period of leading the revolution under the banner of Songun, leader Kim Jong Il made energetic leadership to build Korea into invincible fortress in which all people are under arms.
Now, military affairs is concern of the whole country and the people in the DPRK. The Korean people learn military science hard and thus are prepared to defeat the aggressors once they attack. They are working with hammer and sickle in one hand and rifle in the other hand.
Korean paramilitary forces had military parades on the occasions of the 90th birthday of Comrade Kim Il Sung and the 70th founding anniversary of the glorious Korean People's Army in 2002, the 60th founding anniversary of the DPRK in 2008, the 63th founding anniversary of the DPRK in September, 2011 and the 65th founding anniversary of the DPRK in September 2013. These parades demonstrated their power as invincible revolutionary forces that can independently defeat the enemy, as reliable flank units of the Korean People's Army.
All parts of the DPRK such as the frontline, the rear, coasts, and inner lands were turned into fortresses and all posts were built to meet the requirement of the modern war and according to its topographical conditions.
This is recognized even by the enemy. In an interview with a newspaper pressman, the former US commander in south Korea disclosed the fact that the US army tested and analyzed the effect of Bunker Burster, the latest laser guided bomb that can destroy deep underground facilities by mobilizing B-2 stealth strategic bombers in Kosovo war, Yugoslavia, presupposing the contingency on the Korean peninsula. He added the power of this bomb does not work on the DPRK.
Munitions industry is the material guarantee for the self-defensive military strength.
Only with one's own munitions industry, can he produce weapons and combat equipment to arm the army and the people. If he depends on others in building the munitions industry, he cannot produce enough armament he needs in time or keep its secret. The imperialists try to subordinate other countries with the weapons as baits. Depending on others in building the munitions industry leads to the failure of defending the country.
The modern war requires producing enough armament with one's own efforts. The weapons and armament incomparably bigger than before are mobilized in the modern war.
As far as ammunition is concerned, the general arms group consumed 1,200 tons of ammunition in average a day in the offensive operations in the World War II whereas the group consumes 4,000 tons of ammunition a day, at present. In the 4th Middle East war, a Syrian division fired 105,000 shells with 1,500 guns for 55 minutes at the Israeli army. In the Gulf War in 1991, for over 40 days the US imperialists mobilized airplanes, that is, 11 times of those used in the Pacific war for 14 months and dropped 88,500 tons of bombs, that is, 1.5 times of the bombs dropped for 9 years in the Vietnam War.
This being the case, it is important to pay the biggest attention to the building of strong munitions industry of one's own. Without this, he cannot make the modern war or defend himself.
Even tightening their belt, the Korean people had built their munitions industry. Now, they have powerful offensive and defensive means to defeat enemies, whoever they are.
Many foreigners admire the power of the munitions industry the Korean people built with Songun.
The building of the self-reliant munitions industry must be constantly strengthened, as long as the imperialists exist.
If we desire for the national prosperity, we must build self-reliant defense power, whatever difficulties. The fundamental guarantee for rise and fall of a country is in self-defensive military power.
2. By Applying the Creative Method
"To apply the creative method is to solve all problems arising in the revolution and construction in conformity with the actual conditions by relying on the creativity of the people—this is the principle one should always strictly adhere to in the revolutionary movement."
Kim Jong Il
If a country and nation is to shape its destiny properly, we must apply the creative method, along with maintaining the independent stand.
The creative stand is the one that enables us to solve all problems arising in the struggle to transform nature and society by relying on the people's strength and mobilizing them according to the actual situation.
The creative stand proceeds from that all people's activities to realize independence by transforming nature and society are creative activities. In other words, we can properly shape the destiny of a country and nation and advance history, only when we maintain the creative stand, as the people's activities are creative.
The principle of applying the creative method has two contents; one is the method of relying on the people, the other is to do all things according to the actual situation.
Now, we come to the details.
1) Among the People
In volume 1 of "With the Century," the reminiscences of great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung that evokes great repercussion among the progressive peoples over the world, you can read a quotation.
"Revolutionaries, believe in the people and rely on them at all times and you shall always emerge victorious; if you are forsaken by them, you will always fail. Let this be your maxim in your life and struggle."
When we solve all problems arising in shaping the destiny of a country and nation by relying on the people, that is, by mobilizing their creative wisdom and strength, that country can be ever-victorious. This absolute truth for shaping the destiny of a country could be discovered only by great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung who devoted his all to the people. This truth constitutes one important content of the creative method clarified by the Juche idea.
Comrade Kim Il Sung led the revolution by relying on the people, regarding it as his life motto to go among them.
He discovered the great truth of the Juche idea that grasped the hearts of the people over the world among the people, defeated the US and Japanese imperialism and set up Juche-oriented socialist Korea by relying on them and built strong people-centered socialist country.
His history was the history of love and devotion for the people and the history in which he brought about victories by relying on them.
"Go among the people!"
This is the life motto of great leader Kim Il Sung and the firm life creed of leader Kim Jong Il.
This slogan can be applied only by the people's great leader who shapes the destiny of a country by relying on the people and enlisting their strength and wisdom, regarding them as the teachers and the God.
Going among the people means going into their hearts. The only way for this is to have correct stand towards the people. The people open their hearts to and sincerely follow the great men who come to them to share the same destiny, regarding them as the masters of national destiny and as the makers of history.
Leader Kim Jong Il always found himself among the soldiers and the people even on holidays, on sultry days and stormy days.
One day in November, 1996, he arrived at a port to inspect an island defense detachment.
The sea weather was very wild.
The strong northwest wind made high and huge waves.
An official stopped him and said. "Respected Comrade Supreme Commander, you cannot go by motor boat at any cost in this weather."
Leader Kim Jong Il looked at the wild sea, repeating his word "at any cost."
The other officials requested him to wait for the sea to calm down.
At this, he answered that he had never waited for good weather.
And he got in the motor boat, first.
The boat ran in the wild sea.
The small boat jolted so hard that the cameramen aboard broke their cameras, failing to shoot even a piece of film.
Like this, he always found himself among the soldiers and the people. As a result, they worked miracles, startling the world and became heroes of the times.
The people were always placed in his mind and the people were always missing him.
He devoted himself to the last for the sake of the people, just like a burning candle.
The whole life of the peerlessly great man is implicit in a word "people."
The world witnesses that the people who had been trained by great leader Kim Il Sung and loved by leader Kim Jong Il are rising like rock in firm unity behind respected Marshal Kim Jong Un, today.
Respected Marshal Kim Jong Un invariably follows the road of love for the people taken by great Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il
"Everything for the people and everything by relying on them!"
This slogan was set forth by respected Marshal Kim Jong Un in the New Year Address of 2013. This slogan tells that his intention to make the love for and trust in the people prevail in the whole society.
With this love and trust, he ushers in a new heyday of national prosperity, overcoming all difficulties.
In March 2013, super tense pre-war state was created on the Korean peninsula, due to the US imperialists' and the hostile forces" moves of anti-DPRK sanction resolution and war exercises.
The enemy threatened the DPRK with the UN sanctions and tried to suffocate her, mobilizing its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and other nuclear equipment and even the troops of vassal countries big enough to make a thermonuclear war in the West Sea of Korea.
War or peace?
At this grave juncture, respected Marshal Kim Jong Un visited again the island defense detachment, the southern tip of the southwest front, the hottest point within the range of the enemy's gun.
It was highly dangerous spot that might be turned into the flames of war at any time.
This was reported in the world.
This reminded us of great Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong II who had devoted themselves to defending the country's sovereignty and people's happiness, regardless of any dangers.
He met the officers and soldiers on the island defense detachment, encouraging them to the bold will to defeat the enemy and had photos taken with them and their family members.
He gave precious gift to Jong Hang Myong, an officer's kid he had taken in his arms the year before when he had visited this island, saying that he knew the previous day was his birthday.
The look of the soldiers' parting with respected Kim Jong Un who was leaving the island was so touching.
The soldiers and people jumped into the cold sea water, shouting hurrah and shedding warm tears.
This tells that they are fully determined by conviction to share bitters and sweets with Marshal Kim Jong Un.
In his care, they become heroic peoples.
The great leader and the great people support the DPRK today.
This reality proves the truth that we can defend the national sovereignty and achieve national prosperity against all challenges of history, only when we depend on the people.
What is important here is to make correct policies, reflecting the demand of the people and make the policies their own concern.
The people are the teachers of everything. Ideology and policy is the integration and systematization of the people's demand for independence.
Thinking that there are philosophy, economics, and literature in the people and regarding the people as his teacher, great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung went among the people to listen to them, recorded good opinions on his notebook to discuss in the Central Committee of the Party and finally adopted the Party's policy.
After setting forth the policies suiting to the people's demand, it is important to make them their own concern.
Otherwise, the policies are useless, however good they are. To make them their own concern, it is necessary to make various organizational and political works.
In other words, all the state policies come from the people and go into them. Only then, is it possible to successfully mobilize their inexhaustible strength for shaping the destiny of a country.
When Korea was making agrarian reform immediately after liberation, there was no other experience except the nationalization of the land by the people who seized the power. Some insisted on the nationalization, without considering the people's demand.
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung went to farms and talked with the peasants to know their desire. Understanding that it was the life-long desire of the peasants to do farming in their own lands, he set forth the slogan "Land to the tillers!" and adopted the concrete method of the agrarian reform in reflection of their desire. He set the peasants as masters of the agrarian reform.
In many countries, agrarian reform took many years, suffering from turns and twists but in Korea it was successfully finished within only 20 days, as she set forth the policy of agrarian reform reflecting the peasants' desire and turned it to their own concern.
It is also important in shaping the destiny of a country depending on the people to unite the people into a political force, establish popular work method and share sweets and bitters with the people.
The strength of the people is in unity. When they are united, the people can display big strength in shaping the destiny of a country.
Importance of this was proved by the October Socialist Revolution won under the leadership of Lenin.
Lenin united the broad masses including the working class that opposed the domination and oppression of the capital and hated Tsarist tyrannical system into a political force and encouraged them to the socialist revolution to set up the genuine people's country, thus winning victory in the October Socialist Revolution.
The inexhaustible strength of the people who were united under the leadership of Lenin brought about great victory and gave birth to the first socialist state.
There is nothing impossible, when we are in the "ocean" of the people.
When we trust and depend on the people, they become the pillar of the nation and bring about prosperity.
2) Best is One's Own Way
In the end of August, 1980, great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung met the delegation of the Jordanian National Advisory Council headed by Atara Una during its stay in the DPRK.
In this honorable opportunity, the chairman of the Council said that there are many socialist countries but the Korean socialism is the example of socialism that embodied the Juche idea.
With a broad smile on his face, the great leader said that they had correct understanding of the country and explained Korea's situation immediately after the liberation.
At that time, the foreigners waited to see in what way the Koreans would build a new society.
Recalling those days, the great leader said that we take food our own way, not the ways of the Soviet Union or the US.
Our own way!
This is clear answer.
He further said that the Koreans take food with spoon whereas the Westerners with fork and knife.
This had deep meaning.
This is easy clarification made by the great leader for shaping the destiny of a country according to the concrete situation of the country.
To solve all problems according to the actual situation constitutes another content of the creative method clarified by the Juche idea.
Great Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"...one must always proceed from the actual situation and creatively solve all problems in conformity with it."
This means to solve all problems arising in shaping the destiny of a country creatively according to the developing reality and the actual situation of a country. In other words, this means to solve all problems in one's own way.
Best is one's way in shaping the destiny of a country and nation.
All countries have different histories, different levels of economic development, different natural and geographical conditions, different levels of consciousness and psychology and different customs and modes of life. And they have different international circumstances.
Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America have different natural and geographical conditions and political and economic conditions. The countries even in one continent have different conditions and circumstances.
We have four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter. In different seasons, people wear different clothes and take different modes of life.
Likewise, the era and history is not fixed and immutable but constantly changes. The objective circumstances for shaping the destiny of a country are different in the past, at present and in the future. Accordingly, there cannot be all-fit universal method.
What is, then, important to solve all problems arising in shaping the destiny of a country in one's own way according to the actual situation?
It is first of all important to approach the existing theory properly.
The existing theories were based on the practices of the past history. Therefore, they can not be applied as it is in the present reality.
In treating them, we must consider what kind of requirement of the era they reflect and under what conditions they were evolved and then apply them according to our concrete reality and situation. Those theories that do not fit one's own situation are useless.
Dogmatic stand to the existing theory does a big harm to the shaping of destiny of a country and nation.
In the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle, there had been chaos in solving the question of type of government in the guerrilla base. This process tells that dogmatic stand to the existing theory is very harmful and that we must solve all problems according to our concrete situation.
The "Left" opportunists once established Soviet government in the guerrilla base, mechanically imitating the policy of the Soviet Union. Without considering the level of social development of Korea and the Korean people's sentiment, the flunkeyists and dogmatists declared the abolition of the private property under the extremely leftist slogan of the immediate realization of socialism. They turned all the private property ranging from land and food to sickle, hoe, and other farming tools into the common property and forced all the people, young and old, male and female in the guerrilla base to live under the system of the common life, common labor and common distribution. Owing to this leftist policy, many families left the guerrilla base for the enemy's area, complaining the Soviet policy. This caused big chaos difficult to settle. The cause of this chaos was the mechanical imitation of the existing theory, ignoring concrete situation of the guerrilla base.
Great Comrade Kim Il Sung set forth the original policy of the People's Revolutionary Government according to the concrete situation of the development of the Korean revolution and thus liquidated the extremely leftist moves of the "Left" opportunists and removed the chaos at last.
To liquidate the dogmatic attitude towards the existing theory does not mean the full neglecting of the things that are suitable to the present reality. Anyhow, it is wrong thinking method to always follow the past procedure. This thinking method is not in conformity with the present developing reality and the creative character of the revolutionary struggle.
What is also important in solving all problems arising in shaping the destiny of a country and nation according to one's own situation is to discover new principles and ways for shaping the destiny according to the condition of the times and to the concrete situation of a country.
Time does not stand still but continuously advances. The advancing time ceaselessly raises numerous new theoretical and practical problems to be urgently solved.
For instance, the problems of how to restore the socialist movement that was frustrated along with the end of the cold war, how to form the revolutionary forces under the condition of the decrease of the number of the manual workers and the increase of the numbers of the mental workers with the development of IT industry, how to deal with the more persistent and violent imperialist moves of "globalization" and the more serious environments, etc.—this waits for the solution.
What is the way of solution, then?
Just as new value can be evaluated by new criterion, new problems can be solved with new principles that suit the present reality.
The people in each country should ceaselessly discover and apply the principles and ways of solving new problems, proceeding from its concrete situation.
In the whole period of his revolutionary leadership, great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il enriched the treasure house of Kimilsungism with new principles and ways of solving all the theoretical and practical problems and thus illuminated the road ahead of humanity.
Comprehensively setting forth the Songun politics unique in the history of politics, great Comrade Kim Jong Il set forth the policy of building economy in the era of Songun.
The word "Songun" is not available in any political dictionaries and in the history of politics.
Grave situation of life or death was created in Korea, due to the imperialist anti-DPRK moves of isolation and suffocation. With deep insight into the requirement of the time and in conformity with the desire of the Korean army and people who regard independence as their life and soul, Comrade Kim Jong Il set forth Songun as strategic political line of the Korean revolution.
He set forth the line of building the economy in the era of Songun, that is, the simultaneous development of light industry and agriculture, while giving priority to munitions industry and thus strengthened self-defensive power.
As a result, the DPRK could be invincible and powerful military country.
In solving all problems arising in shaping the destiny of a country and nation, it is important to approach foreign experience in a critical and creative way.
It is necessary to consider the foreign experience, because it is easier to consider it than to take the untrodden path.
The question is how to consider the foreign experience.
The foreign experience was made according to the situation of the country. Although it is good experience that proved vitality and validity in that country, it can not fit other's situation. The foreign experience has both positive and negative aspects.
Therefore, it is important to approach foreign experience in a critical and creative way.
Normally, people taste first and then take food and if they do not like the food, they do not take it. Like this, when we approach the foreign experience, we take it if it is good but do not take it if it is bad.
We can not score success if we accept the foreign experience as a whole, without considering our own situation.
It was proved by the fact that some countries that dogmatically accepted imperialists' "globalization" without considering their concrete situation.
The goal of "globalization" is to make the US the "only leader" of the world and establish the neo- colonialist international order in which the US and its subordinate imperialist countries control the world. As it is the US strategy for hegemony, it cannot be "good prescription" for other countries, especially for the developing countries.
More so is the economic "globalization" vociferated loudly by the imperialists.
The imperialists demand other countries to open their markets for free investment, export, and import. This will crush only the developing countries.
Each country has its own economic structure and mode of management and according to them, it sets its economic development strategy and goal. This is the only way to develop economy relying on the strength and wisdom of its people.
The developing countries need their own economic structure, economic order and trade circumstances. If they neglect them, following "globalization," they will be complete economic colony of the West. In the open markets and in the "globalization" the developing countries can not compete with the developed countries, eventually falling down.
The advanced industrial states build tariff and non-tariff barriers against the export items of the developing countries and put political and economic strings, under the pretext of "exempt of debt" and "technical aid." They turn their faces away from the interests of the developing countries, claiming "liberalism" only in the sectors of making their profit.
The financial "globalization" pushed Southeast Asian countries to destructive economic crisis in the late 1990s.
Talking of "aid" or "cooperation," the US tried to dominate them, after trapping them. This is just like giving disease and then cure.
"Globalization" is neither a good prescription nor a cure. "Globalization" will bring about only unemployment and the grave destruction in the social fields like finance, trade, culture, and public health. It will increase the gap between the developed and developing countries in the development level and material wealth, obliterating national traditions and custom.
If those countries that are engulfed in "globalization" do not find out their own ways before the difficulties but follow others, they can not escape from setbacks in the struggle to shape their destiny. It is better to find out the concrete method that suits our own situation and overcome all political and economic difficulties in our own way.
Our own way—this is the best way out.
We must build politics, economy, culture, and munitions industry in our own way.
Only then can we achieve prosperity, without suffering from each other's diseases.
3. Placing the Main Stress on Ideology
"The popular masses' consciousness of independence plays a decisive role in the revolutionary movement. Therefore, in the revolution and construction one must place the main stress on ideology and give priority over all work to the remolding of ideology, the political work, which is aimed at raising the consciousness and activeness of the masses"
Kim Jong Il
The Juche idea claims that the main stress should be placed on ideology in shaping the destiny of a country and nation.
This is the principle for the struggle to achieve national prosperity by training the people to be genuine masters of the country and enhancing their role.
Ideological consciousness plays decisive role in the people's struggle for independence, and all the revolutionary movements are their purposive and conscious movements. The main stress, therefore, must be placed on ideology, in order to successfully shape the destiny of a country and nation. Without placing the main stress on ideology, the driving force of socio-historical movement, we cannot score success in the revolution and construction.
This principle has two contents—one is giving priority to remolding of ideology and the other is giving priority to political work.
The former is to train the people to be powerful beings with high level of ideological consciousness whereas the latter is to solve all problems by moving the people's minds.
Now, we come to the details.
1) Giving Priority to the Remolding of Ideology
On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the publication of great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il's classic work "Giving Priority to Ideological Work Is Essential for Accomplishing Socialism" Mexico Juche Idea Study Society issued bulletin "Giving Priority to Ideological Work" in 2010.
Under its subtitle "Establishing a Monolithic Ideology" the bulletin writes.
"On the basis of the Juche idea created by President Kim Il Sung, the founder of the socialist Korea, leader Kim Jong Il keeps it as his creed that the people play decisive role in the revolution and construction and that there is nothing impossible when they are ideologically awakened and mobilized. He set it as the main task of the ideological work to model the whole society on one ideology by arming all the members of the society with the socialist ideology, and led this work.
The Korean people's high mentality and noble ideological traits tell the vitality of the ideological work.
In the DPRK, the people are united behind the leader with single mind, forming a great family and work full of conviction and optimism."
Time flied since the publication of the work. As the jewel does not lose its color even though buried, a great ideology does not fade away with the passage of time but proves its scientific accuracy and validity.
Great Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Imbuing people with socialist ideology means an ideological struggle between the old and the new in the ideological area; it is an undertaking to transform ideology by eliminating outmoded ideas from people's minds and equipping them with the new, socialist ideology."
Why, then, is it important to give priority to ideological work?
That is because man should be prepared as the genuine masters of a country, in order to defend national sovereignty and build a thriving country.
Man plays decisive role in shaping the destiny of a country.
It is important to remold man, because it is the man, the master of a country, who builds a strong political and economic country, develops science and technology and builds a civilized country. If the people are ideologically and mentally corrupted, without the awareness that they are the masters and the members of a country, that country will doubtlessly come to ruin.
Without remolding man to be genuine master of a country, the independent development and the promising future of a country are inconceivable.
To remold man, it is necessary to remold his ideology.
The remolding of man is, in essence, the remolding of his ideology.
The remolding of ideology is to arm the people with independent ideological consciousness, after removing the outdated ideas from their mind.
In order to prepare the people to be powerful beings that can play their due role in the struggle to shape the destiny of a country, we must make them possess the progressive idea, wide range of science and technology and strong physical condition. What is important here is the remolding of ideology.
Only with proper ideology, can people strive to possess more knowledge for the country and use it not only for themselves but for the country, nation, and humanity.
Improper ideology leads to the misuse of knowledge. In the World War 11, the reactionary scholars in Germany and Japan made experiments on human bodies to prove the method for holocaust. This tells that the wrong ideology leads to hampering human development and infringing upon people's independence.
Like this, the remolding of ideology comes first in remolding man.
When priority is given to remolding of ideology, the people can fully display their inexhaustible creative power to overcome all difficulties.
Giving priority to the remolding of ideology is more important in socialist society.
The birth, existence, and development of socialist system are inconceivable, apart from the people who are armed with ideological consciousness of independence. The socialist ideology is born reflecting the class demand of the people who fight against the domination of the capital, and the socialist system is born and developed by the struggle of the people who are armed with the ideology. The essential characteristic of the socialist society is that it is developed by the power of ideology, that is, the conscious activities of the people who are armed with this ideology.
Accordingly, the solid development of socialism depends on how to remold ideology, how to ideologically prepare the people.
Neglecting remolding of ideology in building socialism doubtlessly leads to the degeneration and fall of socialism, as it is the main point of socialism.
This is well proved by the fall of the Soviet Union and the East European socialist countries.
Of course, there are many reasons, but one of the important reasons is the neglecting of the remolding of ideology in building socialism.
These countries did not pay due attention to the remolding of people's ideology, while resorting only to the economy regarding the objective material economic conditions as the decisive factor. As a result, the people did not devote themselves for the society and collective but pursued individuals' interests. That is, the collectivism was replaced with individualism.
In 1982, in the private kitchen plot that accounted for 14% of the entire arable land of the Soviet Union, they produced 61% of potatoes, 54% of fruits, 34% of eggs and 29% of meat of the national products. This fact tells that the then Soviet people had strong individualistic ideas.
On the basis of this ideological background and social stagnation, Gorbachev, the renegade of socialism, began to restore capitalism, vociferating "new thinking method" and "new road to socialism."
The Soviet people's ideology then was too vague to properly judge the true nature of Gorbachev.
Taking this opportunity, Gorbachev accelerated the degeneration process of the socialist ideology in the mind of the people. As a result, being attracted to capitalism, the people mistrusted the party and state, complaining socialism and at last followed reactionary elements' moves of anti-socialism blindly.
When the people are armed with socialist ideology, they can propel and defend socialism, as the subject of socialist society.
The people in these countries, however, were so disintegrated ideologically that they could not defend socialism before the moves of the renegades of socialism.
Therefore, socialism, the desire of humanity collapsed. This was the historical tragedy for the progressive peoples.
Is socialism gone forever?
The imperialist reactionaries were busy talking about the end of socialism and the renegades of socialism claimed the socialist ideology itself was wrong.
In despair and agony, the progressive people were looking at the DPRK, the last fortress of socialism.
In this critical historical juncture, great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il published many classic works such as "Socialism Is A Science," "Giving Priority to Ideological Work Is Essential for Accomplishing Socialism" and "Abuses of Socialism Are Intolerable," proving the scientific accuracy and validity of socialism and inevitability of its victory.
Humanity that groped for its future before temporary trial could find out the lighthouse of hope, and the world socialist movement could have a compass with which it could advance again along the road of independence.
Great Comrade Kim Jong Il ideologically smashed the moves of the imperialist reactionaries who ran wild to isolate the DPRK, even talking about its early fall and defended the Korean socialism.
He cemented the ideological fortress by all means through overall offensive in the ideological field under the condition that the enemies viciously committed ideological and cultural moves in addition of isolation and blockade.
It is his motto that the fall of the ideological fortress leads to the fall of economic and military power and at last to the fall of socialism and that the ideology has no limit whereas the military attack has limits and the ideological power is stronger than atomic bomb.
He paid deep attention to the ideological education to make the people grasp the validity and superiority of socialism and enhance their position and role as the masters of society.
We win if socialism is defended but die if it is abandoned.
This is the strong faith of the Korean people.
The Korean people who kept socialism as the life and soul worked in factories and did farming in the spirit of self-reliance, even taking substitute food made from grass root and tree barks in the days of the Arduous March and the forced march.
In those days, the Korean people's mentality was cemented, and the entire people rose like a rock with the firm determination of fulfilling the revolution to turn the unfavorable into the favorable and thus defended socialism and built the springboard for building a thriving socialist country.
The experience of the DPRK proves that ideology decides everything and that there is nothing impossible in the world when the people are ideologically prepared.
Giving priority to remolding of ideology does not confine itself only to socialist countries.
All the countries that desire after social prosperity and progress should give priority to the ideological work.
Some countries, however, are still tilted to the building of economy, neglecting the remolding of man and remolding of ideology. These countries try to move the people by the method of strengthening material incentives, giving priority to economic factors rather than ideology.
It is not money or a nuclear weapon that moves the world, but people's ideology. Ideology can control the world.
The people who are ideologically and mentally disintegrated can not save the destiny of their country, though with strong military power.
The fall of Iraq in the war provoked by the US imperialists in March 2003 was not because of lack of the modern weapon but because the army and people were ideologically degenerated by the US cunning psychological warfare.
During the period of Iragi war, the US spread 28 million leaflets and spent huge amount of money to set up broadcasting station to broadcast 17 hours daily in 5 Hz. Through leaflets and radio, the US propagated that Iraqi people can not escape death if they do not welcome it and fight against Saddam and that it is fighting to give "liberty" to the Iraqi people against Saddam's "dictatorship." Along with this, the US approached Iraqi generals through different routes to win over them, saying that if they surrender, they can hold US passport and lead comfortable life.
The US succeeded. The pivot of Iragi army was disintegrated and the soldiers were ordered not to resist the US army and generals escaped in defeatism leaving the soldiers behind. Iraqi people even welcomed the aggressors as "liberators."
History tells that if we fail to give priority to ideology in shaping the destiny of the people, we can not avoid setback.
If the people are ideologically awakened to be strong in ideology and conviction, they have nothing to fear.
That socialist Korea has been ever-victorious in the war without firing against the US that boasts itself of the "only super power" is victory of ideology and conviction and that she makes leap in the building of a thriving country amidst ever-increasing sanction, blockade, pressure, and blackmail is the miracle created by the Korean people's indomitable mentality.
This historic miracle is inconceivable, apart from the leadership of the peerlessly great men who trained the Korean people to be strong in ideology and conviction, by giving priority to the remolding of ideology.
In its bulletin "Giving Priority to Ideological Work" Mexico organization stressed.
"The route the DPRK has traversed for 15 years after the publication of the work eloquently proves the validity of ideology and theory of leader Kim Jong Il. Korea, small in size and population, has been divided for over half a century because of the US. But it could defend socialism without agitation even in the grave situation in the late 20th century. This was possible because she gave priority to ideological work, regarding it as the main. Giving full play to the invincible mentality of the army and the people who defend socialism with the power of ideology, the DPRK performs a miracle after another in building a thriving country. The work of leader Kim Jong Il is the programmatic guideline to be adhered to not only by the Korean people but also by all the countries and parties that aspire after socialism."
Even a powerful country falls, if she has not strong ideology and conviction.
The country with indomitable ideological power has a bright future and will prosper, though coming across temporary trials.
2) The First Siren of the Ship at Tanchon Port
On May 3, 2012, Tanchon port was inaugurated in Tanchon, South Hamgyong Province, Korea. After the inauguration, a cargo ship "Piryugang" left Tanchon port, blowing a siren.
Listening to the siren, the port builders and the participants in the inauguration ceremony emotionally recalled great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il who asked them that siren should be blown in Tanchon port on the occasion of the Day of the Sun, the 100th birthday of President Kim Il Sung, saying that he would attend the inauguration ceremony.
Tanchon port has a story.
The port builders had to fight the wild sea and dig out huge amount of sand in the sea bed. It was a grand nature-remaking project.
The Japanese imperialists who occupied Korea began to build the port in the latter part of the 1930s to plunder the natural resources in Komdok area but had to give up the project because of unfavorable building conditions.
Since the 1970s when magnesite industry was boosted, the building of Tanchon port was a pressing task to develop the national economy.
If the port is built, magnesia clinker and zinc produced in Tanchon area can be exported by sea.
The people concerned had a lot of serious consultations for the project but suspended the project, failing to find the realistic ways of building. In the latter part of the 1990s, this project was on the topic again but many people thought that the country's situation was not good enough to build Tanchon port, daring not to begin the project.
It was leader Kim Jong Il who initiated and wisely led the project.
Saying that it is his decision to make the people who had trials only following the Party happy by building modern trade port in Tanchon area, he ordered the officials and building shock brigades to blow the first ship siren in Tanchon port by 2012.
On many occasions, he inspected the project site and kindled the flames in the hearts of the officials and builders.
Highly appreciating them as brave conquerors and heroes, he said he believed that they would finish the arduous project at any cost. He taught the secret of breakwater project and other concrete ways and means, primarily solving the problems in the project.
There is nothing impossible when their ideology is moved, and love and trust lead to loyalty.
His appreciation of and trust in the builders served as the driving force, his teachings as the key to accelerating the project and his benevolent measures as the source of the speeding-up of the project.
The port builders set a brave goal of completing the project in 3 years, disregarding the existing formula of 10 years project that the Japanese imperialists gave up, and conquered nature by mobilizing and concentrating all efforts. The scientists and technicians boldly introduced new technical building methods of their style by cooperating their creative talents and strength and completed huge and the most arduous project of building breakwater and wharf in over 1 year. The divers did not hesitate to dive in the cold winter water to proceed with the sea bedding project and the builders recorded high speed in tunneling and other buildings, overcoming unfavorable natural conditions with strong will.
As a result, the builders made it possible to blow the first ship siren in the port on the occasion of the 100th birthday of President Kim I Sung, true to the behests of leader Kim Jong Il.
Tanchon port was wonderfully built as a modern trade port.
It is the great project made by the wise guidance of leader Kim Jong Il who trained the performers of miracles by kindling flames in the hearts of the builders.
Kindling flames in the hearts of the people is the political work.
In order to successfully shape the destiny of a country, it is necessary to give priority to the political work.
Giving priority to political work means to make the people understand the goal, significance, ways, and means so that they play active role with self-awareness.
Great Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"For a successful implementation of the revolutionary tasks, political work aimed at educating and rousing the people into action, should be given priority over all other work."
In one word, political work is the work with the people. In other words, it is the work aimed at educating the people and stimulating their ideology.
People do everything and for this, their ideology should be stimulated. But man's ideology does not move of its own accord. As a car can move when the engine starts, man's ideology should be stimulated so that it can push ahead with his action.
Then, what is important to give priority to political work?
Political work should be done in the way of persuasion and education.
This means to make people understand in a heuristic way so that they voluntarily do the job.
We cannot move people in the way of giving orders and shouting. In this case they are forced to move so, but they cannot display creative initiatives.
240,000 full-time political workers in the Soviet army encouraged the soldiers to the sacred war to defend the country and socialism in the way of persuasion and education.
We can think of the fierce battle to hoist the red flag on the Berlin parliament building, the last fortress of Hitler.
This battle was under the charge of 150th infantry division of the Soviet army. This division had to go through all difficulties since its retreat to reach German parliamentary building. Hoisting the red flag on the building meant the end of the war.
It was the final battle, after which they could return dear home and family. The soldiers' minds was heavy and even the officers hardly raised their heads when enemy's bullets were flying over.
The point was to encourage the soldiers to the final battle.
The division commander stood up before the soldiers.
"This is the last battle. Many comrades-in-arms passed away. In their names plus ours, we must hoist the flag on the top of the parliament building. For this, we should be prepared to die. We came here at last and cannot ask any others to hoist the flag. We must occupy the building at any cost."
He reminded the soldiers of a fierce battle.
And he continued. "At that time, 150 guns of various kinds, 40 tanks and 6 flying squadrons per 1 kilometer of the frontline supported us.
Comrades! Please calculate yourselves, as you are experienced fighters. Now our division can get support by 400 guns, 250 tanks and as many planes as we want per 1 kilometer of our front."
The soldiers understood what the density of the fire meant. They also understood how much the party and country value them. They sensed that no enemy could survive in this battle.
"Comrade Commander, please give us order immediately. We will finish it at once."
The soldiers' heart was moved. All rose in the battle. The division made a general offensive and put up the red flag on the top of the parliamentary building.
The political work done just before the final battle proved its merit.
Next, the political work should be done in a diversified way according to the concrete situation.
Political work has as its object the people in different levels who work in different conditions and circumstances.
The object includes workers, peasants, scientists, and technicians. Again among workers are coal miners, lumbermen, ore miners. And they share different ages, sexes, level of education, hobbies, and characters.
This being the case, the political work should be done in a diversified way according to the concrete situation and circumstances for the success.
The political work should be done in close combination with the revolutionary practice.
The main goal of the political work is to successfully fulfil the tasks. The political work apart from the practice is useless. The success of the political work should be evaluated practically.
In the DPRK, they created Chollima movement, surprising the world people.
They had a lot of difficulties at the time when they built the foundations of socialism after fulfilling the three-year plan to restore the economy devastated by the war. They had to find the way of overcoming the difficulties.
Always believing the people's strength, great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung visited the working class in Kangson Steel Plant and explained the grave difficulties of the country and appealed upon their hearts to produce ten thousand tons of steel more to make the country straighten its waist.
Responding to his appeal, the workers decided to produce 90,000 tons of steel in the blooming mill with the capacity of 60,000 tons and at last produced 120,000 tons of steel. The flames kindled by President Kim Il Sung spread across the country and Chollima movement began.
The political work done by President Kim Il Sung through dialogue with the working class to overcome the difficulties was the noble example that proved that they can solve any difficult problems arising in the revolutionary practice, when they give priority to the political work.
Thanks to the flames kindled by the President in the hearts of the Korean people, Korea could rise again in a short span of three years on the post-war debris, depending on the people's high enthusiasm and creative initiatives.
Kindle the flame in the hearts of the people!
When the political work is given priority to move the heart of the people, there is nothing impossible in the world.
Songun Opens the Door of Independence and Prosperity
Preface
"The permanent strategy of our revolution and its final victory lie in marching straight along the road of independence, the road of Songun and the road of socialism, as indicated by President Kim Il Sung and General Kim Jong Il."
Kim Jong Un
In the world, there are over 200 countries with different political views, religious beliefs, social systems and levels of development.
Beyond these differences, the people in all continents unanimously desire for independence and prosperity down through generations. In this sense, independence, and prosperity is the universal desire.
However, the method of achieving the independence and prosperity is different from country to country and from people to people.
Some people think the countries with big territory or population can achieve prosperity easily and some think the economy and technology is the criterion that characterizes the prosperity and development.
We can see those countries with big territory and population and developed economy and technology still suffering from turns and twists in the building of a new society under the domination and subjugation of the foreign forces.
How to achieve independence and prosperity?
What is the guarantee for independence and prosperity?
This is very important issue concerning the survival or fall of humanity.
This is answered by the Songun idea clarified by the Juche idea.
Let's open the door of independence and prosperity by the help of Songun.
1. Force of Arms and Independence
"It is the force of arms on which hinge the victory of the revolutionary cause, independence, and sovereignty, and the prosperity of a country or a nation."
Kim Jong Il
Independence is life and soul of a social man, a country and nation. People build a country to materialize their demand for independence. The country without independence, therefore, is meaningless.
The present world is more complicated and troublesome than the period of the Cold War.
Many events take place in the international community such as the destruction of the world peace and safety and the disturbance of free development and prosperity of countries and nations, due to the moves of the imperialists.
At present, the imperialists commit aggression, war, intervention, and pressure against the sovereign states on the basis of the gangster theory of domination by power.
Under this condition, the strong force of arms is the fundamental guarantee for achieving national development and prosperity against the imperialists' moves of war and aggression.
Pascal, the mathematician and philosopher of France in the 17th century said "The justice without power is invalid and the power without justice is tyrannical."
The main in the struggle for independence is force of arms. After all, force of arms and independence are in close relations.
The Songun idea clarifies and proceeds from a new revolutionary principle, the Songun revolutionary principle that combines force of arms with independence.
Man must know the fundamental principle of all things and phenomena and proceed from this. Only then, can he make rational thinking and practice.
It is necessary to know the Songun revolutionary principle, the fundamental principle, in order to open the door of independence and prosperity with the help of Songun.
Now, we start from the Songun revolutionary principle.
1) Force of Arms Is the Main in Revolution
The Songun revolutionary principle is based on the philosophy of arms that clarifies the interrelations of force of arms and revolution.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The idea and line of giving importance to force of arms and military affairs, advanced, and consistently maintained by President Kim Il Sung, constitute the basis and starting point of our Party's Songun politics."
The revolution to materialize the people's independence is the struggle to cover the untrodden road.
There are many factors in this process, among which force of arms is the main. That is because the revolution accompanies fierce confrontation of power against the imperialists and the counterrevolutionary forces.
Revolution is carved out by force of arms.
Revolution begins with the struggle to overthrow the exploiter class and the exploiter system and establish the new social system. The exploiter class and the ruling class do not give up their political rule of their own accord but infringe upon people's rights to independence by means of counterrevolutionary violence.
The slave-holder society and feudal society had huge suppressive mechanism like army, to mercilessly oppress the struggle of the people demanding for the transformation of the old social system.
Spartacus slave's riot in ancient Rome in about B. C. 1st century, Stepan Razin Peasant War in Russia in the mid 17th century and Kabo Peasant War in Korea in the late 19th century opposed the exploiter class and the old society but ended in failure at last.
Revolution is started by force of arms. This was proved by the history of the working-class revolutionary struggle.
The Korean revolution was successfully started by force of arms.
After establishing colonial rule over Korea by fabricating the gangster-like Ulsa five-point treaty in 1905, the Japanese imperialists wildly oppressed by force the Korean people's struggle for national independence.
In the March 1 Popular Uprising in 1919, the Japanese imperialists killed over 100,000 people and imprisoned about 46,700 patriots.
One can not win by the means of petition, strike or dialogue in the fight against the enemy that has swords or guns. The most right method to defeat the armed enemy is the armed struggle.
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung was handed over two pistols as heritage by his father in the early period of his revolutionary movement. These two pistols had the meaning that one must fight with arms against the armed enemy.
Always keeping this in mind, the great leader formed the Down-with Imperialism Union, on October 17, 1926, whose programme is to defeat the Japanese imperialists and achieve the independence and liberation of Korea and to build socialism and communism in Korea and finally defeat all imperialisms and build communism in the world. He set forth the revolutionary slogan "Weapons are our life and soul! Arms for arms!" This slogan reflects the philosophy of arms that the only way to defeat the armed enemy and liberate the country and to lead the Juche-oriented revolution to victory hinges on force of arms.
Keeping this philosophy as conviction, the Korean people could fulfill the historic cause of liberating the country, after defeating the Japanese imperialists, militarily strong in the world and especially in Asia.
Victory in the revolution made in Russia, China, Cuba, and other countries, to say nothing of Korea was the result of the struggle started with force of arms.
Revolution is advanced and completed by force of arms.
Revolution is arduous struggle to overcome all challenges and trials. It is arduous not only to start the revolution but to advance straight and complete the revolution successfully, without derailing it.
The imperialists and the reactionary forces resort to every move to obliterate the cause of socialism. Under this condition, one must be powerful to win victory in the showdown with them and defend the achievement of the revolution.
Force of arms is the most powerful means for the people to smash the enemy's moves and safeguard the revolution.
This is well proved by the present reality of the DPRK.
Her situation was very grave, after the sudden death of great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il.
The imperialists and the reactionary forces that trumpeted about the "sudden turn of events" and the "system change" ran more wildly with the moves of military aggression in coalition to suffocate the DPRK.
It is absurd to expect "mercy" or "leniency" from the armed enemy. We must mercilessly smash them with powerful strength.
Under the banner of giving priority to force of arms, respected Comrade Kim Jong Un frustrated the enemy's suffocation moves against the DPRK and safeguarded the country's dignity and safety, demonstrating the spirit of Songun Korea.
Visiting the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division, in the morning of January 1, 2012, the unit where leader Kim Jong Il set the first footprint of Songun leadership, respected Kim Jong Un demonstrated his conviction and will to strengthen force of arms without the slightest concession.
It is his steadfast will to defeat the US imperialists and its followers and defend the sovereignty by strengthening the revolutionary armed force by all means.
Respected Kim Jong Un further strengthened the revolutionary force of arms, while visiting Panmunjom, the venue of acute military confrontation in the early March 2012 and the Cho islet defense detachment in the outpost in the West coast and Ryo islet defense detachment in the outpost in the East coast in the early April 2012.
From January 2012 to March 2013, he visited the units of the Korean People's Army on tens of occasions to train the soldiers to be strong one-match-for-a-hundred combatants.
As a result, the DPRK can consolidate the position of satellite and nuclear possessor and safeguard the national sovereignty, chastising the imperialists that are running wild for aggressive war.
Without strengthening and depending on force of arms, it is impossible to defend the gains of the revolution. This is well proved by over 70-year history of the former Soviet Union.
History knows valuable experience, lessons, and truth gained in the protracted struggle of the people to shape their destiny. Gorki, the famous Soviet writer said "Without knowing the past, it is impossible to know the true meaning of the present and the goal of the future."
As is well known, the red flag fluttering on the top of Kremlin, Moscow was hoisted down on December 25, 1991. This put an end to the Soviet Union, the first socialist state in human history, which had existed over 70 years, occupying one sixth of the world territory.
There can be many reasons of her collapse but the main reason is that force of arms is not prepared well enough to defend the gains of the revolution.
The Soviet Union could win in the October Revolution and in the war against the fascist German aggression, because she had the strong revolutionary arms.
However, the red army that had played an important role in building the Soviet Union and in defending the country's sovereignty and the revolutionary gains, defeating the fascist invaders began to be ideologically disintegrated by the revisionists and contemporary social democrats.
They disturbed the soldiers' class consciousness and anti-imperialist spirit, spreading the war-weariness, and the bourgeois ideological and cultural infiltration paralyzed the army's revolutionary character and combat capability.
In August 1991, the progressive personnel in the Soviet leadership organized the Emergency Committee and tried to save the falling Soviet Union by depending on the army but failed.
At that time, a high-ranking general who received an order confirmed to the anti-socialist force that his unit would not storm into the city. Meanwhile, the units that rushed into Moscow by order went over to the side of the renegades of socialism. After all, without the support of the army, the August event ended in failure in three days, and in November 6 that year the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was disintegrated and on December 25 the Soviet Union collapsed.
This event gave a lesson that force of arms without ideology, the rusty rifles can not prevent the fall of the country that had demonstrated its power and the achievement gained with blood and sweat.
Over this event, the VOA reported on January 9, 1998 that the Soviet army soldiers were stumbling fully drunken at the critical time in which the country fell, even being deprived of the name of their army. They did not understand at all that it was their death. After all, drunken by the poison of Gorbachev who asked to stand in neutral, they left the Soviet Union to be fully collapsed, becoming no better than beggars.
The 70-year-odd history of the Soviet Union mixed with successes and setbacks proves that the destiny of the struggle for independence rests on force of arms.
Victory of revolution is victory of force of arms. When force of arms is strengthened, revolution can be victorious.
Force of arms is the powerful weapon that guarantees the successful start, victorious advance and completion of revolution.
2) Army Is the Party, State, and People
The Songun idea clarifies the principle that the army is the Party, the state, and the people.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said that it is particularly necessary to make the Party members and the working people understand that the unique Songun principle that the army is the Party, the state and the people is based on the Juche idea.
This principle tells that the destiny of the Party, the state and the people that assume important significance in fulfilling the cause of socialism hinges on force of arms of the revolutionary army.
That the army is the Party means that the Party's destiny is decided by the revolutionary army.
The first target of the imperialists and the reactionaries who resort to counterrevolutionary moves to check the people's cause of independence is the revolutionary party, the political guide of the cause. They resort to all sorts of moves such as the plot to collapse the revolutionary parties and defame their prestige and dignity to check in hold the forward movement of the revolution.
Revolutionary army is the only powerful weapon to safeguard the existence and prestige of political party against these moves.
Without army, political party can not fulfil its duty properly, to say nothing of political leadership over society, eventually failing to exist.
The Korean revolution is recorded as the most arduous and complicated revolution in the history of the people's struggle for independence.
Two revolutionary wars against the vicious US and Japanese imperialists, two stages of social revolution and the building of socialism taken place under the condition in which the country was divided by the foreign force, the struggles to defend the country and build a thriving country, overcoming difficulties caused by the fall of socialism in many countries and the successive natural disasters—this tells the arduousness of the Korean revolution.
This arduousness might collapse other countries.
The Workers' Party of Korea led the Korean revolution to victory. This is attributed to the fact that the People's Army as the army of the Party remained faithful to the cause of the Party, the cause of socialism.
With the visit to the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division of the Korean People's Army on August 25, 1960, great leader Kim Jong Il began the Songun revolutionary leadership.
Giving his guidance over the unit affairs for a long time, he gave valuable instructions concerning defending and further developing the revolutionary tradition, strengthening the combat capability, adding that the People's Army should play an important role in the building of socialism.
That day, he stressed to hold the slogan "Let us defend with our very lives the Party Central Committee headed by the respected Comrade Kim Il Sung!"
Saying that it is the basic mission and tradition of the People's Army to defend the Party and the leader with its very lives, he encouraged the soldiers to hastening the ultimate victory of the Korean revolution with this slogan.
Visiting many other army units since then, he made immortal exploits to the history of building the revolutionary armed force and realized Songun leadership over the revolution and construction since the end of the 1960s.
As a result, the People's Army developed into the army of the leader and the Party, and the Korean revolution started by President Kim Il Sung with force of arms could successfully advance with force of arms.
Since then, the People's Army has upheld the slogans of defending the leader in all periods of the revolution.
The slogans are "Let us fight devotedly for the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung!" "The whole army, let us be the 7th regiment of today that devotedly defending the headquarters of the revolution!" "Let us defend with our very lives the leadership of the revolution headed by the great Comrade Kim Jong Il!" and "Let us defend with our very lives the Party Central Committee headed by the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un!"
Only the Party that has the powerful revolutionary arms as faithful comrades can guide the revolution to the last, maintaining its existence amidst storms. This is proved by the reality of the DPRK.
That the army is the state means that the government is maintained by force of arms.
The struggle to defend the state power is the fierce showdown of power between the masses of the people and the reactionary forces. The reactionary forces do not give up their power, leaving the people becoming masters of the power.
Without the powerful revolutionary armed forces, it is impossible to defend the power against the desperate resistance of the counterrevolution.
This is well proved by the case of Allende, the former president of Chile.
After being elected the president on September 4, 1970, Allende enforced progressive social and economic reforms to strengthen the national sovereignty of Chile and improve the people's status, after liquidating the domination of the US imperialists and oligarchy.
Through land reform, Chile distributed the land possessed by landlords to the peasants and abolished the plantation system. And he nationalized important factories, mines, banks, and telecommunications sector including the copper mine seized by the US monopolies. He abolished the US aggressive military bases and its economic and cultural aggressive mechanism in Chile and made efforts to promote friendship and cooperation with the progressive countries including the socialist countries.
When the flames of the socialist revolution swept over Chile, the US hatched plots to overthrow Allende regime, crying about the rise of the "Second Cuba" in Latin America.
For this, the US spent USD 10 million and deployed weapons worth of USD 50 million in Chile. The US instigated the anti-government forces to adopt the Act of Weapon Control and confiscated all the weapons possessed by the organizations affiliated to the Coalition of the People's Unity.
Allende should have taken all the measures to defend the gains of the victorious revolution under this situation. Lost in social and economic reforms, however, he neglected the issue of seizing the army and police.
At last, he was deprived of the power on September 11, 1973, failing to prevent the military coup made by pro-American Pinochet, the Army Commander.
65-year-old Allende bravely fought personally holding an automatic rifle in his hands at the presidential palace for 7 hours, saying that surrender belongs only to the cowards and was killed. If Allende had seized the army, he could have prevented and checked the military coup attempt of the reactionaries and the intervention of the US imperialists.
As the whole process of the birth and development of the revolutionary power hinges on force of arms, we can say that the army is the state.
That the army is the people means that the revolutionary army guarantees the independent and creative life of the people.
The important mission of the revolutionary army is to defend the gains of the revolution, the country and the people from the enemy's invasion.
Under the present condition in which the imperialists' arbitrariness and tyranny get ever-overt, the strong military power is the first criterion of the independent people.
This is well proved by the situation of Iraq on which the US imperialists imposed a slave's fate, mercilessly trampling down her sovereignty.
After occupying Iraq in March 2003, the US imperialists were steeped in murder and pillage.
In Iraq, the US aggressors murdered innocent people, insulted their religious belief and plundered valuable cultural asset. The US aggressors did not hesitate to commit unimaginably barbarous acts such as stripping, harassing, beating, and raping the prisoners.
As one of the cradles of the ancient civilization, Iraq has long cultural traditions. Mesopotamia in Iraq is one of the places where the ancient civilization was created.
The Iraqi people led rich material and economic life, depending on rich petroleum resources.
Saddam Hussein and Iraqi military commanders, however, weakened military power, giving concession to the vicious demand of the imperialists after the Gulf War, without gut and will to resist the US. After all, the US imperialists occupied the country, enslaving the people.
The reality tells that if the military power is weak, the country becomes victim and modern colony of the imperialist aggression and pillage, whatever long historical tradition and big economic potentials it has.
People deprived of their country, as the Korean saying goes, are worse than the dog of the dead. This means the ruined nation suffers from oppression, exploitation, and humiliation.
The lesson of Iraqi people proves this.
The destiny of the army is immediately the destiny of the Party, the state and the people.
2. The Way to Strengthen Force of Arms
"By dint of Songun politics we have smashed the anti-DPRK, anti-socialist machinations of the imperialists step by step, defended the country and the revolution and exalted the dignity and prestige of socialist Korea in the eyes of the world."
Kim Jong Il
This Songun revolutionary principle tells the fundamental principle of realizing the people's independence depending on force of arms.
In general, the principle is scientific and lawful but it is not adhered to of its own accord. If a scientific principle is to be applied, we need scientific method suiting to it.
Likewise, we can score success in the struggle to realize independence by means of force of arms, only on the basis of the proper method suiting to it.
What is necessary to strengthen force of arms, the fundamental guarantee for realizing independence?
On the basis of the clarification of the Songun revolutionary principle, the Songun idea clarifies the fundamental ways to achieve independence, justice, and prosperity suiting to it.
Now, we come to the Songun revolutionary principle clarified by the Songun idea.
1) Giving Precedence to Military Affairs
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Our officials and working masses must organize and conduct all work on the principle of giving precedence to military affairs, and make energetic efforts to build up the military might of the country."
The issue of defending independence, justice, and peace has been regarded as cardinal issue as it is related with the destiny of humanity. The independence, justice, and peace have been violated in the world, owing to the aggression and war imposed by the exploiter class.
According to data, relatively peaceful environment lasted for 227 years and people were engaged in war for 3,130 years in the world from B. C. 1496 to A. D. 1861.
The struggle to defend independence, justice, and peace in the world became more acute issue after the emergence of imperialism in the historical arena. For the imperialists, "war is the blood-shedding politics" and "politics is bloodless war."
The US, the chieftain of imperialism committed aggressive wars on 114 occasions up to the early 20th century since its foundation.
"The Pacific and Asia ought to be possessed by the US like Texas and California and the indigenous people there ought to be expelled like Mexicans or killed like Indians." This was often on the lips of the Americans.
War cannot be avoided as long as imperialism exists on the earth.
In the revolution and construction, we must found the Party, establish the state and build economy, etc. However important they are, the military that decides the destiny of the revolution is of prior importance.
The DPRK founded the army first and on that military basis advanced the revolution and construction, adhering to the principle of giving precedence to military affairs.
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung who had originally solved all problems arising in the revolution, proceeding from the actual requirement of Korea, issued the line of armed struggle in Kalun Meeting held on June 30, 1930.
And he founded the Anti-Japanese People's Guerrilla Army on April 25, 1932.
The Anti-Japanese People's Guerrilla Army was the genuine revolutionary army of Juche type that has the immortal Juche idea as the guideline. It was the people's army fighting in the people's interests and the revolutionary armed force that aimed at immediately achieving the national liberation after defeating the Japanese aggressors and further building socialism after liquidating all sorts of class oppression and exploitation.
It was reorganized into the Korean People's Revolutionary Army in 1934, taking the leadership position and playing the pivotal role in the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle. Comrade Kim Il Sung finally achieved the historic cause of the national liberation after defeating the Japanese imperialists that were armed to the teeth and then founded the Party and the state.
Even after the liberation, he constantly developed the revolutionary armed force and guaranteed victory of the revolution militarily, while paying primary attention to the military affairs.
Depending on force of arms, Comrade Kim Il Sung won victory in the Fatherland Liberation War against the US imperialists in the 1950s. This was the miracle performed by his military idea in human history.
The US army was the strong enemy that boasted itself of the army that had never been defeated in the 100-odd-year aggressive wars. It was too strong for the young Korean army. The Korean People's Army was reorganized into the regular army only over two years before.
The Korean people, however, won victory in the fierce Fatherland Liberation War against the US imperialists and the aggressors of 15 satellite countries, thanks to the far-sighted wisdom and the outstanding military strategy and leadership of Comrade Kim Il Sung who had given precedence to force of arms.
The progressive peoples over the world called the Korean people who pushed the US imperialists to the downfall the heroic people. This is the praise of the Songun exploits of Comrade Kim Il Sung, the iron-willed brilliant commander.
Afterwards, he constantly maintained the line of giving precedence to force of arms and military affairs in the post-war rehabilitation and the socialist construction and thus established the superior socialist system independent in politics, self-sufficient in economy and self-reliant in defense.
In this process, the People's Army developed into an invincible army and the independent and modern munitions industry was built.
The DPRK gained valuable experience in the building of socialism, giving precedence to the military affairs, following the special line of building socialism while simultaneously developing the building of economy and defense.
The Korean experience tells that the military affairs must come to the fore of the revolution, as the destiny of a country and nation depends on force of arms.
There may be situations in which the imperialists talk of "dialogue," "negotiation" or "peace" or the tension relatively eased.
It is intolerable, however, to move the military affairs from the 1st place to the 2th one.
Giving precedence to military affairs does not mean doing this in the revolution and construction.
The development of society is made in all fields such as politics, economy, and culture. It is important, therefore, to harmoniously develop all these fields, while giving priority to force of arms.
That the principle of giving precedence to the military affairs regards it as the main of the revolution and construction and, paying attention to it does not aim only at the development of the military affairs.
This is well proved by the relations between the defense industry and the heavy industry. As the defense industry is based on the heavy industry, the development of the former is inconceivable, apart from the development of the latter.
The armament industry, the key in the defense industry is the machine industry. So is the case of other sectors of heavy industry such as metallurgical or chemical industry.
The defense industry is the integral whole of the modern industry. It requires high level of science and technology, production equipment, raw materials and fuel and thus the primary development of the defense industry propels the overall development of the national science, technology, and industry.
When priority is given to the defense industry in building the economy, the light industry and agriculture can develop rapidly on the basis of its success.
While signing the document concerning the development of the defense capability, great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said that he felt pain to make decision at the time in which the people's living standard was not so high.
Easing his painful mind, he said that when they win victory, the people would understand why they had to tighten their belt.
In the period of the Arduous March, the Korean people had difficulties in the building of economy and in their life. Factories stopped production from lack of raw materials and energy and the people felt lack of food.
With a firm conviction that the only way to save the revolution against the difficulties is to adhere to the principle of giving precedence to military affairs, leader Kim Jong Il pushed ahead with the strengthening of the military capability first of all.
He advanced the revolution and construction, giving precedence to military affairs under any hard conditions.
Thanks to his leadership, force of arms of the Korean revolution was further developed, opening vista for the prosperity of the country.
For this, he visited 14,296 units.
To the last moment of his great life, he defended the country, the revolution and socialism in the unprecedented difficulties, having the forced march of 669,847 km and thus ushered in the new history for the building of a thriving country.
This distance is tantamount to nearly 17 times of the circumference of the earth, that is, 40,055 km.
Thanks to him, the Korean people could make a big progress in building the economic giant and in promoting the people's living standard.
We can not far-see even an inch on the land where there is no force of arms but we can see through bright future on the self-defensive fortress.
Now, the DPRK is making considerable change in all fields of politics, economy, ideology, and culture. This proud reality tells that a small country can become strong country of the world when it gives precedence to military affairs.
2) Army Comes Before Working Class
In the former socialist countries, it was a formula to conduct the revolution and construction, depending on the working class regarding it as a vanguard. This was the requirement of Marxist theory of revolution.
On the analysis of the reality of the developed Western capitalist countries in the mid 19th century, Marx defined the working class as the main force of the revolution, after clarifying that it is the most progressive and revolutionary class that had the mission to realize socialism and communism after liquidating domination of the capital and the exploiter system.
In "Communist Manifesto," Marx and Engels said that what the proletariat would lose is their chains and what they would gain is the whole world, thinking that the proletariat are revolutionary class among other classes that were in confrontation with the bourgeoisie.
This theory that reflected the then capitalist reality played positive role in the revolutionary struggle of the working class in that period and a certain afterward period. This was proved by the historical fact that the Paris Commune was born and the October Revolution won victory in Russia.
In fulfilling the cause of socialism, it was recognized as a formula to conduct the revolution and construction with the working class as the hard core, the main force.
As a lot of changes occur with the passage of time, all things and phenomena are not fixed and immutable but constantly change.
A hundred and several tens of years have passed since the evolution of Marxist theory of revolution. Now, social environment, class relations and the status of the working class changed a lot.
With the development of society, science, and technology made high development, and in the era of IT industry, the basis of the working-class life changed and the labor is getting technical and intellectual.
With the intellectualization of the working class, the manual workers give way to technical, intellectual, and mental workers.
With the development of capitalism, the domination of the monopoly capital is more strengthened and the reactionary bourgeois ideology and culture more rampant, oppressing the consciousness and revolutionization of the working class.
This being the case, the theory evolved by Marx and Engels one and half a century ago is meaningless.
The issue of the main force of the revolution is not fixed and immutable anytime and anywhere nor solved on the basis of the class relations.
The main criterion that defines the main force of the revolution is not the existing formula but the reality.
Without binding himself to the existing theory or formula, great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il set the People's Army as the main force of the revolution, the pillar of the country, proceeding from the Korean reality.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The underlying aspects of Songun politics are that military affairs are of paramount importance, that the army is the hard core and main force of the revolution, and that the army must be strengthened in every way."
The Korean People's Army is the revolutionary force that defends the country's sovereignty and the people's right to survival.
It defends with arms the destiny of socialism, the revolution and the people against the strong imperialist enemy.
Peace, victory of socialism and the people's happy life rest on force of arms of the People's Army.
Due to the military aggressive moves of the US imperialists, the Korean peninsula turns into the hottest spot where there is constant tension. Deploying huge aggressive forces in south Korea and its surroundings, the US imperialists persistently resort to the moves of the north-targeted war.
"Operation Plan 5027" and "Operation Plan 5027-98" in the 1990s are the aggressive war plans that actualized the preemptive nuclear strike against the DPRK.
In the new century, they prepared a number of war scenarios such as "Operation Plan 5027-04" that embodied "intensive surprise offensive strategy," "Contingent Plan" aimed at "neutralizing the strike of the north," "New Operation Plan 5026" to preemptively strike the nuclear facilities of the north, "Operation Plan 5030" that "leads" someone to "agitation and collapse," "Nuclear Posture Review" that defined the DPRK as the target of preemptive nuclear strike and "Operation Plan 5029-05" and "Operation Plan 8022-02," etc.
This fact tells that the US imperialists are seeking the opportunity to start another Korean war.
The Korean People's Army, the invincible revolutionary armed force is flatly smashing any aggressive moves of the enemy.
The Korean People's Army reliably defends the country's sovereignty, with the diversified tactics and strategies to counter any combat or surprise aggressive war and with all sorts of offensive and defensive means such as self-defensive nuclear deterrent.
Indian newspaper "J. M. D. Barat" wrote "the DPRK has the strongest military force in the world. It has not only strong defensive but strong offensive capability. Herein lies the reason why the US that used bombs and missiles at random in the Gulf War and on the Balkans dares not to strike this country."
The Korean People's Army's strike has no limit, and there is no place on this planet to avoid its strike. If a war breaks out, the US and its following forces will be mercilessly smashed.
The US that tried to depress Korea's spirit, therefore, retreated, fearful of the power of the Korean People's Army.
Meaningful is the reality of the DPRK that destroyed every war provocation move of the US imperialists and their following forces.
Without fear of the US, we must counter the US exercise of power, with power. Although we do not want war but must not be afraid of war.
The imperialists have never bestowed peace on humanity. The imperialists never give up their aggressive nature. Aggression and domination over a country is the mode of survival and profession of the imperialists.
Struggle against the imperialism is the only way, and only through this struggle, can we defend the country's sovereignty and dignity and achieve peace and prosperity.
We must obtain peace not with concession but achieve it with power.
A historian said "If we want peace, we must be prepared for war."
He is right. Peace and security is ensured on the Korean peninsula, the hottest spot in the world, as she has military power built by dint of Songun.
The power of the Korean People's Army is demonstrated not only in the anti-imperialist military field but in all fields of the revolution and construction.
In order to accelerate the building of socialism, it is necessary to find out the main point and concentrate efforts on it to make a breakthrough.
In the difficult period of the Arduous March and the forced march, the Korean People's Army successfully fulfilled its duty to defend the country and at the same time proved its heroic merit in the van of creation and construction.
Under the slogan "Let us take charge of both the defending of the country and the socialist construction!" the Korean People's Army soldiers made breakthrough in the difficult sectors of the socialist construction with the revolutionary soldier spirit.
On October 23, 1997, great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il made the Korean People's Army, the main force of the revolution take charge of increasing the production of electricity in the Pukchang Thermal Power Complex, the large power base of the country.
To solve the electricity problem, it is necessary to increase the production of electricity in the thermal power stations, especially in the Pukchang Thermal Power Complex.
The Korean People's Army soldiers produced and transported coal in the mines under their charge in a competitive way.
A shovel of coal and a watt of electricity gained in these days were associated with blood and sweat of the Korean People's Army soldiers who made a breakthrough in the difficult sectors.
The production of coal was boosted and in the end of the year, the Pukchang Thermal Power Complex considerably increased the electricity production.
They built over 1,000 small- or medium-size hydro power stations in many parts of the country, to solve the electricity problem.
They proved merits in all sectors and fields of building a thriving country.
Chongryu Bridge (2nd stage,) Kumnung Tunnel-2, Pyongyang-Hyangsan Tourist Road, Anbyon Youth Power Station (1st and 2nd stages,) Thaechon Power Station-5, the Project to turn Mt. Jongbang and Mt. Kuwol into people's cultural resorts, Ryongmun Cavern, reconstruction of King Tangun's Mausoleum, April 25 Hotel, Hwangju Chicken Farm, Land Administration in Kangwon and North Phyongan Provinces—these are some of the projects done by the Korean People's Army soldiers from 1995 to 2000.
A foreign media reported "the look of the present DPRK is the reflection of the special army-centered politics of Supreme Commander Kim Jong Il. His army is not only the main force to defend the socialist politics of the country but also the shock brigade of the Supreme Commander that overcomes all the economic difficulties of the country."
As the revolutionary collective strong in revolutionary and organizational character and combat capability, the Korean People's Army takes core position and plays active role in the revolution and construction.
In this sense, we can say that rifle comes before hammer and sickle.
3. Songun—the Powerful Mode of Politics in Contemporary Era
"A country or a nation can emerge victorious in the revolution and defend the revolution, and carve out its destiny independently only when it has its own powerful revolutionary armed forces."
Kim Jong Il
Politics plays decisive role for the prosperity and future of a country. Songun politics means the politics that places military affairs to the fore, the politics where politics and military affairs are closely combined.
Did this kind of politics begin for the first time in Songun politics?
In the history of human politics, the politics and military have been closely combined. This did not begin in Songun politics.
The ancient Sparta set forth the politics in which it managed the society by military means. In the 20th century, some countries established military junta.
Sparta ended without developing the society and the military junta gave way to democracy, because this kind of politics in the exploiter society was reactionary one that infringed upon the independence of the people and resorted to aggression and pillage.
The Songun politics, however, is for the people, defending their destiny by military means. The Songun politics closely combines the politics and military for the people.
Now, we come to the Songun politics.
1) Confrontation or Subjugation
In the middle of the 1990s, the Korean situation was very grave and complicated.
The Berlin Wall, the symbol of the Cold War between the West and the East fell in November 1989. This was followed by great political upheavals in which socialism fell and capitalism was restored in the East European countries.
This being the situation, the US set it as the major strategic goal to establish the US-led "new world order," boasting itself of being the "only super power."
In January 1991, Bush I, the then US president said in his written speech in the parliament that the long-awaiting opportunity to establish the new world order had come and that it was time to set this order for market and democracy free from the danger of the cold war.
Regarding the DPRK as the biggest obstacle in setting the US-led unipolar world, it resorted viciously and persistently to the anti-DPRK campaign in all fields like military, politics, economy, ideology, and culture, putting stress on aggression and war depending on military force.
After the end of the cold war, the US moved its aggressive armed forces from Europe to the Korean peninsula and its surroundings and ran wild to modernize the US army that occupied south Korea.
Meanwhile, it continuously conducted military exercise.
Its suffocation moves got more rampant when the Korean people suffered from the biggest national misfortune.
On July 19, 1994, the mourning day when the Korean people bid the last parting from great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, the US imperialists launched provocative "air strike exercise" on the south Korean territory, mobilizing the planes affiliated to the Pacific Fleet.
In 1995, the US mobilized not only the US troops stationed in south Korea but numerous overseas aggressive forces in the joint military exercise "Foal Eagle."
In 1996, the US continuously conducted the provocative north-targeted war exercises "Foal Eagle," "Ulji Focus Lens," "Hoguk 96," "RSOI," "Hwarang" and "Freedom Banner" in south Korea.
This is available only just before the war. This tells to what extent the US and its puppets had gone in their reckless war mania.
The US imperialists conducted cunning move of ideological and cultural infiltration. This move was one of the important means for its world supremacy conducted against the socialist countries.
History knows that the US resorted to two ways for its supremacy; one is the military aggression and the other is the disintegration through the ideological and cultural infiltration.
The US made persistent efforts to disintegrate the DPRK, saying that 10 "apostles" can substitute 100 fighter-bombers.
Interested in falling socialism through the Radio Free Europe established in 1949, the US set the Radio Free Asia in 1996 and began its radio in 1997 against the DPRK, spending USD 10 million every year.
Along with this, it put persistent economic sanctions and blockade on her.
In the past, the DPRK depended almost on the socialist markets. After the fall of the socialist markets, the DPRK lost the market for petroleum, coke coal and other necessary raw materials and fuel.
Taking this opportunity, the US began overall blockade to suffocate the DPRK economically.
It intensified the economic sanctions against the DPRK, depending on all evil acts like the Wassenaar Arrangement that inherits the COCOM.
Worse still, after the biggest national loss, the Korean people suffered from severe natural disasters such as flood, drought, typhoon, and tsunami for several years.
In the military aspect, we must have solid rear for the human and material supply and reliable flanks for strategic cooperation to win victory in the battle or operation. Otherwise, we will be defeated.
So was the situation in the DPRK in the 1990s.
The imperialists used merciless ways and means, intensifying their encirclement against the DPRK.
The Korean people and army had to choose either confrontation or submission.
The first option was the way of independence and conviction to defend the sovereignty and dignity and win victory but arduous struggle that accompanied sacrifice in the difficult fight against the strong enemy.
The other option was the way of submission and national ruin that accompanied the pains of being slaves of the imperialists.
The Korean people suffered from miserable slave's fate for over 40 years, being deprived of the country by the Japanese imperialists in the early 20th century. Sufferings of slaves could not be understood by those who have no such bitter experience.
In these years, the Japanese imperialists conscripted about 8.4 million Korean young- and middle-aged people and kidnapped 200 000 women for sex slaves for the Japanese soldiers, committing the unprecedented anti-human crime. They plundered a lot of natural resources in Korea and viciously acted to deprive Korea of its soul, obliterating Korean language and alphabets under the pretext of "one and the same ancestry and roots" and "oneness of Japan and Korea."
The Korean people fought for over a decade against the gangster-like Japanese imperialists and liberated the country.
This gave the Korean people and army the lesson that without the strong military, they become the slaves of the imperialists and that a country is ruined in a moment but it takes long time to restore its independence.
The only way for Korea to survive and win is not to submit to but to fight against the imperialism, with force of arms.
Keeping this deep in the minds, the Korean people and army rose as one in the death-defying struggle under the worst conditions, without tolerating the imperialists' move to impose the slave's fate.
Reflecting this conviction and will of the Korean people and army, great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il took the option of defending the dignity of the independent people.
On January 1, 1995, he inspected a company of the People's Army dense with dwarf pine trees.
On his arrival, he sent happy New Year greetings to the company soldiers and saw their firing drill.
He said that as long as he has the strong People's Army boundlessly faithful to the Party, the country will surely be reunified and the revolutionary cause of Juche consummated.
Looking round the education rooms and bedrooms, he acquainted himself with the ideological education and the material and cultural life of the company.
He told the concrete tasks and ways to prepare the Korean People's Army politically and ideologically and improve the combat preparedness and soldier's life conditions.
In the evening of the day of his inspection to the company, he said to the personnel concerned in the Party, the state and the army that the main in the revolutionary struggle is force of arms. He added that if the army is weak, it can not defeat the counterrevolutionary offensive of the enemy, falling in a day. He further said confidently that the imperialists and the reactionaries make every effort to suffocate the DPRK that advances under the banner of socialism amidst upheavals but there is nothing to fear, if the Korean People's Army is strong and that the enemy dares not to strike the DPRK because the Korean People's Army is strong.
His inspection to the company dense with dwarf pine trees was not a simple inspection but historic declaration that announced the overall start of the powerful Songun politics.
His inspection was the fundamental turning point in comprehensively enforcing the Songun politics on a higher stage.
2) Regarding Military Affairs as the Top State Affair and Army as the Main Force
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Our Party's Songun-based revolutionary leadership, Songun-based politics, is a revolutionary mode of leadership and socialist mode of politics that gives top priority to military affairs, and defends the country, the revolution and socialism and dynamically pushes ahead with overall socialist construction by dint of the revolutionary mettle and combat capabilities of the People's Army."
The Songun politics is, in essence, the mode of politics that makes it possible to solve all the problems arising in fulfilling the people's cause of independence on the principle of giving precedence to military affairs and to push ahead with the overall cause of independence depending on the army, regarding it as the pillar of the revolution.
One aspect of the essence of the Songun politics is to regard the military affairs as the top state affair.
As the politics embraces the overall aspect of social life, the diversified issues are included in the policy-making.
The Songun politics regards the issue of military affairs, the issue of cementing the defense capability as the most important issue deciding the destiny of a country and pays deep attention to its solution.
As one sector of state and social life, the military embraces all the fields concerning the defense of the country such as the army, defense industry and war.
The military affairs include the building and development of the army, military drills, military activities like war, war supplies industry for producing and supplying military equipment and strategic materials, the preparing of the paramilitary force, the building of the trench, tunnels, and military facilities.
The military affairs seem to be remote to the people's daily life.
On the contrary, the other fields of social life including the economy seemed to be more urgent.
This is wrong. The military affairs are more fundamentally and directly linked with the people's life than other fields.
As the strong foundation can support the building against the earthquake and typhoon, a country can make substantial development of the economy and culture under the stable conditions, when it has strong military capability.
Proceeding from this, the Songun politics regards it as the main to strengthen the army and pays special attention to enhancing the political and ideological superiority and the military and technical power of the army to the maximum. It also pays deep attention to the development of the strong defense industry.
If a country is trampled down by the foreign forces because of the weak military power, all the members of the country suffer from the humiliation and misfortunes.
The US invasion to Grenada proves this.
In March 1979, the Grenada people overthrew the pro-American dictatorship regime and established the revolutionary people's government. The revolutionary government nationalized the industries and natural resources and enforced the land reform and the equal rights of the sexes.
The US imperialists that had aggressive ambition for a long time sent 2,000 US soldiers to Grenada under the support of the aircraft carrier loaded with 70 aircrafts and 11 warships on October 25, 1983.
After occupying a small island country with the population of about 110,000, the US aggressive army killed numerous patriots and innocent civilians and imprisoned over 2,000 patriots.
They set up their puppet government and abolished all the acts enforced by the revolutionary government, depriving the Grenada people of the democratic freedom and rights.
The invasion against Grenada tells that the US imperialists are the vicious aggressors.
This was the tragic result caused by the weak arms. It is the same old trick of the US imperialists, the international police to press and overthrow the government that does not follow it.
The reality tells that the military affairs are the most important one that decides the destiny of a country and its members.
Being faithful to this principle, the Songun politics pays primary attention to the strengthening of the military power, regarding the military affairs as the top state affair.
The other aspect of the essence of the Songun politics is to regard the revolutionary army as the core and the main force.
This means that the Songun politics defends the country, the revolution and the socialism with the army as the exemplary collective and accelerates the building of socialism by enhancing its vanguard role.
The Songun politics defends the country, the revolution and socialism relying on the revolutionary spirit and combat capability of the People's Army.
Historically, the ruling class and the exploiting class have built the aggressive and barbarous characters of the army, using it as the tools for the rule, oppression, genocide, and pillage.
Even now, the recruits of the US aggressive army read "You must be merciless and skillful murderers." on the first page of their pamphlets, and read the article under the title "What is a soldier?" that mentions that the state pays USD 30,000 for a GI and that they must compensate this by killing human beings under their charge.
The US army's genocide conducted and is being conducted in Afghanistan and Pakistan's borders tells that the inhumane and anti-popular character is the very nature and barbarous quality of the imperialist reactionary army.
The revolutionary army of the working class that serves the cause of liberating the people is fundamentally different from this.
By the revolutionary army, we do not simply mean the army that participates in the revolution or the army in the socialist countries.
Even the army in the socialist country loses its revolutionary and organizational character, unity, and combat capability and fails to defend the gains of socialism, being used as the tools of the counterrevolution, if it is not under the proper political leadership.
The revolutionary army can be born and fulfill its mission only under the condition of being led by the political party and the leader.
It is the Songun politics that trains such revolutionary army and defends the country, the revolution and the socialism, depending on its revolutionary spirit and combat capability.
The Korean People's Army frustrated every military move of the US imperialists. This fact proves that the Songun politics is the powerful weapon that enables to defend the country, the revolution and the cause of socialism.
In December 1994, the Korean People's Army brought down at a shot the sophisticated US reconnaissance helicopter that intruded into the territorial air of the DPRK.
At the beginning of 2003, the Korean People's Army's fighter plane controlled the USAF reconnaissance plane "RC-135" above the East Sea of Korea. This demonstrated that its answer was not empty talks.
The Songun politics pushes ahead with the overall building of socialism, by placing the Korean People's Army in the van.
In the DPRK, the Korean People's Army took charge of the building of modern poultry farms, pig farms and basic foodstuff factories and the projects of developing Mts. Chilbo and Kuwol, the Ryongmun Cavern and the Ullim Falls, etc. into the cultural resorts for the people.
Recently, the Korean People's Army built on the highest level the theaters, cinema halls, restaurants, and folk parks for the people's cultural life.
As a sip of sea water tells it is salty, this fact tells that the Korean People's Army plays vanguard role in the building of the socialist economy.
There is an old saying "Train soldiers for a thousand days to use them for a day." This means that the army is used only for war or combat, stressing the importance of building army.
In the DPRK, however, the Korean People's Army not only defends the country, the revolution and the socialism with its life but also takes charge of the work for the people's welfare. This can be described as "Use soldiers for all affairs."
The Songun politics enables the Korean People's Army to play the vanguard role in all sectors of the building of socialism, thus providing the working people with the example of ideological traits and combat capability.
Learning after its example, all the members of the Korean society make rapid development in all fields of social life such as economy, culture, science, education, sports, arts, etc.
The DPRK is now making efforts to break through the cutting edge.
On the basis of the experience of having got the upper hand in the CNC technology, the DPRK is conducting grandiose project to build the economic giant befitting the knowledge-based economy, by reaching the world level in science and technology in all fields. Under the slogan "Break through the cutting edge!" the Korean people score big successes.
In Chollima Steel Complex, the workers built the UHP electric arc furnace by their own efforts in a short span of time to modernize the steel production. The DPRK built factories into models of the 21st century to produce any sophisticated CNC equipment including the 3- or 4-axis CNC machine tools, crankshaft grinder, 9-axis in-process turning tools, 11l-axis compound in-process turning tools, etc.
These successes could be scored, thanks to the Songun politics that enables to push ahead with the building of socialism by enhancing the people's mental strength with the Korean People's Army as the model and by relying on the creative initiatives of the army and the people.
3) Great Spirit of the Era
The spirit of the era is the revolutionary spirit that symbolizes and represents the era. The spirit of the era reflects the requirement of the era and life and propels the revolution and construction in that era.
Recorded in the history of the Korean revolution is the revolutionary spirit of the era in the different periods and stages of the whole process of the revolution from its beginning to the present.
The anti-Japanese armed struggle took place in the grave period in which the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters had to smash the Japanese imperialists and achieve the country's liberation, solving all problems by their own without state rear or the support of the regular army.
In this period of sufferings, the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters fully displayed the revolutionary sprit of Mt. Paektu.
They conducted bloody struggle to smash the Japanese imperialists and liberated the country overcoming trials, with conviction and will to complete the Korean revolution under the leadership of great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung.
The 1950s were the difficult period in which the destiny of the Korean nation was decided.
In this period, the Korean people were engaged in the war to defend the destiny of the country.
And they had to rebuild cities, rural villages and factories that had been totally destroyed by the war and conduct the socialist revolution to transform the rural economy and urban private commerce and industry in a socialist way.
They had to build the foundations of the self-sufficient economy for the country's prosperity.
These struggles accompanied the fierce class struggles against the enemy home and abroad including the US imperialists.
In this period, the Korean people displayed the fighting spirit of the 1950s, the main contents of which were the spirit of devotedly defending the leader, the spirit of defending the country and the indomitable fighting spirit.
Through their happy and worthy life for 5 years after the liberation, the Korean people felt that the great leader is precisely the country and that they become again slaves without it.
With the conviction that they would win as long as they have the great leader, therefore, they rose in the struggle to defend the country defeating the US imperialists and completed the socialist transformation in the trials and cemented the economic foundations.
The 1970s witnessed an epochal turn in the development of the Korean revolution.
In this period, the Korean people vigorously conducted the struggle to inherit and consummate the revolutionary cause of Juche under the guidance of great leader Comrade Kim Jong II.
With the absolute worship towards Kim Jong Il, the Korean people held him in important positions of the Party and the revolution, remaining faithful to the guidance of the Party and the leader.
In the 1970s, the monolithic ideological system and the monolithic leadership system were established and the great leap was made in the great struggle of building socialism.
Displaying the revolutionary spirit of Mt. Paektu, the fighting spirit of the 1950s and the 1970s, etc, the Korean revolution could advance registering victories.
As it inspires the people in conformity with the requirement of the times, the spirit of the era holds important position and plays important role in the revolution and construction.
The spirit of this era that inspires the Korean people is the revolutionary soldier spirit.
It is the revolutionary spirit created in the Korean People's Army under the guidance of great leader Comrade Kim Jong II.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The revolutionary soldier spirit, which was created and has been given full play within the People's Army under the leadership of the Party, is the lofty revolutionary spirit of our army, characterized mainly by a spirit of defending the leader at the risk of one's life, a spirit of carrying out tasks at all costs, and a heroic self-sacrificing spirit."
The main contents of this spirit are the spirit of defending the leader at the risk of one's life, the spirit of carrying out tasks at all costs and the heroic self-sacrificing spirit.
This spirit was created in the project of building Anbyon Youth Power Station in the period of the Arduous March.
This project was initiated by the great nature-remaking idea of great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung who tried to solve the electricity problem in Kangwon Province. It was huge project to collect the river waters in a large area for generating electricity.
For this project, they had to dig out millions of cubic meters of soil for building water tunnels and they needed large amount of concrete mixture and tens of thousands of tons of timber, steel, and dynamite.
It costs two times bigger than the project of the West Sea Barrage that cost billions of USD according to the Western World calculation.
The geological structure in the area for the reservoir dam was so complicated and unfavorable that even the technician in the countries with developed civil engineering estimated it as "totally impossible and needless project."
While blaming this project as the "power station on paper," the enemies tried to destroy the project by all means.
With the firm determination to build the large-size power station at any cost, leader Kim Jong Il put this huge and arduous project under the charge of the Korean People's Army.
The Korean People's Army soldiers rose in the struggle to finish the project, with the conviction and will that there is nothing impossible and conditional in implementing the order of Kim Jong Il.
They dug tunnels under the slogan "Let us not see the blue sky of the fatherland until and unless we implement the order of the respected Comrade Supreme Commander!"
Shouting "Charge after me!" not "Charge forward!" the generals and officers rushed into the dangerous places, and the soldiers devoted themselves, shouting "Give me the most arduous job!"
Under the slogan "Let us not return to our units until and unless we fulfill our duty of transportation!" the soldier drivers carried cargo on over 670m high steep mountain.
When they were penetrating tunnels under a river, water suddenly flooded into the tunnel before finishing the project.
Under this condition, some claimed the change of digging direction and some claimed to divide the power station into two parts.
Refusing these claims, the soldiers said that great Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il issued order to dig the water tunnel on this position and that they must do unconditionally what the Party asks, adding that there can not be a detour in fulfilling the Party's order.
They jumped into the water and blocked waterholes. They made fierce battle day and night to pump out the water and finished the project at last.
The spirit of defending the leader at the risk of one's life, the spirit of carrying out tasks at all costs and the heroic self-sacrificing spirit were displayed in all building sites.
With this conviction and will, the soldiers dug long tunnels and built high dams, huge in-take works and other structures.
On June 10, 1996, great leader Kim Jong Il gave on-the-spot guidance to the project which was nearing completion by the soldiers' heroic struggle.
In the pouring rain, he looked round all the parts built by the soldiers.
In exciting voice, he said that the soldiers performed miracles and fulfilled the order in trials, adding that this is the revolutionary soldier spirit of the Korean People's Army.
The revolutionary soldier spirit was born like this.
In the DPRK, all the members of society learn after and apply this spirit in their work and life.
This spirit carries the ideological and mental traits that should be kept by all the members of society.
The spirit of defending the leader at the risk of one's life, the spirit of carrying out tasks at all costs, the heroic self-sacrificing spirit, mass heroism, the spirit of strenuous self-reliance, the love for the country and the people, the comradely love—this is the ideological and mental traits of the revolutionary soldier spirit.
With the imbuing of this spirit into the society, the unity of the army and people in ideology and fighting spirit was ensured, considerably changing the ideological and mental traits of the Korean people.
They are faithful to the Party and the leader and do their jobs with the revolutionary soldier spirit. They lead the cultural life in an optimistic way just like the soldiers.
This spirit enabled them to prove merits in defending the socialist system and in building a thriving country.
The process of creating and generalizing this spirit was the process of establishing and applying the Songun politics in a comprehensive way.
The creation and generalization of this spirit served as an epochal landmark in the history of the Songun politics.
4) Strong Three Pillars
Strong buildings are supported by strong pillars.
In politics, the pillars are the forces that support the politics.
The politics that stands on strong political forces achieves its goals by all means but the politics without strong forces fails to achieve its goals before difficulties.
The Songun politics can score successes, as it is supported by the strong pillars, the strong political forces—the three revolutionary forces of the revolutionary Party, the revolutionary armed force and the single-hearted unity.
In the DPRK, you can hear the song "Fly High, Our Party Flag" on TV and radio.
This song is loved by the Korean people.
Behind this guiding flag,
We can achieve any goal.
The people became heroes of the century,
Building paradise in the adversities.
Fly High, Our Party Flag,
We add glory to the ever-victorious Juche cause.
The song performed by the Moranbong Band and art troupes of dignity praises the greatness of the Workers' Party of Korea, the organizer and guide of all victories of the Korean people.
As mentioned in the song, the Korean revolution has advanced winning victories in trials, only under the wise leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea.
The Songun politics is the politics of the Workers' Party of Korea and the Songun revolutionary leadership is the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea.
The Workers' Party of Korea is the primary pillar, the pivotal force in ensuring the Songun politics.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"The Party's leadership is the lifeblood of the People's Army."
In the Songun politics, the army is the core and vanguard unit in the revolution and construction.
In this politics, however, the army is not placed above the Party nor substitutes the Party's role.
Only under the leadership of the Party, can the army become the revolutionary army and fulfill its mission and duty in the revolutionary struggle.
Not only party but state power, social organizations and revolutionary armed force participate in the politics. The party is the only political organization that gives leadership over these forces.
The Workers' Party of Korea holds leadership position and plays leadership role in ensuring the Songun politics.
The Workers' Party of Korea headed by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un is the political leadership organization that encourages the army and the people to the consummation of the revolutionary cause under the banner of Songun.
The Workers' Party of Korea sets forth the revolutionary line of giving priority to force of arms, on the basis of the Songun idea and gives leadership over all other political organizations including the state power so that they fulfill their duty under the guideline of Songun.
It also unites all the members of society including the soldiers around the leader, encouraging them to the ensuring of the Songun politics.
The Korean People's Army became the army of the Party and the leader, demonstrating its might as the strong force of the revolution that supports the leader's cause and the Party's cause in the van.
On October 10, 2010, the grand military parade took place with the participation of leader Kim Jong Il and respected Kim Jong Un at Kim Il Sung square on the occasion of the 65 anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea.
The soldiers of the Korean People's Army, the Korean People's Internal Security Forces and the Worker-Peasant Red Guards marched on parade. They were followed by the columns of the latest guns, armoured vehicles, tanks, multiple launch rocket systems and interceptor complex.
Looking at this parade, the Korean people felt the invincible power of the strong Paektusan revolutionary army prepared to smash any strong enemies with offensive and defensive means under the wise leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea. They confirmed their conviction and will to consummate the revolutionary cause of Juche under the Party's Songun politics.
The power of Songun that is ever-growing under the wise leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea tells the truth.
The army without the Party's leadership is powerless in the revolutionary struggle.
In the DPRK, the Party is closely linked with the army which is faithful to the Party.
The Korean people are full of conviction to defend the Party flag of Juche even at the cost of their lives.
Another pillar that supports the Songun politics is the invincible Korean People's Army.
This means that the Korean People's Army is the powerful political force that guarantees the Songun politics in the van.
The Korean People's Army devotedly defends the Party and the leader against the enemy's moves.
This spirit was well demonstrated by the merits of 17 heroes of the Republic who laid their lives, defending the revolutionary slogan-bearing trees, the treasure of the Korean revolution.
These 17 soldiers jumped into the flames of fire without hesitation when the trees began to burn.
Defending the trees from the wild fire, they shouted "Let us defend to the end," "Let us safeguard the leader." The flames could burn their bodies but not their spirit of safeguarding the leader.
The Korean People's Army soldiers have such strong conviction and moral obligation.
The Korean People's Army is the most militant vanguard in implementing the idea and line of the Party and the leader.
The army soldiers do not hesitate to devote their lives to fulfill the order of the Party and the leader.
Learning after their examples, all the members of the society rose as one in the struggle to implement the idea and line of the Party and the leader, proving merits in the building of a thriving country.
Apart from the Korean People's Army, the strong Songun politics is inconceivable.
The source of the invincible power of the DPRK is the single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party, the army and the people.
United, we stand and divided, we fall. Unity is the life and soul of the revolution and sure guarantee of victory of revolution.
Single-hearted unity is made in an ideological and moral obligatory way with the leader as the center.
In other words, the broad masses are united with the Korean People's Army as core around the Party and the leader on one ideology and noble moral obligation.
The single-hearted unity is the strong political foundation of the Songun politics and powerful driving force.
The political foundation is the fundamental foundation that guarantees a mode of politics. The single-hearted unity of the Party and the leader, the service personnel and the people is strong enough to go through any wild storms.
A poet couple wrote a letter to great leader Comrade Kim Jong II.
"Please, trust us, the General! Although we die of starvation, we never sell out our heart of following you. Although we die of cold, we never kneel down, casting aside your care. Although we are beaten to death, we never stop singing the song of you."
This is the conviction and will of not only the poet couple but all the army men and the people.
If a mode of politics is to be materialized, it should be guaranteed by political power.
Otherwise, it is meaningless.
Single-hearted unity is not simply a mechanical or arithmetic combination.
All the members of the society accept the leader's idea and intention and the Party's policy as vital demand and are united sharing the same idea, aspiration, and destiny. Only then, is it the single-hearted unity.
The single-hearted unity propels the Songun politics, by encouraging the people to the materialization of the common political goal and by enlisting their revolutionary zeal and creative initiatives.
Under the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea headed by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, the DPRK is pushing ahead with the revolution and construction against the imperialist moves depending on the power of the single-hearted unity.
As is recognized, the invincible power of the DPRK is the single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party and the army and the people.
An editor of the Nation's Bulletin, an Internet website of the Korean residents in the US wrote.
"The Jews do not think that a state is superior because of its strong economic power or well-being of the people...Why do they think the DPRK is strong?
Is this because the DPRK possesses nuclear weapons and missiles? No. Is this because she has large territory and population? No.
...In the world, there is not such a country with strong independence, gut, and single-hearted unity as the DPRK. They know well that the DPRK has a great leader, the Juche philosophy and the power of single-hearted unity, that is, more powerful than nuclear."
People normally think nuclear weapon is the most powerful but they do not know that there is more powerful weapon than the nuclear.
It is the single-hearted unity of the DPRK that has no match.
It is the patent weapon available only in the DPRK.
By the help of this patent weapon, the Songun politics is the invincible mode of politics.
5) New Songun Leadership System
In general, a certain political mechanism is needed for ensuring politics. In other words, there should be a container that can contain politics.
The Songun politics in the DPRK is well guaranteed by the Songun leadership system.
This is the system in which the Supreme Commander is the center of the leadership.
In the Songun politics, the Supreme Commander, not the political leaders of general type in other political systems, is the center of the leadership and his monolithic leadership system is set up.
This is the necessary requirement of the Songun politics itself that gives priority to force of arms.
In order to set the military as the top state affair and enforce the arms-first politics, we should set the revolutionary army as the pillar and the main force.
To ensure the primary position and role of the Korean People's Army and prepare it as the pillar of the Songun politics is inconceivable, apart from the establishment of the leadership system of the Supreme Commander of the army.
With the outstanding military wisdom and by integrating the will and demand of the army, the Supreme Commander of the revolutionary army defines the general direction of the military building and activities, foresees the changing military and political situations and sets forth scientific strategy and tactics.
He also trains the able officers and soldiers strongly prepared politically, ideologically, militarily, and technically.
In general, in the army is the regular military control system to fulfill the orders of the superior ranging from squad, platoon, company, battalion, regiment to division and corps.
It is wrong, however, not to pay due attention to this, thinking that his leadership system is automatically set up as long as the army has the Supreme Commander.
If disorder is permitted, the Supreme Commander's leadership system becomes meaningless.
It is, therefore, primary to establish the leadership system of the Supreme Commander.
The leadership system of the Supreme Commander is the discipline and order by which the overall revolutionary forces absolutely obey his order and instruction and move as one, according to his order and instruction.
The establishment of the revolutionary leadership system in which the army men follow the Supreme Commander's revolutionary Songun leadership in the van and solve all problems arising in the military building and activities according to his monolithic instruction—this is the genuine look of the Songun leadership system in the DPRK.
The Songun leadership system is also the state management system that organizes the state institutions and manages the overall social life, on the principle of giving priority to arms.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said that we have chosen the mode of the Songun politics, enhanced the position of the National Defense Commission in the system of state institutions and made the army play an important role in all fields of the state and social life, in order to actively cope with the arbitrary moves of the imperialists.
For the Songun politics, the overall social system and its functions should be oriented to giving priority to defense, making all the members of society regard the military as the top state affair.
This requirement is fully met, when the state management system of giving priority to defense is set up.
The state management system of giving priority to defense has the National Defense Commission as pivot.
Defense in the socialist state is an important affair to defend the country, the people and the socialist system from the imperialist aggression.
For this, there should be the state mechanism that is in full charge of the military affairs and defense of the country.
The former socialist countries had this system, which was in the same or subordinate position comparing with other state institutions, not in the pivotal position.
As the supreme leadership organization of the state power, the National Defense Commission is in the leadership position as pivot in the Songun leadership system.
It, therefore, fulfills its mission to substantially ensure the Songun politics.
In this system, the National Defense Commission organizes and controls the overall state and social life in a unified way on the principle of giving priority to arms.
To defend the country's sovereignty against the imperialist aggressive forces is possible only under the unified leadership over the comprehensive political organizations and the state mechanism.
In this system, the National Defense Commission organizes and manages all the national revolutionary forces, defense industry and the overall military affairs and it organizes other state affairs and administrative and economic institutions like politics, economy, and culture, on the principle of giving priority to the arms.
This system is the perfect and solid system legally fixed.
Only then, can it be solid and universal.
In this system, the National Defense Commission fully controls the activities of the other state institutions like economy and the ideological and cultural works and manages the overall state and social life in a unified way, according to the law.
The first session of the 10th Supreme People's Assembly held under the guidance of great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il adopted Kim Il Sung Constitution that stipulated the National Defense Commission as the supreme defense leadership organization, the overall defense management organization.
This new system guarantees the Songun politics by law.
Kim Il Sung Constitution enjoyed praise of the revolutionary peoples.
Krutskov, the former chairman of the State Security Committee of the Soviet Union who visited the DPRK said in an excited voice. "Kim Il Sung Constitution is one of the creations in the 20th century. It is right to clearly stipulate military issue in the Constitution. The Constitution well stipulated the essence of the military, as the politics is the power and underneath the politics is the military."
As is recognized by the world people, the state management system based on the pivotal role of the National Defense Commission is available only in the DPRK.
The Korean-style socialism in which the state management system giving priority to the arms was established thanks to Kim Il Sung Constitution is steadfast and its power is ever-growing by Songun.
4. Songun Politics and the Present Reality
"By dint of Songun politics relying on the People's Army as the main force, we were able to endure the severest 'Arduous March' and the forced march, open up a road towards building a great, prosperous, and powerful socialist nation and push forward with the revolution and construction in a bold and positive way despite the difficult situation."
Kim Jong Il
A great ideology gives birth to the great politics which gives birth to the great reality.
The reality is the criteria that tell an ideology is right or not, and if right, to what extent, it displays its vitality in developing the country and achieving the national prosperity.
The Songun politics brought about great changes in the Korean people's struggle to defend socialism, build a thriving country and reunify the country.
By the power of Songun, by force of arms of justice, the DPRK created miraculous reality in defending its sovereignty and building a thriving socialist country.
By dint of the Songun politics, the DPRK plays the vanguard role leading the world towards independence, awakening that even a small country can be strong, if force of arms is strengthened.
The history of human politics witnessed that a mode of politics created a great miracle in a short span of time.
This is, therefore, the great era of Songun in which the Songun politics is fully realized.
Now, we look into the victory made in the DPRK by Songun politics and the influence of this politics upon the world.
1) DPRK-US Nuclear Confrontation
After developing the nuclear weapon for the first time in the world, the US imperialists dropped atom bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on August 6 and 9, 1945, doing a great deal of harm.
It destroyed and damaged 13 km² of area, around 70,000 houses with about 260,000 casualties. This tells what a dangerous holocaust the nuclear weapon brings to humanity.
There is no country like the DPRK that has been under the US nuclear threat for such a long time.
Its nuclear threat became overt in the period of the Korean War.
Truman, the then US president spoke of the use of atom bombs in the Korean War in November 1950 and MacArthur, the Commander of the US Army in the Far East openly spoke of the plan to drop 30-50 atom bombs on the Korea-China border area. In September and October 1951, US Air Force bombers "B-29" had drills to drop atom bombs above Pyongyang.
The US nuclear threat was further increased after the war.
The US deployed the first tactical nuclear weapons in south Korea in 1957, and threatened to use the nuclear weapon if the DPRK did not return the US armed spy ship "Pueblo" captured by the Korean People's Army on January 23, 1968. In 1975, the then US Secretary of Defense trumpeted the use of the nuclear weapons if war breaks out in Korea.
In the period of the Cold War, the US deployed 13,000 nuclear weapons overseas among which more than 6 000 were in the surroundings of the Korean peninsula and Asia.
South Korea, therefore, was turned into the nuclear arsenal biggest in the Far East and nuclear outpost.
Over the issue of "suspect of the nuclear weapon development" and nuclear inspection in the early 1990s, the US imperialists resorted to the hard-line policy to internationally isolate the DPRK and overthrow the Korean-style socialism.
The NPT was sealed on July 1, 1968.
This treaty stipulates that the nuclear powers must not threaten the non-nuclear countries with nuclear weapons.
On this basis, with a view to withdrawing the US nuclear weapons from south Korea and its nuclear threat against the DPRK and to denuclearizing the Korean peninsula, the DPRK became a member of the NPT in December 1985.
Instead of binding itself to the duty stipulated in the NPT, the US intensified the nuclear threat against the DPRK.
The US put pressure on the IAEA to make special inspection of the DPRK's two military objects irrelevant with the nuclear activities.
Playing to the tune of the US, the IAEA adopted the resolution that imposed special inspection upon the DPRK's military objects in February 1993.
The US imperialists, mad with the doctrine of military power after the Gulf War, announced the resume of the once suspended joint military exercise "Team Spirit" on January 26, 1993 and conducted "Team Spirit 93" on the largest scale.
The US imperialists mobilized 200 000-strong aggressive armed forces including the Rapid Reaction Forces in the US mainland, Hawaii, the Guam and its military bases in Japan. It dispatched Tomahawk cruise missiles, F-117 stealth bombers, B-1B strategic bombers and even the control system for the use of nuclear weapons.
It pushed the Korean peninsula to the nuclear crisis, causing touch-and-go super tense situation.
Under this condition, it was vital how to defend the destiny of the country and socialism in the military confrontation with the US.
In this grave period, great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il issued "On Declaring a State of War Readiness for the Whole Country, All the People and the Entire Army" Order No. 0034 of the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army on March 8, 1993.
When the whole country was in the semi-war state, the ground, navy, and air forces of the Korean People's Army, and the Korean People's Security Forces defended the country's land, sea, and sky in full combat readiness.
On March 12, 1993, the DPRK issued the government statement announcing its withdrawal from the NPT.
It was the natural measure to defend the sovereignty and the supreme interests of the country coping with the US nuclear blackmail and the IAEA's unfair demand of special inspection.
Being dealt a heavy blow, the US announced to suspend "Team Spirit 93" military exercise ahead of schedule and the IAEA had to abandon the special inspection.
The acute DPRK-US nuclear confrontation went over to the form of three-stage DPRK-US government-level talks.
The DPRK-US talks were fierce enough to be called a fireless war between the DPRK and the US in diplomacy.
In order to defend the fundamental interests of the revolution in the political and diplomatic confrontation with the imperialists, the DPRK must make independent diplomatic battle on a hard-line stand without the slightest concession. The independent diplomacy does not come of its own accord.
Victory here is guaranteed by one's own strong military power.
Thanks to the invincible military power built by the Songun politics, the DPRK could control the imperialists that depended on pressure and blackmail as the main tricks in the diplomatic battle between the DPRK and the US, on a hard-line stand, satisfying its demand.
As a result, on October 21, 1994, the DPRK-US Agreed Framework was adopted, reflecting the former's just stand for the settlement of the nuclear issue of the Korean peninsula.
In the framework, the DPRK guaranteed the freeze and dismantlement of the graphite-moderated reactor and its related facilities, the expression of the will to denuclearization and the reentry to the NPT.
In return, the US promised to offer the light-water reactors with the generating capacity of 2 million kw (about USD 4 billion) by 2003, and before that time it will deliver 500 000 tons of heavy oil annually, lift the trade and investment barriers, establish liaison office, establish the state relations, not use the nuclear weapons and not threaten the DPRK with the nuclear weapons.
On October 20 a day before the adoption of the framework, Clinton, the then US president expressed his respect to great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il, calling him the Supreme Leader of the DPRK and sent him the letter of confirmation. In the letter, he wrote he wished to confirm that he would use the full powers of his office to facilitate arrangements.
With the adoption of the framework, the US policy to suffocate the DPRK with the nuclear issue became meaningless, and the US boasting itself of the only super power knelt down in the nuclear confrontation with the DPRK.
The US, however, did not fulfill its duty in offering the light-water reactors. The framework stipulated that the contract would be concluded within 6 months from the date of signing the framework.
The US concluded the contract after 14 months and delayed the project of building the light-water reactor under the preposterous excuses.
Due to its wrong behaviors, the project that would be finished by 2003 was delayed, only digging the ground for foundation.
According to the article 3 of the framework, the US should give official confirmation that it would not use the nuclear weapons and not threaten with the nuclear weapons.
In the State of Union Address in the early 2002, Bush, the then US president claimed that north Korea is one of the "axis of evil" and develops the weapons of mass destruction.
After Kelly, assistant secretary of the Department of State and special envoy of the US president visited Pyongyang in the early October 2002, the US claimed that the DPRK plans to enrich Uranium and threatened that the North-South relations and the DPRK-Japan relations, to say nothing of the DPRK-US relations would be destructed, if north Korea does not give up the plan.
On November 14, the US announced that it would suspend the offering of the heavy oil that was accorded to the DPRK-US Agreed Framework and from December substantially stopped to offer it.
As a result, the enemy's moves were on the climax, nullifying the framework.
To cope with this, the DPRK took the option of strengthening its war deterrent, a kind of substantial counter measure to defend the sovereignty of the country and the life of the people. This was right.
In the past, the US attempted on many occasions to ignite the nuclear war against the DPRK. The war would break out, if the DPRK was weak.
If so, what would happen to the destiny of the Korean people and to the situation of the Korean peninsula?
The DPRK would have been like Iraq, Libya, Balkan Peninsula or Afghanistan. It would have been the most destructive nuclear war in history.
Thanks to the strong power built by Songun, the US dared not to ignite a war and therefore peace in the Korean Peninsula and the Northeast Asia could be maintained.
It is not accidental that the international community calls the DPRK's war deterrent the reliable guarantee for peace in the Korean peninsula and the Northeast Asia.
The DPRK's deterrent is able to precisely strike the aggressive bases no matter where they are.
The US is the only nuclear war criminal that brought about nuclear holocaust on this planet, and the empire of evil that made the nuclear weapons first and have most of them, while vociferating denuclearization and non-proliferation of the nuclear.
The nuclear weapon, however, is not the monopoly of the US. The time in which the US made blackmail against the DPRK with nuclear has gone for ever.
Depending on its war deterrent, the DPRK can deal a heavy blow to the US, the chieftain of aggression and war.
The aggressive ambition of the imperialists never changes, and the country's sovereignty must be defended with the strong self-defensive power instead of petition.
The nuclear confrontation between the DPRK and the US eloquently tells this.
2) Eight Famous Scenes of the Songun Era
With her beautiful mountains and clear water, Korea has been called the golden tapestry of three thousand ri, and the Korean people have had the custom of being proud of the eight famous scenes in their areas.
They have had many sets of the eight famous scenes in their respective areas including the eight famous scenes in Kwanso and the eight famous scenes in Kwandong areas.
This tells that the Korean people have loved their native places and country.
The eight famous scenes of the Songun era is the glorious symbol of Juche Korea that reflects the spirit of the era with which she advances under the banner of Songun.
The eight famous scenes of the Songun era are Sunrise on Mt. Paektu, Snowscape of the Dwarf Pine Post, Royal azaleas on Chol Pass, Night as bright as day on the Jangja River, Resounding Ullim Falls, Boundless Handure Plain, Sea of potato flowers at Taehongdan and Poman-ri fairyland.
The eight famous scenes of the Songun era represent new beautiful landscape in the era.
The grandiose Sunrise on Mt. Paektu that dyes the land in crimson glow in a moment, starting in the cliffs of Mt. Paektu led by the Janggun Peak and all other scenic spots are wonderful enough.
They carry the look of the era.
The Songun era is the great era in which the Korean people had death-defying struggle to defend the destiny of the country and socialism in the confrontation with the imperialists and in which they are building a thriving socialist country on a higher stage.
This era gave birth to the eight famous scenes of the Songun era that reflect the invincible power, spirit, conviction, and will of Songun Korea.
Grandiose snow-capped Mt. Paektu in the northern part of Korea is kept in the mind of the Korean people as the symbol of national spirit and patriotism, along with the time-honored national history of 5 000 years.
Defending the sovereignty of the Korean nation with the bright rays of the Juche idea, Mt. Paektu stands as the sacred mountain that announces victory of the Songun revolution.
The sunrise on Mt. Paektu is the first beauty that symbolizes the greatness of General Kim Jong Il, the peerlessly great man and brilliant commander of the Songun revolution.
This reflects the grand aspiration of General Kim Jong Il to consummate the revolutionary cause of Juche started by President Kim Il Sung and to make the Korean people the most independent and happy people.
The eight famous scenes of the Songun era reflect the strong will and death-defying fighting spirit of the Korean people who are building the thriving country in adversities and the proud creations they have made in this process.
Night as bright as day on the Jangja River, one of the eight famous scenes of the Songun era reflects the Kanggye spirit with which the Korean people turned the arduous march and the forced march into the march towards the paradise through the death-defying brave offensives in the frontline of defending the socialism under the Songun leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea.
In the period of the arduous march and the forced march in the 1990s, the people in Jagang Province who are absolutely faithful to the leader rose as one in the struggle to implement the initiatives and will of the leader, instead of kneeling down before the difficulties.
Jagang Province had more difficulties than the other provinces. In this difficult period, the working class in Jagang Province asked for work, not for food. They fulfilled the tasks given by leader Kim Jong Il, working in factories with the preparedness of not leaving the machines idle by.
The working class and the people in this province newly built or reinforced 29 medium- and small-sized power stations, increasing the generating capacity in over 6 months, with the revolutionary soldier spirit. With the electricity they generated, they operated about 170 local industrial factories and heated 21,300 houses and thus created the example in building and operating the medium- and small-sized power stations.
This example served as an important factor in creating innovations in the overall socialist construction.
They have the strong national self-respect and gut that the Korean people have nothing impossible to do and the extraordinary zeal and creative working method of leaping higher and faster.
They have the invincible conviction that they surely win victory as long as they have the Songun politics and the strong gut that those who laugh last laugh best.
Leader Kim Jong Il said that Jagang Province became dear to him in the period of the arduous march and called the fighting spirit of the working class and the people in this province the Kanggye spirit.
Bright light of Kanggye city is reflected on the Jangja River, as if the constellation of stars on the night sky descended recalling the unforgettable days of the arduous march and the forced march, thus showing mysterious and picturesque scene.
Night as bright as day on the Jangja River implicitly tells the spirit of the Korean people who worked and created more for the bright future, smiling off the difficulties under the slogan "Let us go the thorny path cheerfully!"
Boundless Handure Plain tells the grand nature-remaking initiative of the Workers' Party of Korea to turn all fields into the socialist land, the granary in the Songun era for the comprehensive mechanization through land administration. It also tells the process of realizing the initiative.
When we make the paddy and non-paddy fields into standardized fields through land administration, we can free the peasants from the arduous labor through mechanization and acquire new lands. The DPRK with the limited arable land finds the reserve of increasing grain in land administration.
The DPRK administered land by the method of doing this first in Kangwon Province which was backward in the land administration and had unfavorable working condition and generalizing the experience.
The Korean People's Army soldiers and the people successfully fulfilled the plan in each stage without suspending a moment, inventing new machines creatively.
This was followed in North Phyongan Province, South Hwanghae Province, South Phyongan Province and Pyongyang City, thus making new turning history in the land administration.
Looking into the far future of 10 or 50 years ahead, the DPRK boldly administered land and thus made the fields into large-size standardized fields and acquired new lands by administering waterways and roads.
The grandiose Boundless Handure Plain made by removing small patch fields gives fresh feeling.
Sea of potato flowers at Taehongdan tells the initiative of the Workers' Party of Korea to make the DPRK the land of potato for the betterment of the people's food.
Potato flowers that begin to bloom in late June are in full blossom in mid- and late July, covering the vast Taehongdan field.
The grandiose scene of the dancing white potato flowers gives the people the hope of and optimism in the future.
Sea of potato flowers at Taehongdan was made in the building of a thriving socialist country in the northern part of the country thanks to the Songun politics.
The eight famous scenes of the Songun era are the noble fruit of the Songun politics and the noble creation made in the Songun era.
The eight famous scenes of the Songun era reflect leader Kim Jong II's warm love and devotional service for the country and people and the Korean people's patriotism.
They also reflect the strong desire and ardent socialist patriotism of the Korean people to build a thriving socialist country as soon as possible, true to the great initiative of the Workers' Party of Korea.
The eight famous scenes of the Songun era are the proud treasure of the Korean nation. The eight famous scenes of the Songun era give great national pride and self-respect to the Korean people who live and work in the Songun era and encourage them to the building of a thriving country.
The eight famous scenes of the Songun era are added with new successes achieved in the building of a thriving country, creating the ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth famous scenes of the Songun era.
At 46 seconds, 49 minutes, 9 a.m. on December 12, 2012, satellite Kwangmyongsong 3-2 flied soaring into the space.
In 9 minutes and 27 seconds after its launch, Kwangmyongsong 3-2 separated from vehicle Unha-3 and entered its orbit, sending the immortal revolutionary songs "Song of General Kim Il Sung" and "Song of General Kim Jong Il."
Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said.
"That we successfully manufactured and launched the scientific and technological satellite by entirely relying on our own efforts, technology, and wisdom was an event of national jubilation that raised the dignity and honor of the Sun's nation onto the highest level and a great event which inspired all the service personnel and people with confidence in sure victory and courage and clearly showed that Korea does what it is determined to do."
The satellite is equipped with all available products of the modern economy, science, and technology at their highest sophistication.
The whole process of manufacturing and launching the satellite is the combination of modern application science and technology including electronic, mechanic, controlling, outer space, electronic element and system engineering.
To launch a satellite, we need metallurgical industry and machine industry, computer industry, software industry and communications equipment.
Without the developed economy, science, and technology, it is impossible to manufacture and launch a satellite.
Kwangmyongsong 3-2 is the earth observation satellite. It is the polar orbit satellite with the perigee of 499.7 km, the apogee of 584.18 km, the cycle of 95 minutes and 29 seconds and the slope angle of 97.4°.
It is flying along the solar synchronous polar orbit.
The solar synchronous polar orbit is one of the special orbits. It is widely used and requires high level of technology that tells the level of technological development of a country.
The successful launch of Kwangmyongsong 3-2 is the historic event that demonstrated the power of Juche industry and the country's scientific and technological potentials and proved the prestige of the DPRK that makes fast advances.
With the launch of this satellite, Kwangmyongsong is well known as the representative of the DPRK's state power.
The blue sky in which Kwangmyongsong 3-2 is flying is a new scenic spot created in the Songun era.
The DPRK has the satellite flying in the sky and is building paradise on land.
This fact tells the bright future of the DPRK.
New famous scenes representing the Songun era will be created more and more.
The future of a thriving country where the state power is strong, everything is bountiful and the people live an unenviable happy life will be hastened, creating new scenic spots in the Songun era.
3) Era of June 15 Reunification
The Korean nation is a homogeneous nation that has created brilliant culture, for 5,000 years.
The Korean nation was divided into north and south by the foreign forces in the 1940s, suffering for a long time.
Due to the division imposed by the foreign forces, completely different social systems were set up and huge human and material resources of the nation are spent to the political and military confrontation, laying obstacles to the common development and prosperity of the nation for more than half a century.
The reunification of Korea is the great desire and top task for the Korean nation.
Since the day of division, the Korean people have made vigorous struggle for national reunification.
However, a decisive turn was not made in the Korean people's struggle for national reunification, owing to the vicious moves of the US imperialists and anti-reunification forces.
When the DPRK was in the arduous march, the US and the south Korean authorities trumpeted that the DPRK would collapse within 3 days or 3 months or 3 years.
When the DPRK overcame the arduous march and strengthened the state power on the basis of the military power, the enemies began to talk of the doctrine of soft landing. This doctrine was a cunning trick to collapse the DPRK gradually, while maintaining moderate relations with the DPRK.
When the DPRK strengthened its arms with Songun, the US imperialists and their allied forces had to have relations with the DPRK, recognizing their setback in the strategy of collapsing her.
This trend made the south Korean conservative politicians and ruling class talk of the issue of the national reunification and the improvement of the north-south relation to maintain their ruling power. And the south Korean authority had to visit Pyongyang.
Between June 13 and 15, 2000, North-South Summit Talks were held in Pyongyang after 55 years of the national division.
The world mass media reported on a large scale great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il receiving Kim Dae Jung at the airport and passing honor guards of the ground, navy, and air forces of the Korean People's Army.
CNN and NHK and other media reported this news as the special event and the miracle in the 20th century, even delaying their planned news-report.
In a press centre in Seoul, 1,275 pressmen among which 503 foreign pressmen from 289 mass media among which 173 foreign media were busy since the early morning, covering this news.
On this day leader Kim Jong Il accompanied Kim Dae Jung to his guest house amidst the warm welcome of 600,000 Pyongyang citizens and had talks and posed souvenir photo with him.
In the exclusive talks with Kim Dae Jung, leader Kim Jong Il proposed to conclude a declaration that can give 70 million Korean people the hope for the national reunification and optimism for the future.
Leader Kim Jong Il actively proposed the principled and important issues for national reunification such as the issue of reunifying the country independently by the efforts of the Korean nation, the issue of the ways of reunification, the issue of repatriation of the long-term unconverted prisoners, the issue of exchange of the visiting groups of the separated families and relatives and the issue of the north-south talks, leading the talks towards the settlement of the issues.
As a result, the North-South Joint Declaration with 5 items with By Our Nation Itself as the core was adopted.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said that the historic Pyongyang meeting and the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration ushered in a new era for the great national unity and the independent reunification.
The North-South Joint Declaration was the declaration of independent reunification that declared to reunify the country independently By Our Nation Itself, the master of the reunification. And it was the reunification-oriented declaration that made it possible to put an end to the confrontation and threat of war between the north and south and to build confidence among the compatriots.
The June 15 North-South Joint Declaration carries the truth that the independence only is the life of the nation and is full of love for the compatriots who are linked with one nation and one bloodline that can not be divided by any physical barriers or the passage of time.
It also carries the ardent desire to unite all the compatriots, removing the shameful history of national division.
The birth of this declaration was a historic national event made by the Songun politics of leader Kim Jong II.
According to a senior researcher in Hawaii Institute for the Research of East and West, the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration is the product of the Songun politics. The Pyongyang meeting was made by the power of Songun force of arms of the north. With the north's line of independent reunification supported by the military power, the historic declaration of the independent reunification that promised to reunify the country by the Korean nation itself.
After the Pyongyang meeting and the adoption of the North-South Joint Declaration, it became the main trend in south Korea to praise, trust, and follow leader Kim Jong Il.
Thanks to the will and firm decision of leader Kim Jong Il, the landmark of the reunification was provided in less than three days. Feeling his great quality, the south Korean people and the overseas compatriots respected him, saying "general of the generals," "the man with the ocean-wide character" and "the man with distinguished decision."
Radio-1 in south Korea reported "The north and the south adopted the joint declaration in the limelight of the world and thus wonderfully decorated the first stage of independence. To conclude the unexpected agreement so soon is enough to demonstrate the reserved power of Kim Jong Il, Chairman of the National Defense Commission."
According to the poll against 995 students conducted by a university institute in Seoul, 900 students, 90% of the opinion poll volunteers answered "General Kim Jong Il is the leader of the great hope for the national reunification."
In the past, the south Korean people worshiped and feared the US.
But now they understand that the US imperialists are aggressors and plunders not liberators and helpers, and the root cause of the national sufferings and colonial slavery.
The south Korean people who understand that the US is the main obstacle to Korea's reunification not ally or friend conduct anti-US independent struggle, under the slogan "Let's regain with anti-US the land ruined with pro-US!"
After the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration came into force, a lot of events unprecedented in the history of the national division took place in the inter-Korean relations, promoting reconciliation and cooperation in different fields.
Amidst the disturbing moves of the US and reactionary conservatives, the north-south ministerial talks took place on over 10 occasions, special envoy's visits and talks on 3 occasion, the North-South Economic Cooperation and Promotion Committee meetings on 4 occasions and its working level talks on 19 occasions, between July 29, 2000 and April 2003.
In this process, inter-Korean contacts and visits were activated on a civilian level.
The DPRK sent its sports teams and supporting groups to the 14~ Asia Athletic Game held in Pusan, south Korea in autumn 2002 and the 22th World University Students' Sports Game in Taegu, south Korea in summer 2003, creating reunification atmosphere.
The north and south teams marched together in the opening ceremony of the 15th Asia Athletic Game held in Doha, Qatar in December, 2006, creating the reunification and reconciliation atmosphere.
On the occasion of the 3rd anniversary of adopting the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration, the ceremony of connecting the railways in the East and the West coasts in the north and south took place on June 14, 2003.
The North-South Summit Meeting took place again in Pyongyang in October 2007.
After the adoption of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration, the struggle to implement it faced the vicious challenges of the separatist forces home and abroad.
The US Bush Administration checked the development of the inter-Korean relations, running wild to start another war to overthrow the DPRK by force.
As one sheep follows another, the south Korean extreme conservative forces followed the US.
With the strong power built by Songun, however, the Korean nation conducted vigorous struggle for the reunification, smashing their anti-reunification moves.
Before the strong stand of the DPRK based on strong military power, the US had to sign the September 19 joint statement in 2005 and the February 13 agreement in 2007, promising not to threaten the DPRK with nuclear weapons.
In this situation, the Declaration for the Development of the North-South Relations and for Peace and Prosperity was adopted on October 4, 2007.
This declaration confirmed the idea By Our Nation Itself as the landmark of Korea's reunification and clarified the ways to implement it.
The declaration mentioned the issue of building military confidence between the north and the south, the practical proposal for establishing the peace mechanism, the acceleration of the broad economic cooperation for common prosperity of the nation, the proposal of establishing the peaceful and cooperative area in the West Sea, the issue of sending the north and the south supporting groups to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games by the Korean West coastal railways, the issue of starting tourism in Mt. Paektu, etc.
The Korean people's struggle for reunification took place vigorously with the adoption of the October 4 Declaration.
The June 15 North-South Joint Declaration and the October 4 Declaration, the practical programme to implement the former are the fruit brought by the Songun politics.
At present, the Korean nation in the north, south, and abroad have the national pride and self-respect with the Songun politics.
The Korean nation is awakened to the truth that it can neither defend the national dignity with only talks nor achieve independent national reunification by begging to others.
The entire Korean nation, therefore, sympathizes with and supports the Songun politics that enables it to defend the national sovereignty and dignity and hasten the national reunification.
Jin Chol, professor of the political sciences forum in the 21st century, south Korea wrote an article under the title "All Compatriots Live under the Songun Blessings."
"I have received the Songun blessings without repayment in spite of myself. I thank to but never can repay the great care of General Kim Jong Il.
General Kim Jong Il is the Sun of Songun who made force of arms the sword of fortune for the first time. With him, all compatriots enjoy the Songun blessings which will be immortal with Kim Jong Il.
The Songun blessings get ever-strong when defended with life, ever-growing when got devotion and ever-warming when followed with sincerity.
Let's repay the thankful Songun blessings with sincerity!
The life and the future of the compatriots belong to Songun, the privilege of the nation.
Let's follow the Songun politics of General Kim Jong Il sincerely, with the pride of the blessed nation!"
These miraculous events unprecedented in the history of the reunification movement are not accidental but great victory made by Songun that leads the world political structure.
Owing to the vicious moves of the US and the south Korean conservatives, the inter-Korean relations were checked in hold, creating trials in implementing the June 15 Joint Declaration.
The enemies brought about the danger of aggressive war on the Korean peninsula, resorting to the national confrontation and provocative moves against the reunification.
The idea and will of the June 15 Joint Declaration, however, will never change till the day of national reunification, the top desire of the nation.
That is because By Our Nation Itself is the common desire of the nation that is guaranteed by force of arms.
Under the banner of Songun that defends the national destiny and illumines the road of reunification, and under the idea of the June 15 Joint Declaration, all the Korean people will surely smash the moves of the US and the anti-reunification conservatives and reunify the country.
4) The World Following the Road of Anti-imperialism and Independence
"It is the common fighting task for the progressive people to defend independence against imperialism. The progressive peoples over the world must intensify the struggle ceaselessly against the imperialists and win final victory."
This is part of the report delivered by Jose Francisco Aguillar Bulgarelli, president of the Latin-American Institute for the Study of the Juche Idea to the World Congress for Anti-Imperialist Independent Cause in the 21st Century held between September 30 and October 1, 2005 in Caracas, the capital of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
The delegations and delegates from over 40 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe and 2 international organizations, the figures from Venezuela government and political parties attended the Congress.
The participants spoke that Juche Korea stands in the limelight as the invincible fortress of socialism under the banner of Songun, encouraging the progressive and anti-imperialist people.
They confirmed that Songun is the best way to defend the people's independence and achieve the independent development and prosperity of their nations.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Songun politics gives a blow to the aggressive forces of imperialism and encouragement to the anti-imperialist independent forces in the international arena, stimulating the cause of making the whole world independent."
The Congress adopted the letter reverently to great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il who leads the cause of socialism and the cause of anti-imperialism with the original Songun politics and the Caracas Declaration on the Anti-Imperialist Independent Cause in the 21st Century.
At present, many Latin American countries intensify the movements to follow the road of independence and progress against the imperialist neo-liberalism and globalization.
The Latin American countries have bountiful metal and non-metal ore resources, forestry, and fishery resources and energy resources ranging from hydro, oil, crude gas and coal to geothermal energy.
Latin America was regarded as "tranquil backyard" of the US, being invaded, plundered, and interfered by the US imperialists more than any other parts of the world.
In Latin America, all attempts for economic, social, and political change that go against the US interests were suppressed by the direct military intervention of the domestic reactionary forces and the US imperialists for decades.
Owing to the dominationist moves of the US imperialists, the Latin American people's struggle to build independent and peaceful new world was faced with trials.
In the new century, the US imperialists intensify its domination over this part under the signboard of economic aid, abolition of debt, democratization, human rights, anti-terrorism and denuclearization.
The Latin American countries that understood the anti-imperialist independence is for prosperity through their practical life fight against the aggressive and interfering policy of the US against Latin America.
In November 2007, the Ibero-America Summit Meeting was held. In the meeting, Latin American countries appealed to unite to defend their interests and achieve the common development and prosperity against the US dominationist moves.
Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Argentine, and many other countries in Latin America repudiate the US in the field of economic trade, opposing the proliferation of liberal democracy and the establishment of American Free Trade Zone claimed by the US.
ALBA Bank was officially set up in the summit meeting of the ALBA (Latin-American Bolivar Alternatives) member-states held in January 2008.
The goal of ALBA Bank is to accelerate the independent economic development, freeing the ALBA member-states from the fetters of the World Bank and other Western financial organizations in the economic trade activities.
In the Summit Meeting of South America for Energy held in 2007, they decided to reorganize the South American Community, the economic cooperative organization for integration of the region into the South American Union and organized its permanent secretariat. And they agreed to organize the South American Energy Council for integration in the field of energy.
7 South American countries signed the document on establishing the South Bank in December 2007, thus opening vista for the economic integration in the region.
The significant historic event was the birth of the CELAC (Latin-America and Caribbean State Community) in Venezuela in December 2011 that included all the Latin American and Caribbean countries excluding the US and Canada.
The US has maintained the dominating position in Latin America through the OEA (American States Organization) established in 1948, putting unfair sanctions and pressures upon the countries like Cuba that do not follow it.
Many countries complained about the US that acts as it wishes irrespective of the will of the member-states.
Reflecting this public opinion, the countries in this region aspired for a new organization that ensures equality, finally establishing the CELAC.
The CELAC that includes the member-states that have a lot of commonness in history and culture can surely intensify its autonomy and emphasize the regional importance in the international arena.
It denounces the US anti-Cuba moves in concerted action of its members, extending solidarity with Cuba.
The 1% CELAC and EU summit meeting that included over 60 countries in January 2013 extended full solidarity with the Cuban people who fight against the long-standing US sanctions.
This summit meeting meant the end of the OEA, the US servile organization.
La Nacion (The Nation), a Bolivian newspaper wrote that the new community would solve the important problems in Latin American and Caribbean countries, with a cartoon in which a vessel named the OEA sinks.
According to a Mexican analyst, the birth of a new community is a link of the changes occurring in the world and the region, and the changes meant that the US instruction has no more meaning and the growth of the regional alliances give new balance of the forces.
Latin America is no more "tranquil backyard" of the US. At present, Latin America defends the national sovereignty and achieves unity, stability, and peace in the region, smashing the arbitrariness and tyranny of imperialism.
This gives a heavy blow to the dominating and aggressive moves of the imperialists.
Africa also fights to build an independent and fair new world against domination and subjugation.
The African countries established the African Union, through which they raise voice in the international arena. The establishment of the AU is a turning point in unity, cooperation, prosperity, and development of the African countries.
The unanimous view of the African countries is that the unity and cooperation of the African countries are valuable asset for achieving the development goal of the continent and for this, they must enhance the function and role of the AU and the regional cooperative organizations.
The 20th AU and Government Summit Meeting was held in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia between January 27 and 28, 2013 amidst the international concern.
In the opening address, the chairman of the AU spoke that the member-states must display their political will to solve the crisis themselves, stressing that the summit meeting is more significant as it is held on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of founding the OAU (Organization of African Unity), the predecessor of the AU.
At present, the AU plays big part in realizing the unity, peace, and stability in the continent, while strengthening the Union.
The AU makes efforts to solve the problems of regional disputes by themselves for peace and stability. It also tries to make effective use of the regional resources, reducing the dependency on the Western "aid" for the development of the continent.
Regarding that the future of the continental development depends on the African people, the African countries try to achieve progress and prosperity of the continent and defend their dignity and interests in the international arena.
These changes occurring in the international arena tell that the era in which the imperialists led and controlled the world peace has gone forever and that the future of humanity is bright when all countries develop, exercising equal rights.
The acceleration of the multi-polarization of the world economy is noteworthy in the development of the international situation towards independence.
In the BRICS Summit Meeting held in Durban, South Africa between March 26 and 27, 2013, they discussed the issue of establishing the BRICS Development Bank consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa that hold big position in the gross product of the world, population, and the amount of trade.
The Development Bank manages the issue of the use of the national currencies in the trade clearance and the issue of loan offering and so on.
It is not accidental that an expert of Russian Foreign Ministry spoke "The world is now looking for the currency that will replace USD. It is one of the tendencies that the BRICS members establish the Development Bank. The Development Bank is, in essence, the challenge to the US and USD."
This is a blow to the US that takes a lordly manner with the bags of dollars.
At present, the US moves of domination and neocolonialism are in crisis.
It is one of the trends that anti-imperialist independence sweeps all over the continents and regions.
The imperialist moves of domination are frustrated and the world advances towards independence by the people's struggle for independence, peace, and progress.
The Songun politics illumines the road of anti-imperialist independence, the common desire and life demand of the progressive peoples over the world.
For its great attraction, the Songun politics grasps the heart of the people and encourages them to the just struggle.
In the world political arena, the people try to learn after the Songun politics on a wide scale, regarding that Songun is the expression of this era that reflects the main trend of times and that the DPRK's Songun politics is not confined only to one country.
The attraction of the Songun politics cannot be disturbed like streams flowing to ocean.
With the intensification of the struggle for anti-imperialism and independence, the Songun politics demonstrates its power more and more and with the passage of time, the progressive people's desire to follow Songun gets ever-strong.
On the other hand, the imperialists fear the power of the Songun politics. VOA mentioned that the US tragedy is that it can not calculate the greatness of the powerful Songun politics of leader Kim Jong II.
Songun is the only way to smash the arbitrariness and tyranny and defend independence, dignity, truth, and justice.
Under the banner of Songun, the progressive people will surely build an independent, fair, and prosperous new world on this planet.
The future of humanity belongs to Songun.
5. Carrying Forward Songun
"The struggle of the masses of the people for the cause of independence, the cause of socialism, is accompanied by confrontation of power with imperialism and all sorts of other counter-revolutionary forces. Therefore, military affairs emerge as a matter of key importance on which hangs victory or failure in the revolution and the rise or fall of a country or a nation."
Kim Jong Il
Above mentioned are the principle of the Songun revolution, the guidelines of the Songun revolution and the Songun politics.
These are the main structure and contents of the Songun idea.
Now, we come to the reality of the DPRK that vigorously advances under the banner of Songun.
Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un is defending the destiny of the Korean nation and wisely leading the building of a thriving country under the banner of Songun.
Kim Hyong Jik, Korean outstanding leader of the anti-Japanese national liberation movement issued the idea of "Aim High."
The idea of "Aim High" provides us with the revolutionary view of life with which we find the true worth and happiness in the struggle for the country and with the indomitable revolutionary spirit to liberate the deprived country at any cost even by fighting down through generations.
The inheritance of the revolution is the inheritance of the ideology. The idea of "Aim High" is successfully inherited by President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il.
Great leader Kim Il Sung who inherited the idea of "Aim High" as the most valuable revolutionary heritage traversed arduous untrodden road.
With the unique Songun revolutionary leadership, he led the anti-Japanese armed struggle to victory and liberated the country, frustrated the armed invasion of the US imperialists and built a strong socialist state independent in politics, self-sufficient in economy and self-reliant in defense.
True to the noble idea of President Kim Il Sung, leader Kim Jong Il made the untrodden long march of Songun.
Leading the death-defying confrontation with the imperialists that is like a world war to victory, leader Kim Jong Il defended the country and made immortal contributions to the building of a thriving socialist country and to the struggle for national reunification.
Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un follows the road of Songun traversed by President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il.
Holding the baton of the revolution, respected Comrade Kim Jong Un is wisely leading the Korean people on the road of Songun, in order to add glory to Kim Il Sung's nation and Kim Jong II's Korea.
Thanks to respected Comrade Kim Jong Un's wise leadership, the DPRK defends socialism and pushes ahead with the building of a thriving country, smashing the imperialist suffocation moves against the DPRK and thus demonstrates her dignity.
1) The First Public Speech that Moved the World
On April 15, 2012, in the limelight of the world, respected Comrade Kim Jong Un made a public speech "Let Us March Forward Dynamically towards Final Victory, Holding Higher the Banner of Songun" at the military parade held in celebration of the centenary of the birth of great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang, the DPRK.
In general, the first public speech of a leader takes an important place because through the speech the main direction of the leader's policy is characterized.
The world mass media lent their ears to the voice of Pyongyang.
In his speech, respected Comrade Kim Jong Un gave perfect and scientific answers to all problems arising in holding invariably the banner of Songun and in achieving final victory of the Songun revolution.
In his speech, he mentioned that the Korean people are demonstrating dignity as an invincible independent people, thanks to the wise Songun leadership and Songun politics of President Kim II Sung and leader Kim Jong II.
The Korean peninsula is in the position of strategic importance that connects the continent and the ocean, in geopolitical aspect. Due to this fact, the neighboring big powers contended to bring Korea under their thumbs in the past, imposing sufferings upon her.
The foreign aggressors competed with each other to swallow Korea that became weak, because of the idling feudal rulers and their flunkeyist idea.
In less than 10 years after the "General Sherman," the US imperialists' ship was sunk in the Taedong River, the "Unyo-maru," the ship of the vicious Japanese imperialists planned an armed provocation with the ambition of making the legal excuse of aggression to Korea.
After this incident, the Japanese imperialists imposed aggressive and subordinate unequal treaty, but the Korean feudal government was unable to repulse it. The "Kanghwado Treaty" was fabricated in February 1876.
Since then, Korea became semi-colony of the Japanese, without resistance against all sorts of humiliation and became complete colony, at last. All the Korean people lamented, crying over the ruined country but Korea had no force to check the Japanese gangster-like moves.
The geopolitical position can not be the fundamental condition that decides the destiny of a country or nation. Nevertheless, Korea had to accept the aggression and pillage as inescapable fate.
The geopolitical position of the Korean peninsula did not change.
However, with great leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, ever-victorious iron-willed commanders of Songun, Korea could put an end once and for all to the history of the ruined nation.
Korea, once a small and weak country has become strong invincible military power that can smash the enemy at once.
This is not accidental but is attributed to the fact that great leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il strengthened the invincible revolutionary force under the banner of Songun.
In the course of the Korean revolution, there had been death-defying confrontation with the strong imperialists and big projects to build a powerful country. In these days, the Korean People's Army (KPA) defended the lifeline of the Juche revolution in the van under the banner of devotedly defending the leader.
The KPA that began with the two pistols became strong invincible army that the imperialists fear. The military and technical superiority is no more monopoly of the imperialists, and the time in which the enemy threatened Korea with atom bombs has gone forever.
Since the word "people" was put on its name, the KPA not only defends the country but also creates the people's happiness, participating in the building of a prosperous country. The monumental edifices and the socialist wealth for the people tell the devotional efforts of the KPA.
The strong Paektusan revolutionary army that demonstrates its might as the army of the leader, the army of the Party and the army of the people is the biggest patriotic heritage left by great leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Korea is proud of this noble heritage.
In his speech, respected Kim Jong Un illuminated the road of Kim Il Sung's nation in the new Juche century.
Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un said.
"If we are to add eternal glory to the dignity of Songun Korea and bring the cause of building a thriving socialist country to a successful conclusion, we should, above all else, comprehensively strengthen the KPA."
Independence is the life and soul and a guide to victory for a country and nation. The dignity, power, and prosperity depend on a strong independent principle and mentality of a nation.
Songun is the ever-victorious sword of the Korean revolution. Songun firmly guarantees the bright future of Kim Il Sung's nation and Kim Jong II's Korea.
Socialism is the ideal of the Korean people. The bright future of the Korean people is in the building of a thriving socialist country.
The firm guarantee for independence, Songun, and socialism is in fully strengthening the Korean People's Army.
If the army falls, a country, nation, sovereignty, and happiness are all inconceivable.
Apart from the army, we can not defend the destiny of a country, nation, and the people.
The Korean People's Army must be the reliable vanguard of the Songun revolution that guarantees the cause of the Party with force of arms under the leadership of the Party.
The revolutionary nature of the Korean People's Army does not change with the passage of time. And it is the fighting method of the strong Paektusan revolutionary army to advance with the red flag of the WPK as the top standard.
Respected Kim Jong Un's speech is the proud summery of the 80-year long history of the Korean People's Army that was strengthened into strong invincible revolutionary army, the main force of the Songun revolution in the care of great leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
His speech is also permeated with his noble idea of defending the cause of the Party with force of arms.
His speech was the historic speech that indicated that it is invariable reference of the revolution and eternal strategy of the struggle to follow the Songun idea and the Songun politics of the Party.
This was the declaration of the strong will to add glory to the history of Kim Il Sung's nation and Kim Jong II's Korea with the might of the strong Paektusan revolutionary army.
His militant appeal "Forward towards final victory!" moves the heart of the army and the people and encourages them to new miracles and merits.
With the light and heat, the sun gives life to all things. The revolutionary leader leads the people's struggle for independence with ideology and theory.
The height of a great man is in his great philosophy and ideology. In this sense, we can say the height of a great man is the height of his philosophical wisdom and ideology.
The height of great Kim Jong Un is in the height of his distinguished ideological and theoretical wisdom. Indeed, he is the outstanding thinker and theoretician and guide of the era.
With his outstanding ideological and theoretical activities, he leads the Korean people along the road of Songun.
This is well proved by the fact that he wrote many works in 2012 such as "The Great Kim Il Sung Is the Eternal Leader of Our Party and People," "Let Us Brilliantly Accomplish the Revolutionary Cause of Juche, Holding the Great Comrade Kim Jong Il in High Esteem as the Eternal General Secretary of Our Party," "Let Us Step up the Building of a Thriving Country by Applying Kim Jong II's Patriotism," "On Bringing about a Revolutionary Turn in Land Administration in Line with the Demands for Building a Thriving Socialist Country," "Become Pillars Supporting a Prosperous Future Korea" and "Our Social Sciences Should Make a Positive Contribution to the Accomplishment of the Cause of Modelling the Whole of Society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism," clarifying the way ahead of the era and the revolution.
Since the start of his leadership, the DPRK creates the unprecedented miracles and innovations. This reality confirms the originality, validity, and vitality of his ideology and theory.
Indeed, respected Kim Jong Un is the outstanding thinker and theoretician who illuminates the road of the era, with incomparably outstanding traits and quality of a great man and with the original ideological and theoretical activities.
Respected Kim Jong Un who guides the era is the top leader of Korea and the symbol of the strong might and victory of Songun Korea.
At present, the hearts of the Korean people are full of the conviction that they will surely win victory as long as they have respected Kim Jong Un.
With the great Paektusan brilliant commander who leads the army and the people along the road of Songun with outstanding ideology and theory, the Korean people advance towards final victory.
2) Super Hard Line against Hard Line
A writer in the Middle East wrote "The US is today's Procrustes. The US calculates everything according to its standard and if one goes against its standard, it does not hesitate to chastise him. The US 'Procrustean Bed' is for all countries, big or small."
According to the ancient Greek mythology, Procrustes was an evil who cruelly killed the passers-by. He brought short people to long bed and stretched them to the size of the bed and killed and brought tall people to a short bed and cut their legs according to the size of the bed.
The "Procrustean Bed" meant the tyrannical behavior of imposing all things by force.
Even now, there is the force that makes tyrannical and arbitrary behaviors upon other countries with the "Procrustean Bed" in the international arena. It is the US, the chief mastermind of injustice and the cancer of the world.
Vociferating that the US represents the common hope of humanity, it advertises that the world changes according to its "leadership and decision." Its hegemonic move depending on the military force is based on the reactionary idea of "unilateralism of the strong power."
It does not care for anything for the sake of its hegemony. This tells how far the US arrogance is gone. The world public opinion is shocked at this and denounced the US. "Due to the arbitrariness of the extremely arrogant US that is characterized by unilateralism, disorder like in the Medieval Age is caused and the international laws are completely ignored in the present world," "The US tries to turn back the world to the slave-holder society in which it can rule over everything like slave holder." This is natural comments.
The outrageous US intensified the aggressive and war moves to isolate and suffocate the DPRK which is advancing under the banner of independence, justice, and socialism.
Super hard line against the hard line!
This is the courage and gut of respected Kim Jong Un.
He has the strong courage that never tolerates even slightly the anti-justice behaviors and the strong gut with which he devotedly fights for the world peace and progress.
Under his Songun leadership, the Korean army and people safeguard the country's dignity, flatly smashing the aggressive and war provocative moves of the enemies.
When he inspected the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment and the Mu Islet Hero Defense Detachment, located in the hottest spot in the southernmost part of the southwestern sector of the front, he issued the order to give the immediate annihilating counterattacks and to switch over to the great war for the national reunification, if even one shell of the enemy falls on our territory.
Since then, these islets became well-known in the world.
Even the Korean people who pay great attention to the defense of the country hardly heard the names of these islets.
These islets are situated quite near Yonphyong islet on which the enemy fired guns in the territorial waters of the DPRK, in November 2010. These islets are the sharp confrontation spots.
Yonphyong islet situated in the Korean West Sea is a small islet with the area of 6.8 km² and the circumference of 18 km. This water area is richer in the species and amount of fish than other waters in the Korean West Sea. Therefore, this area has been envied even by the foreigners.
This area was, however, turned into the outpost for north-targeted invasion where the south hostile maniacs heavily deployed their naval corps and guns.
After the enemy fired guns from Yonphyong islet in our territorial waters, the Korean People's Army chastised the enemy with heavy physical blows.
Jangjae and Mu islets are the spots the enemy eagerly watch for a chance of provocation, thus being the focus of the world.
Respected Kim Jong Un visited these islets, the hottest spot to imbue the Korean People's Army soldiers with the indomitable idea and firm conviction to devotedly defend the country.
He again visited these islets on March 7, 2013 when the touch-and-going situation was created due to the reckless war exercise of the hostile forces headed by the US imperialists.
Ushering in 2013, the moves of the US imperialists became undisguised. In spite of the unanimous opposition and denunciation of the Korean people and the international community, the US imperialists and south Korea conducted the joint military exercise "Foal Eagle" supposing the north-targeted invasion from March 1 and "Key Resolve" from March 11.
These military exercises were the preliminary war for nuclear preemptive strike against the DPRK and the nuclear war test to invade her.
According to the information of the South Korean Puppet Defense Ministry, the US aggressive army in south Korea and 10,000-strong overseas US army and the huge armed force of south Korean puppet army participated in the military exercise "Foal Eagle" that took place between March 1 and April 30, and 3,500-strong US aggressive army and about 10,000-strong south Korean puppet army in the military exercise "Key Resolve" that took place between March 11 and 21. And the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier "George Washington" and B-52 strategic bombers and other sophisticated nuclear war equipment were mobilized. In addition, the armies of the US satellite states including UK and Australia that had participated in the past Korean War joined the exercise.
These exercises that involved huge armed forces and the nuclear strike means large enough to conduct a full war were the concentrative expression of the US anti-DPRK hostile policy and the dangerous acts to start another war on the Korean peninsula by all means.
It is the steadfast stand and principle of the DPRK to attack with swords, if the enemy come with daggers, destroy them with guns, if they come with rifles and smash them with more powerful nuclear precision strike means of her own, if they threaten with nuclear weapons.
Respected Kim Jong Un said that the soldiers of the Jangjae Islet Defense Detachment and the Mu Islet Hero Defense Detachment should keep alert watch on the enemy's every move and give the immediate annihilating counterattack, if even a shell falls on the waters and land where our sovereignty is exercised and thus start firing, the signal firing for the great war for the national reunification.
He stressed that the officers and soldiers of the army, navy, air, and anti-air force and strategic rocket force including the frontline units are fully ready for the all-out combat of our own style.
In addition, he said that he would issue the order to start the great war for the national reunification along all the frontlines, without missing the golden chance, if the enemy provoke even slightly in the sensitive water area.
He inspected Wollae Islet Defense Detachment, the hottest outpost in the west front, quite near the enemy's Paekryong Island, on March 11, 2013 in the tense situation that witnessed the climax of the enemy's reckless aggressive war moves.
After acquainting himself with the topography, the deployment of firepower equipment, the life conditions of the soldiers in detail, he stressed to put the enemy who plays with fire in the hottest area into the firing crucible, adding that those who like fire are bound to be burnt to death.
His instructions given while visiting the islet defense detachments planted in the mind of the Korean People's Army soldiers the will to mercilessly chastise the enemy and enabled them to demonstrate the might of the strong Paektusan revolutionary army.
In March 2013 alone, he continuously gave the unremitting Songun leadership to check the enemy's reckless acts and safeguard the country's sovereignty and the people's safety.
In this period, respected Kim Jong Un guided the live firing exercise to examine the practical combat capability of the artillery units that will strike the enemy's Yonphyong islet and Paekryong island, the target-blowing exercise by super precision drones, self-propelled anti-aircraft rocket firing exercise to shoot down low altitude cruise missiles, the landing and anti-landing exercises of the army corps and naval divisions.
The leadership of Kim Jong Un who made efforts to prepare the Korean People's Army to be invincible strong revolutionary army was also given to many units of the Korean People's Army, the winners of the title of O Jung Hup-led Seventh Regiment.
At 12.30 a.m. on March 29, 2013, he called an emergent operational meeting concerning the accomplishment of the firing mission of the strategic force in the supreme headquarters.
Respected Kim Jong Un examined the firing plan of the strategic rocket force and put the final signature on it, stressing that the force must mercilessly strike the US military bases in the US mainland, Hawaii, the Guam and in the Pacific operational areas and in south Korea.
He said that our revolutionary armed force will answer with merciless nuclear offensive to the US nuclear blackmail and answer with the just all-out war to its aggressive war.
He said that it is the truth proved by history that no force can check the people who rose for the just cause.
In addition, he said that if the unwanted war is started again on this land by the US imperialists, in the war the US imperialists will meet shameful destruction and the great Korean nation will meet a bright day of national reunification.
Respected Kim Jong Un made bold decision in the grave situation created by the nuclear war acts of the US imperialists. His decision was a turning point that brought about another victory in confrontation with the US. Under the wise leadership of respected Kim Jong Un, the Korean People's Army demonstrates its might as an invincible strong revolutionary army.
The Korean army and people who have Supreme Commander Kim Jong Un do not make empty talks. If the DPRK decides, she fights and if she fights, she surely wins. This is the nature of Songun Korea.
The soldiers of all the army units in the frontlines, all the services and arms, the Worker-Peasant Red Guards, the Red Youth Guards were fully ready for the all-out war according to the operational plan signed by Kim Jong Un.
The whole country was brimming over with the strong will to reunify the country, the top desire of the nation by dealing an immediate annihilating blow to the enemy, if a shell fell on its land.
If the US imperialists use the nuclear weapon, the DPRK will counterattack them with her own diversified precision nuclear strike means. Upon pressing the button, her strike means will turn everything into ashes in an instant.
If so, the US military bases will be scorched in a moment, ringing dirge of the American empire.
The Korean army and people will rise like a rock and mercilessly smash the invaders, with well-prepared strong Songun power.
Recalling those days, Jangjae and Mu islets tell that the Korean revolution started by force of arms will be successful with force of arms as they have respected Kim Jong Un, the Songun brilliant commander of Mt. Paektu and the DPRK will consummate the historic cause of national reunification, after defeating the aggressive war moves of the US imperialists and south Korean maniacs.
The DPRK with Kim Jong Un as the Supreme Commander is winning victory after victory in the confrontation with the US imperialists who boast of the strong might.
Respected Kim Jong Un is the great general who is leading the Korean revolution to victory on the road of Songun to defend the destiny of the country and nation.
Many countries kneel down before the US.
Earlier, Mussolini justified the aggressive doctrine, saying "the law of jungle is the fundamental law of human survival." This tells the nature of the imperialists who try to rule the world, pressing down the small and weak countries by force.
The reality proves that his remarks have no meaning any more.
The injustice of the big or strong military powers can never become justice.
When they counter the hard line of the imperialists with super hard line and cope by strong physical strike with the enemy's reckless provocations, they can defend the dignity of the country and nation.
As long as she has the Songun leadership of respected Kim Jong Un, the DPRK demonstrates her dignity as a great invincible Songun Korea.
3) At a Go
At a Go! This is a newly-born expression that implies the spirit of the DPRK.
This expression is often on the lips of the Korean people.
The Korean People's Army soldiers love this expression.
They build courage and strong will, reminding this expression. They prove merits and win victories, doing everything at a go. This is the traits of the Korean People's Army soldiers.
This banner of the Korean People's Army soldiers who are rushing towards the building of a thriving country carries the characteristics of the DPRK.
In the Songun era in which the Korean People's Army demonstrates its might as the main force of the revolution, the expression "At a go" symbolizes the courage and spirit of the soldiers who are engaged not only in defending the country but also in construction in a devotional manner.
The offensive spirit of "At a go" of the Korean People's Army is prevailing all over the DPRK.
Chollima statue stands in the centre of Pyongyang. This flying steed is fluttering its wings more vigorously in the 21st century, too as in the 20th century.
Miraculous events take place in every field and the DPRK on Chollima is advancing faster nearing final victory. The traits and advancing speed of the Korean People's Army and the people are implicit in this expression.
The DPRK is rushing on a shortcut road to realize her ideal with force of arms to the fore, under the Songun leadership of respected Kim Jong Un.
The Korean revolution has advanced against the imperialist moves of isolation and suffocation.
In recent difficult years, the Korean people had to make every effort to build powerful war deterrent that enables them to actively cope with the enemy that run wild to swallow the DPRK.
At present, many countries make efforts to achieve prosperity in a competitive way. This tells this era is the era of time competition and speed competition.
The vital problem of the Korean people now is to smash the enemy's aggressive moves at once. It is equally important for them to build the economic giant at once.
The Korean People's Army and the people build the thriving country, achieving prosperity and development overcoming difficulties without being satisfied with what they have already done.
The DPRK sets high goals and continuously create examples with the gut not to follow the developed countries but to overtake them with the spirit of "At a go."
The DPRK makes the timetable on the basis of the far-sighted bold goals instead of passive time-bound goals and creates a miracle after another.
The offensive spirit of "At a go" was created neither in the battles nor in the post-war debris.
This spirit of the Korean People's Army is getting stronger in trials. This is the quality of the Korean nation, Songun Korea that vigorously advances, achieving prosperity for the sake of the Party, the leader, the country and the people.
In 2012, this spirit enabled the Koreans to create numerous miracles.
Respected Kim Jong Un said.
"The officers and men of the People's Army and the People's Internal Security Forces made breakthroughs on all major fronts of building a thriving country with the mettle of 'At a go' and did many good things for the happiness of the people, thereby living up to the expectations and trust of the Party and people."
In 2012, the Korean people created a lot of events in the building of a thriving country and promotion of the people's living standard, surprising the people.
In these days, the complicated and acute situation was created and serious natural disasters came successively in the DPRK.
The Korean People's Army and the people, however, made great advance in the building of a thriving country and in the promotion of the people's living standard with the strong will and indomitable spirit.
Before the 100th birthday of President Kim Il Sung, Huichon Power Station was inaugurated.
This was a huge project that takes important position in solving the electricity problem of the country. For this project, they built large dam that embraces big artificial reservoirs on 600 meters high Rangnim mountains and built numerous pressure pipes and power lines, etc.
The foreigners who visited the building site of the power station in 2010 doubted whether they could finish the project by 2012, even admiring the project that was finished by over 60% in a short span of time.
This doubt was removed by the spirit "At a go" displayed by the Korean People's Army soldiers.
They finished the project, hastening the days in an unprecedented way.
They devoted their efforts with the ardent patriotism to finish at a go the project that was supposed to take 10 years.
When they began the project, they hardly knew how to drill or operate the building machines. They started with receiving technical intensive course.
These soldiers now received the state invention diplomas and the top invention diplomas of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
They were soldiers who were used to rifles but built the dam beyond the imagination of the experts in a three dimensional way, surprising the people.
They displayed the exploring and creative spirit, passing through the unknown world but guaranteed the best quality.
These spirits are represented by the slogan "Let us take responsibility for the safety of the project and guarantee its absolute quality for all eternity!" which was engraved on the dam of Ryongnim.
Thanks to the Korean People's Army soldiers who hasten the days with the spirit of "At a go," another huge monumental project could be finished.
"At a go" spirit is not confined only to the Korean People's Army soldiers.
This spirit is displayed also by the entire Korean people who advance shoulder to shoulder with respected Kim Jong Un.
The Korean people built Tanchon port in the Korean East Sea overcoming all difficulties with heroic struggle.
They finished the 2nd stage project of Kwaksan tideland reclamation and completed Nampho-Pyongyang sea water pipeline project.
They built numerous Juche-type and modern factories and wonderfully rehabilitated the factories in the key industrial sectors on the basis of the modern science and technology.
In 2012, a lot of monumental edifices were built in all parts of Pyongyang, changing the look of the capital city.
High or super high apartments were built near the beautiful Taedong River and the People's Theater and service centers were well built on the ground and underground in a three dimensional way. The plain working people live in the new apartments free of charge, enjoying the top convenience in their cultural life.
Rungna People's Pleasure Ground that has dolphinarium, wading pool, recreation centers and mini golf links was built in a perfect formative and artistic way.
Kim Hyong Jik University of Education was wonderfully rehabilitated and Changjon Primary School, Kyongsang Kindergarten and Kyongsang Nursery were well built, with the result that the youth and students and children acquire knowledge without envy at all.
Modern sports and medical service centers, commercial service centers and other service centers were beautifully inaugurated and thus we can hear the happy laughter of the people in all parts of the country.
Taekwon-Do Holy House, Yanggakdo Sports Quarter, People's Open-air Ice Rink, roller rinks and other sports centers were built in a huge way, encouraging the development of the country's sports.
Ryugyong Health Complex and Bath House No. 1 were erected as exemplary edifices, boasting of their modern architectural beauty.
Breast Tumor Institute of Pyongyang Maternity Hospital, Thongil Fitness Center and other mass medical service centers were built in a modern way, better serving the health of the people.
Mansugyo Meat and Fish Shop and Soft Drink Shop, Pothonggang Fish Shop were wonderfully built, and Pyongyang Folk Park was built on a large scale and Mangyongdae Recreation Park and Taesongsan Recreation Park and others were well rehabilitated according to the taste of the era.
The magnificent new streets, the modern architectural education and sports centers are the cream of love and treasure of the socialist Korea that embodies the noble view of people, country, and future of respected Kim Jong Un.
The monumental edifices sprung up in Pyongyang city in a short span of 1 year clearly demonstrate the true look of the great Kim Jong Un's era in which the top ideal of the people are realized in the offensive spirit of "Atago."
Along with the magnificent edifices built by the Korean people in the offensive spirit like lightning under the Songun leadership of Kim Jong Un, the expression "At a go" became the mode of building a thriving country.
In a short span of 1 year, the Korean people left brilliant traces in the Korean history and won victory in the sacred struggle for the consummation of the Juche revolutionary cause.
A saying goes that the universe is reflected on a drop of water.
Through the expression "at a go," we can see the great reality of the DPRK that rushes, leaping, and innovating, in firm unity around respected Kim Jong Un. This expression convinces the future of the DPRK that will continuously prosper.
"At a go" is the banner of great upsurge of the DPRK and the banner is respected Kim Jong Un.
The Korean service personnel and people who advance towards the building of a thriving country under the leadership of Kim Jong Un will speed up and the advance of the DPRK will reach the top speed.
At a go!
This expression will be the eternal symbol of Kim Il Sung's and Kim Jong II's Korea that leaps up at the top speed.
Conclusion
The Songun idea teaches a noble truth.
That is, the sovereignty, dignity, prosperity, and development of a country and nation go along with force of arms and the military power.
If force of arms and the military power are strong, the state power becomes strong, guaranteeing the dignity and prosperity whereas if they are weak, the state power becomes weak, disintegrating the country. History tells that the destiny of a country, the rise and fall of a country is linked with force of arms and the military power.
The power of force of arms is precisely the sovereignty of a country, the dignity of the people and the prosperity of the nation. When force of arms is strong, the state power becomes strong and its external prestige is enhanced, guaranteeing the bright future of the nation.
With strong military power, the power of justice, even a small country can be strong country and make prosperity. This is the reality of the DPRK that advances under the banner of Songun.
The Songun idea illuminates the world at present. The Songun idea encourages the anti-imperialist independent movement of the people in the 21st century and gives scientific clarification for the prosperity of a country and nation and thus leads the development of the era and illuminates the future of humanity.
The Zavtra, the Russian newspaper dated April 11, 2013 carried an article under the title "Comrade Kim Jong Un Wins."
It reads "The DPRK is the country of Songun, the untiring country and unbreakable heroic country that regards the independence, freedom, and inviolability chosen by the people as the biggest value. Amidst the enemy's bombs, blames, threats, and merciless propagating offensives, she has built the surprising civilization, the red world and invaluable crystal that are broadcasted to all the continents through numerous channels. The DPRK is fighting against the big powers. The DPRK teaches humanity the right choice."
The road indicated by the Songun idea is the true road to materialize the people's independence and defend the country's sovereignty and dignity and achieve the prosperity.
The Building of a Thriving Socialist Country
Preface
"The sacred revolutionary careers and immortal exploits of President Kim Il Sung and General Kim Jong II, who opened the new history of national independence by blazing a trail fraught with hardship for the sake of the Songun revolution and laid a solid basis for the prosperity of the country and the happiness of all the generations to come, will shine for all eternity in the history of our motherland."
Kim Jong Un
In this book, you will read how the centuries-old desire of humanity, the dream of prosperity came true in the reality of the DPRK where the Juche idea and the Songun idea were applied.
We are pleased even to hear the words of happiness and prosperity.
Everybody desires for happiness, as he psychologically wants happiness.
The happiness is also closely linked with the rise and fall of a country and nation, the big social collective. That is because man is a social being that is inconceivable, apart from the social collective, the country and nation.
People, therefore, have desired after the country and the world that would provide them with the happy life.
The outlines of the ideal society were depicted in "Utopia" of Thomas Moore and "City of the Sun" of Campanella.
They simply wrote the desire and the ideal of people, failing to give the practical possibility and the scientific way of realizing the desire. They were named as Utopian Socialism.
History recorded military commanders and political leaders who expanded their territory with continuous conquest wars or created the material wealth and built monuments, under the pretext of bringing about the people's happiness or country's prosperity. Their will and practice, however, proceeded from the one-sided understanding of the people's demand for happiness and their ideal for prosperous country.
It is very hard to materialize their essential demand for happiness and prosperity. Therefore, a head of state explained that the people wanted to ride a horse of "happiness," but were destined to run after the cart of "happiness."
Is this desire, then, impossible, only remaining as an ideal? No.
I try to help the readers understand the weight and the true value of the answer to this question through the explanation of how this desire is coming true in the DPRK that is building a thriving socialist country.
1. The Ideal of State-Building Based on "The People Are My God"
"Under the motto, 'The people are my god," which he adopted when he was young, Comrade Kim Il Sung mixed with people, shared weal and woe with them and devoted his all for them, throughout his life."
Kim Jong Il
How do you, the readers understand the word "ideal?"
According to the Korean Dictionary, an ideal is a representation of final goal of the people's life and activities.
Although you have a little difference in the understanding of this word but you may mainly agree with this definition.
People make every effort to materialize their ideals, throughout their life.
Their ideals might be different in value, according to what kind of view of life they have.
Those who have the individualistic view of life may regard the promotion and wealth as an ideal and thus try to materialize this egoistic ideal whereas those who have the collectivist view of life regard the contribution to the development of the collective as an ideal and devote themselves for its materialization. Human history knows those who have live true life, with a beautiful ideal of devoting themselves for the collective in stead of their own interests.
No heroes and political leaders, however, set it as their ideal to fully materialize the essential demand of the people.
The development, prosperity, and prospect of a country and the happiness of the people largely hinge on the leader's ideal and practical ability.
Therefore, all the people who desire for them are waiting for the leader equipped with the qualification and ability to materialize their desire.
Centuries-old history remembers those who had the noble virtue and the politicians who contributed to the national development and prosperity.
However, if they had wisdom, they lacked virtue and vice versa and therefore the leaders could not fully satisfy the expectation of the people, though they made contributions.
History, however, does not know the leaders who regarded the people as the most valuable beings and their essential demand and ideal as their own, devoting all their lives for the national prosperity and the people's happiness.
Korea situated in the sun-rising East is the country blessed with the great leaders who regard the people's desire for the national prosperity and happiness as their own ideal, devoting all their lives to realize their desire, as groped after so much by humanity.
1) The Ideal of Kim Il Sung
The Korean nation that has made brilliant history, with their extraordinary wisdom and talents since the ancient times was turned into the colony of the Japanese imperialists in the contemporary times, with its state power being extremely weakened, owing to the corrupted rulers of the Korean feudal government.
The Korean people had suffered from the miserable destiny of colonial slaves, being deprived of their state power and even their language, alphabet, and names.
The Korean people had been eager for the peerlessly great man who would save the destiny of the ruined country and build an ideal society free from exploitation and oppression.
Comrade Kim Il Sung who fought against the Japanese imperialists depending on the arms to save the nation was the great leader whom the Korean people had, for the first time, in thousands of years of long history.
After creating the Juche idea that regards the people as the most precious and powerful beings and that clarified the ways of realizing their demand for independence, he founded the Anti-Japanese People's Guerrilla Army, the first revolutionary armed force and conducted bloody struggle against the Japanese imperialists and thus restored the deprived country.
In the liberated country, he chose the road of progressive democracy, with the noble ideal he had kept since the days of the anti-Japanese struggle to build the thriving country where the people live without envy, as the masters of the country. In this course, he established the People's Democratic Republic that provides the people with the genuine freedom, rights, and happiness.
With the establishment of the Republic, the Korean people have become the true masters of the state and society, for the first time in the history and thus the national prosperity and the people's happiness fully ensured.
The three-year Korean War (1950-1953) ignited by the US imperialists was fierce war that decided the destiny of the country and the people.
While issuing the original strategy and tactics for victory of the war, shouldering the destiny of the country and the people upon himself, he planned the building of the thriving country and made full preparation for its realization.
With the far-sight into the future of the country, he called the students fighting in the fronts back to universities to continue the study, though it lacked the fighters. And he told the officials to begin the reclamation of the Paektu Plateau and complete the general plan for the post-war rehabilitation, in the flames of the war.
Since the fierce days of the Fatherland Liberation War, the enviable universal free medical care system has been enforced. This fact only tells his warm love for the people and far-sighted initiatives for the building of the rich and strong country.
One day in the wartime, a foreign pressman planned to visit the Supreme Headquarters to cover the war situation.
He was very keen on knowing the prospect of the war, concerning the large-scale "New Offensive" of the US imperialists.
After waiting for a while, he entered the room where Kim Il Sung was staying. He saw Kim Il Sung was reading something and a soldier standing by him, explaining something.
An official whispered him that the Supreme Commander was examining the soldier's study. Kim Il Sung was preparing the peoples who would study for the post-war rehabilitation.
In surprise, the pressman silently came out, without feeling the need to cover the war situation.
When the world was worrying about the destiny of the war which was too difficult for the young DPRK, the Supreme Commander took giant step towards the goal of building a rich and strong country, with the firm conviction in victory.
With the ever-victorious wisdom, strong will, ardent love for the people and the full conviction in the people's inexhaustible strength, Comrade Kim II Sung safeguarded the country against the armed invasion of the US imperialists. This is one of the great contributions he made to the country. Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung who had defeated two imperialist forces in one generation set it as his life-long goal to build the strong people-centered socialist state and made unremitting efforts for its realization.
Through Chollima Movement, he led the socialist revolution to victory and built the socialist country free from exploitation and oppression, the first of its kind in the East.
After having built the socialist country where the people become the masters and everything serves them, Kim Il Sung devoted his all to make socialist Korea dignified with independence and strong with self-sufficient economy and self-reliant defense.
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said.
"We have solved all problems of socialist construction our own way by adopting independent and creative stands and have built the socialist power we see today on the ruins of the war by displaying the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance and strenuous effort."
Thinking that there is no revolutionary formula or prescription universal to any times and any country, he placed the interests of the country, the revolution and the people to the fore, enforcing independent politics throughout his life, without agitating before the pressure and deception of the foreign forces.
He always went among the people to discuss the state affairs face to face with them and made the policies, reflecting their will and demand in conformity with the interests of the Korean revolution.
Proceeding from the requirement of the developing revolution and the then situation, he set forth the line of simultaneously building the economy and defense industry and strengthened the self-defensive power to safeguard the country's sovereignty and durable peace and thus built the strong military power, turning the country into the impregnable fortress.
In the short span of 14 years after the war, he built the socialist industrial state and solved the problems of the economic structure, raw materials, fuel, and technique from the Juche-oriented stand, thus laying the strong foundations of the self-sufficient economy.
In the period of building the independent economy, some officials, with a view to developing the economy, proposed to Comrade Kim Il Sung the plan of developing the economy on the basis of petroleum, as the other countries of the world did.
At this proposal, great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said that if we build the economy like that in Korea where petroleum is not available, our economy would lose independence, adding that we have to build the economy on the basis of our bountiful resources. As a result, the DPRK did not suffer from the oil crisis that had swept over the world in the 1970s, developing without being affected by the world economic upheavals.
With the far-sighted wisdom, the extraordinary insight and the motto of "The people are my God," he opened the great heyday in the Juche-oriented socialist Korea, by dint of independent politics and the politics of love.
When he met a foreigner, Comrade Kim Il Sung said that his greatest pleasure is to live in the people's love and trust and that his worth of life is to devotedly serve the people.
With the great desire and ideal to make the people live in a thriving country, he devoted his whole life, regarding the people as God.
Always finding himself among the people to show their way ahead, he made unremitting efforts even at the old age of over 80, visiting factories and farms. His devoted efforts made the DPRK become powerful socialist country.
He liberated the country deprived by the foreign force, repulsed the armed invasion of the imperialist allied forces and built the people-centered socialist country on his land. Human history does not know such a state leader as great Comrade Kim Il Sung.
2) The Ideal of Kim Jong Il—the Clear-cut Goal of State-Building
It was the ideal of President Kim Il Sung and Comrade Kim Jong Il to build a rich and strong country.
On the last day of the year 1994 when we suddenly lost great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, the father of socialist Korea, Comrade Kim Jong Il said that President Kim Il Sung had devoted his whole life for the people's freedom and happiness and that it was his idea and cause to make the country richer and stronger, adding that it is his steadfast decision to make his country richer and stronger.
On the 1st day in 1995, Comrade Kim Jong Il inspected the snow-covered dwarf pine tree post of the KPA. While returning after his inspection, he told again that it is his ideal and decision to turn the country into the people's paradise and powerful socialist country which is the strongest and richest in the world.
His life-long ideal was not formed in a moment.
In his early days, he had the great idea to add glory to the country, with the warm love for the country and the people.
Immediately after liberation, he visited Chongjin on the coast of the East Sea along with anti-Japanese heroine Kim Jong Suk. Looking at the grandiose sunrise, he told her that the sun which shines over the world is the best.
She explained to her son, Kim Jong Il that the sun gives light and life to all things in the world, without which all things on this land can not survive and therefore the most benevolent and great in the world is compared with the sun, adding that the Korean people respect fatherly Kim Il Sung as the Sun of the nation who restored the country and illuminates the bright future.
Carefully listening to his mother, young Kim Jong 1l seriously said that he would make Korea the country of the Sun, the best country where the people live with happiness.
At his young age, he had such big ambition and idea for the country and nation.
After his admission into Kim Il Sung University on September 1, 1960, he recited a poem "O Korea, I Will Add Glory to Thee" full of his decision to add glory to Korea, on Ryongnam Hill.
As I stand on Ryongnam Hill at sunrise,
The land of 3,000 ri greets my eyes.
Learning the leader's great idea,
I will be the master of the revolution in this land, Korea.
O Korea, I will add glory to thee.
On the road of Juche I will be firm and steadyUnder the guidance of the leader great.
Braving the raging waves and storms,
I will lead Korea into the future.
O Korea, I will make thee famous.
His poem "O Korea, I Will Add Glory to Thee" was the historic declaration of his noble ideal.
This ideal inheriting his great parents' soul of loving the country and the people was further developed and cemented as the will in his special experience through which he has grown up hearing the gunfire in the anti-Japanese revolutionary war and the Fatherland Liberation War and personally participated in the post-war rehabilitation, the socialist revolution and the building of socialism.
This noble ideal and will of his were materialized, thanks to his wise and outstanding leadership over the building of socialism in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, turning the DPRK into a socialist paradise.
In the people-centered socialist society, the inexhaustible power of the people who are firmly united around the Party and the leader strengthened the country's power, enabling the people to lead a worthwhile life.
The Korean people thought it natural to receive the ever-increasing social welfare and happiness such as the life as the master of the state and society, the abolition of tax, free education, free medical care, etc. They did not know how high ideal he has for the country's prosperity and the people's happiness.
On January 1, 1999, General Kim Jong Il set it as the goal to build a thriving socialist country, the higher and clear-cut goal for the state-building.
The goal of building a thriving socialist country is the crystal of the noble ideal of Kim Jong Il who desired to make his dear people live without envy in the world.
The height of a great man is the height of his ideal, and the height and loftiness of the ideal depend on the orientation, greatness, practicality, and scientific accuracy of the ideal.
His ideal of building a thriving socialist country was oriented to the prosperity of the land of Juche and Kim Il Sung's nation and to the happy future of the people and is based on practical possibility and scientific ways, thus becoming the noblest ideal.
When the DPRK was in the most difficult situation, he had the initiative to build thriving socialist country and made thorough preparations, true to the idea of great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung.
In the late 20th century occurred was the tragedy that socialism ended in the former Soviet Union and the East European countries that treated Marxism dogmatically and even negated its revolutionary essence, following revisionist policies.
The tentacles of the imperialists including the US that had confronted with socialism, spending huge amount of human and material resources for decades since its rise reached socialist Korea that holds the red flag of independence.
The confrontation structure changed from the Soviet-US confrontation in the Cold War period into the DPRK-US confrontation. And the imperialist allied forces headed by the US that behaves as the international police considerably intensified their anti-DPRK moves.
The Korean people were in the worst condition, owing to the fact that they suffered from the big national loss with the demise of Comrade Kim Il Sung who was the father of socialist Korea and the Korean nation, the imperialist allied forces' suffocation moves against the DPRK the successive natural disasters and the fall of the socialist markets.
At this juncture, Comrade Kim Jong Il set forth the Songun politics comprehensively, with the death-defying will to safeguard the destiny of the country and the people against the imperialism, by dint of force of arms.
He went through all trials, with the big responsibility for the country and the people, the death-defying will and the super-human devotion. This look was imprinted in the mind of the Korean army and people as the look of the Sun of the nation and the father of the nation.
The political and ideological power of the DPRK and the single-hearted unity of her army and the people around the Party and the leader were further strengthened to be an invincible power in the course of making the Arduous March and the forced march under his Songun leadership.
He considerably intensified the military power, continuously inspecting the Korean People's Army units and the sectors of defense industry. Along with this, he laid the foundations for a new leap in the economic construction and the people's living standard, giving on-the-spot guidance to different sectors of the national economy, with the innovative vision and the extraordinary art of leadership.
As recognized by the world people, the political, ideological, and military powers of the DPRK rank with the powerful countries and the building of the economic giant became a matter of time, by dint of the special Songun politics that makes it possible to safeguard the national sovereignty and open the vista for its prosperity with force of arms.
Under the condition in which a strong springboard was made for the building of a thriving country through several-year arduous struggle on the road of the Songun revolution, it was practically possible for her to build a thriving socialist country in the near future.
Possibility is not practicality.
In order to realize the cause of building a thriving country at the earliest possible time by using the practical conditions to the maximum, she needed the scientific ways that guarantee the realization.
What is the shortcut to the building of a thriving country?
It is to break through the cutting edge in all fields, mobilizing the mental strength of the people, the strongest weapon of Kim Il Sung's nation under the banner of Songun that displayed great vitality in the shortest span.
Likewise, the ideal of Comrade Kim Jong Il who planned to build an invincible thriving socialist country which any enemy could not attack and where all the people lead a happy life without any worry was the scientific ideal that depends on the future-orientation, the practical possibility and the correct ways.
What kind of country is, then, the thriving socialist country, the crystal of the ideal of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, the centuries-old dream of the Korean people for the prosperity?
2. The Look of Thriving Korea
"The permanent strategy of our revolution and its final victory lie in marching straight along the road of independence, the road of Songun and the road of socialism, as indicated by President Kim Il Sung and General Kim Jong Il."
Kim Jong Un
At present, many people over the world are keen to know what kind of a country is the thriving country the Korean people are now building.
Korea is a small country. Under the persistent blockade of the imperialist allied forces and in the confrontation with the strong enemy, the DPRK had to and has to overcome a lot of difficulties. How can she achieve prosperity?
For those who have the existing idea with which they characterize the big power according to the size of population or territory or the level of economic development or the military power, it might be difficult to understand the DPRK's goal to build a thriving country. This is natural.
The thriving country she is building has a new look fundamentally different from the past and the present big powers.
In the past, those countries with big population or territory or the developed economy had been regarded as big powers. This is wrong understanding, because the people are the fundamentals of the country and they demand and build the strong country.
It is correct understanding of a thriving country to measure it on the basis of the criterion of whether it has full power to defend and realize independence, the life of the people, placing them on the center.
What is the thriving country planned by General Kim Jong II?
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said that by the thriving country, he means thriving socialist country where the state power is strong and everything is prospering and the people live without envy in the world.
The Juche-oriented thriving socialist country is the country where the people's desire is realized and all fields like politics, ideology, military affair, economy, and culture develop and prosper and the people live without envy in the world. In this sense, the concept of the thriving socialist country of the DPRK is not natural or geographical concept that is expressed by the size of population or territory. It is socio-political concept that means the power of a socialist state observed in the perspective of realizing the independence of the people.
The look of the Juche-oriented thriving socialist country will be explained according to the fields of social development such as political and ideological giant, military giant, economic giant and civilized nation.
1) Ideological and Political Giant
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said that our political and ideological power and military power can be said to be already in the position of a thriving country, as recognized by the people over the world.
A thriving country means the country where the entire people are united on the basis of one ideology and will.
A thriving country must have strong national power among which the political and ideological power comes to the fore.
This being the case, the first criterion of a giant is the political and ideological power.
That is because the politics is of decisive importance in social development, and the unlimited power of ideology guarantees the development and prosperity of a country and nation.
The genuine giant with the strong political and ideological power is the country where an ideology of independence prevails, on that basis the entire people are firmly united to be a political force, making independent politics internally and externally.
The power of the people who are firmly united on the basis of one ideology and will is inexhaustible and invincible.
The voice of the people is the voice of God. It is the most important for the development and prosperity of a country to attract the people's mind and get their support. Therefore, philosophers have created the ideas of virtue and politicians tried to materialize the ideas but all failed.
The dream of humanity for the building of a political and ideological giant where the people shape the destiny of a country and nation independently in unity based on one ideology and will came true in the DPRK in the 20th century.
This was possible in the DPRK, because the Workers' Party of Korea has followed the idea of independence that reflected the people's demand, defended their right to independence and interests internally and externally and constantly set forth the independent politics for their demand. And it has set forth the benevolent politics, taking care of the entire people with the boundless love.
The independent politics is the political idea and mode of politics that characterize the Workers' Party of Korea.
Comrade Kim Il Sung and Comrade Kim Jong II, the great leaders of the Korean people have set forth the independent politics, with noble political idea of "The people are my God," high political ability and strong gut and thus consolidated the Party's political foundations, enhanced the national dignity and considerably strengthened its power.
Great leader Comrade Kim IlI Sung set forth original independent politics throughout his life against dogmatism and flunkeyism.
He enforced the land reform on the principle of free confiscation and free distribution, considering the desire of the peasants who wanted to possess their own land after getting free from the colonial and feudal fetters, though the cooperativization was needed to rapidly develop the backward agriculture after the liberation.
He put forward and materialized the original policy of agricultural cooperativization that was designed to transform the form of economy before the technical transformation, according to the demand and revolutionary zeal of the peasants for the cooperativization after the war. In transforming the capitalist trades and industry in a socialist way, he transformed the private handicraftsmen and tradesmen into the socialist working people through education, in a different way from other countries.
While leading the socialist construction, he set forth the unique line of building the economy in the way of simultaneously developing the light industry and agriculture while giving priority to the development of the heavy industry and the general line of the socialist construction to conduct the three revolutions—ideological, technical, and cultural, while constantly strengthening the people's government.
Thanks to the independent politics of President Kim Il Sung who gave priority to the people's independent right and the interests of the revolution under the banner of Juche, the social and political foundations of the Workers' Party of Korea was consolidated and the DPRK became a strong socialist country independent in politics, self-sufficient in economy and self-reliant in defense, putting an end to the bitter history full of flunkeyism and subjugation.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il is an outstanding statesman who created and materialized the mode of Songun politics, thus setting an excellent example of the modern independent politics.
It is not so easy to follow the independent politics for the country's dignity, in the chaotic situation in which the imperialists invade sovereign state and judge a head of state in the international court in their own interests.
You can fully understand this from the fact that Saddam Hussein of Iraq who shouted the defence of the national sovereignty and interests and Milosevic of Yugoslavia became the victims of the arbitrariness and tyranny of the imperialists.
In the grave trial period, Kim Jong Il with the strong political conviction held higher the banner of independence and Songun for the country's sovereignty and the people's destiny, saying that the Party can not betray the people.
On the road of Songun in the teeth of sacrifices, he defended socialism, the life of the people and laid the strong foundations for the durable peace, prosperity of the country and for the happiness of the people.
A publication of south Korea commented this.
"Till the 1990s, the US used to cook and swallowed the continents and countries that did not obey its demand. The situation, however, changed fundamentally.
The US felt unease in swallowing other countries.
That is because the US got a thorn deep in its throat.
The thorn is the flag of anti-imperialism and anti-US and the red flag of socialism fluttering in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. The US immediately started the operation to remove the thorn but in vain. The more it tried to pull it out, the deeper into the heart the thorn stuck in.
This phenomena occurred not accidentally but because north Korea placed to the fore the line of the Songun politics against the US military threats.
North Korea keeps the Songun politics that gives priority to the strengthening of the military power as the main mode of politics in all state policies.
With the Songun politics as the banner, north Korea set the People's Army as the main force and developed the sophisticated weapons such as nuclear and missiles.
Enthusiastic Clinton, veteran Bush and even sly Obama attempted war targeting this red flag for over two decades but their numerous anti-North war plans were meaningless.
That was because of the effect of the thorn, the effect of Songun.
Those countries that were in the side of the US began to doubt the power of the US, and people paid attention to the low cost but high efficiency of the thorn, through the process of the confrontation between north Korea and the US that had lasted for over two decades.
Many countries, big or small, found the secret of victory against the tyranny of the US in north Korea's strategy of thorn, namely the Songun line and began to form again the anti-imperialist anti-US front.
This was the same as the Korean Peninsula's small thorn increasing its role as the central axis that moves the continents."
This is the correct evaluation of the thoroughgoing independent politics, the Songun politics of Kim Jong Il who defends the top interests of the country and lays the foundations of the national prosperity.
The DPRK could be the only strong country in terms of politics and ideology, because the Workers' Party of Korea has followed the benevolent politics of "The people are my God" along with the independent politics.
Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il took lovely care of the people, regarding them as God and putting their interests before others.
The best love for the people is to equip them with the ideology of independence.
The great leaders provided the people with the strong mental principle by equipping them with the Juche idea, the ideology of independence and took fatherly care of them, in the fields of socio-political life, the material life and the cultural life. Their love turned the whole country into a big harmonious family with the leaders as their father and enabled the people to be firmly united around the leaders on the basis of one ideology and moral obligation.
History remembers some political leaders who created and materialized the political idea for the people.
However, they did not enjoy the absolute support of the people, because they did not devote themselves for the realization of their demand for independence, regarding them as God.
George Washington was called as the "father of the nation" but lost the support because of his wrong policy and Abraham Lincoln as "hero," being "sympathized" by the limited black slaves, but eventually lost even their support. Mahatma Gandhi who was regarded as the "father," "great soul" had been supported by the National Congress but failed to unite the Muslims and the Hindus.
With the great leaders who have devoted their whole life for the country's prosperity and the people's happiness, regarding these as the goal and worth of life, the single-hearted unity, the cream of the combination of the leader and the masses was well set up in the DPRK.
If the leader is great, a small country can be the ideological and political giant.
The DPRK is the ideological giant where the entire people are armed with the ideology of independence, the Juche idea and firmly united around the Party and the leader on the basis of one ideology.
The Korean people live and work as required by the Juche idea, with the awareness that the Juche idea is the great ideology that adds glory to the dignity and value of social being and illuminates the way of shaping their destiny and the national prosperity.
Their ideology and mental strength are reflected in their slogans "Let us meet the requirements of Juche in ideology, technology, and culture!" and "Let us live our own way!"
It is the Korean people's life demand, honor, and conscience to defend the leader who devotes himself with the love for the people and to implement the initiatives and intentions of the Party and the leader at all costs.
The innovative successes gained in all fields of social development by the Korean people in the period from the period of Arduous March and the forced march to the present tell the kinship relations between the leader and the people linked on the road of revolution.
A girl manager of a local industrial factory in the northern part of the DPRK looked after tens of orphans for the country, while modernizing the factory and normalizing the production. What gave her such a wonderful personality? That was her loyalty to the leader. She wanted to give only pleasure to the leader, removing the burden of the leader who worried about the orphans in the period of the arduous march.
Such people who are loyal to the leader and the country are found everywhere in the DPRK. There are families that look after tens of or even more than hundred orphans. There are many people who volunteer to work in the field of arduous labor such as farms, mines, etc., leaving their native places, with a view to contributing to the prosperity of the country. There are people who devoted their lives to save their comrades at the dangerous moments.
These peoples were trained by the Workers' Party of Korea that established the people-centered socialism, imbued them with the ideology of independence, leading them to the worthwhile life.
Their ideology and mental strength tell the true look of Juche-oriented ideological giant where the entire people keep pace with the leader, sharing bitters and sweets with him.
The world of the great love created the admiring loyalty and made the dream of building a political and ideological giant that has remained as mere dream in many other countries come true in the DPRK.
There are economic giants, military giants and the countries with big population and territory but the DPRK is the only strong political and ideological giant.
The political and ideological giant has the bright future, though facing temporary trials but the ideologically sick countries have no future, though having big wealth.
The capitalist countries where the social life is made according to individualism and the law of jungle can never be political and ideological giant.
2) Military Giant
To make a country strong, the military power should be built along with the political and ideological power.
Without the strong military power, it is impossible to successfully build a thriving country, to say nothing of defending the national sovereignty and socialism.
Wars have taken place continuously in the world since the emergence of the imperialism whose nature is aggression and pillage.
Except for the World War I and II, numerous local wars and battles took place in the 20th century. In 1995 only, over 50 battles took place in different countries, regions, and groups.
In the history full of wars caused by the confrontation between the progressive and the reactionary and between the independent forces and the dominating forces, many countries have spent huge amount of expenditure and resources to strengthen their military power.
Due to the geopolitical and historical characteristics, the DPRK badly needed the necessity of strengthening the military power more than any other countries.
Geopolitically surrounded by the big powers, Korea had suffered from foreign intervention and invasion. During 500-year rule of the corrupted Korean feudal government, the national power was weakened, thus Korea eventually becoming the colony of the Japanese imperialists in the modern times.
In 1905, the Japanese imperialists had 12 modern 6,000 ton-class warships and 200,000-strong army equipped with modern armed equipment like guns and machine guns.
On the contrary, Korea was unable to produce even a rifle and had only 9,000-strong army.
Korea that was liberated by great leader Comrade Kim II Sung who wisely led the anti-Japanese revolutionary war to victory was divided into the north and the south by the US imperialists.
5 years after its liberation and 2 years after the founding of the DPRK, Korea was involved in the 3-year war started by the US imperialists. The DPRK has been in confrontation with the US, the chieftain of imperialism, which occupied south Korea for over half a century.
The truth discovered by the DPRK in the confrontation with the imperialism is that the national sovereignty, peace, prosperity, and development rest on the strong force of arm of the People's Army.
Iron-willed brilliant commander Kim Il Sung who defeated two strong enemies—the Japanese and the US imperialists in one generation created the idea of giving importance to force of arms, the military affairs and cemented the country's self-defensive power through the Songun revolutionary leadership.
Inheriting this idea, great Comrade Kim Jong Il placed the DPRK in the position of invincible military giant of socialism, setting forth the Songun politics as required by a new historic age in which the overall confrontation with the imperialist allied forces is ever-intensifying.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said.
"Our People's Army has grown up to be invincible revolutionary armed forces, and our socialist motherland has emerged as a military power in the international arena."
The military giant of socialism is the country where the army is prepared to be politically, ideologically, militarily, and technically superior invincible revolutionary army, the entire people are under the arms, the whole country becomes fortress and the country which has self-defensive and modern defense industry.
The DPRK is an invincible country that has all above-mentioned qualifications.
The DPRK is the military giant with the strong invincible revolutionary army.
A country's military power consists of two elements—the soldiers and the armament, among which the former comes first.
The army men not the weapons or combat equipment decide victory or setback of the battle, and the combat capability of the army hinges on its political and ideological preparedness.
Regarding the ideological and political traits as the first traits of the revolutionary army, President Kim Il Sung has always paid deep attention to the ideological work to prepare the army men to be politically and ideologically strong, since the inception of founding the army.
The army men were trained to be equipped with the revolutionary spirit of the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters who fought with guerrilla warfare against 1,000,000-strong Kwantung Army armed to the teeth in all difficulties on Mt. Paektu without the state support and the solid rear, under the leadership of great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung. Along with this, the army men were educated to possess the preparedness to fight against the imperialists to the last with the warm love for the people and the uncompromising fighting spirit against all sorts of class enemies.
The 3-year Korean War ignited by the US imperialists in 1950 was a great war in which the Korean People's Army with political and ideological superiority defeated the US imperialists with 100-year war history, military, and technical superiority and their 15 satellite state armies, Japanese imperialists and south Korean puppet army.
The US army generals admitted their defeat.
Bradley, the former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said that to be frank, the Korean War was a great military disaster and the wrong war at the wrong place, at the wrong time and with the wrong enemy.
Taft, the former US general said that it is very clear that the US was defeated in Korea and that there is no army in the world, strong enough to defeat the Korean People's Army.
The political and ideological power of the Korean People's Army is further strengthened now by the Songun politics of the Workers' Party of Korea that gives priority to the strengthening of the People's Army, regarding the military affair as the top state affair.
With the firm decision of safeguarding the country and the ardent patriotic will, great Comrade Kim Jong Il inspected over 2,490 units of military sector from the mid 1990s to 2011, the last year of his life.
In these days, he sometimes traveled 400 km a day through snow storms to inspect the units in the eastern front and sometimes visited a small islet in wild sea weather at the risk of his life.
He continuously visited the People's Army units even on holidays, saying that he would visit anywhere where there are soldiers. Visiting the units, he looked round the education rooms, the dining halls, the bathrooms and the stores, looking after the soldiers' life with fatherly love.
He sent full sets of karaoke and entertainment facilities, musical instruments and sports facilities for their cultural life and saw to it that TV informs of the news of the soldiers' native places. And he spent valuable time to enjoy humble art performance of the soldiers and had souvenir photo taken with the officers and soldiers as they desired.
He was benevolent enough to wait for the soldiers on duty for photo session, thinking they would be sorry to miss the chance of photo-taking and to send medical face cream to the coastal artillery woman soldiers, worrying their face skins would be spoiled by sea wind.
In the care of the Songun brilliant commander, the Korean People's Army soldiers could possess noble political and ideological traits of regarding it as the top life and soul to devotedly defend the headquarters of the revolution, of implementing the order of the Supreme Commander with heroic spirit of sacrifice and of having the revolutionary discipline and the love for the country and the people.
This political and ideological power of the Korean People's Army was surprisingly demonstrated in the sea battles in the West Sea of Korea in 1999 and onward and in shelling against Yonphyong islet in 2010.
Dmitri Yazov, the former Soviet Defence Minister wrote an article "Supreme Commander Kim Jong Il and the Invincible Army."
"The imbuing of the Korean People's Army with one ideology and the spirit of loving the soldiers united the whole army on the basis of one ideology, ranging from the Supreme Commander to a soldier. And this strengthens the military power a hundred, a thousand times.
With the awareness that they are the soldiers with arms, the People's Army soldiers have the common conviction to safeguard their leader, their Party and their socialism. This is well known in their slogan "Let us become human bullets and bombs guarding the respected Supreme Commander!"
The generals, officers, noncommissioned officers and soldiers respect and follow the Supreme Commander as their father and teacher rather than top head they have to simply obey.
In the Korean People's Army, the order of the Supreme Commander is on the basis of love and trust rather than the exercise of power and it is based on the respect and moral obligation rather than obeying mission. This is the special military traits available only in the Korean People's Army.
The political, ideological, military, and technical status of the Korean People's Army soldiers who prepare themselves to be a-match-for-a-hundred soldiers, the victors, with the absolute trust in their ever-victorious great military leader reached the highest level.
I saw this with my own eyes."
The DPRK has also paid attention to the strengthening of the military and technical power of the Korean People's Army, along with the political and ideological power.
As a result, the Korean People's Army has become the powerful elite revolutionary army that has not only the sophisticated highly effective weapons and technical combat equipment but the invincible Kim Il Sung's and Kim Jong II's tactics, mode of brave offensive and perfect actual war capacity gained through Mt. Paektu-type training.
The DPRK is the military giant where the entire people are under arms and the whole country becomes fortress. In the DPRK, the entire people are armed with the invincible military tactics and technique of great Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and organized to be a military force with the People's Army as core. The whole country has become an impregnable defense fortress.
With the result of having developed the independent and modern defense industry, the DPRK has become the military giant that has modern offensive and defensive means and the strong war deterrent.
The DPRK succeeded in launching the satellite on three occasions with her own efforts and technology, thus becoming manufacturer and launcher of the satellite.
"Rocket produces the power of diplomacy in proportion to its firing range and function"—this becomes the action principle of the international politics at present. At this juncture, the DPRK succeeded in the launching the fully domestic-made satellite, her political and diplomatic prestige became high and her military power strong.
The level of the development of defense industry of the DPRK that produces modern offensive and defensive weapons and even interceptor complex available in a few countries was demonstrated in the military parades held on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea in 2010 and on the occasion of the 100th birthday of great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung in 2012.
A century ago the Korean nation was a small and weak nation that was deprived of its country by the Japanese and begged the big powers to help restore the sovereignty of the country in the international peace conference. It was the nation that talked of "self-cultivation" and "buildup of strength" or tried to compensate the national debt or expected the national independence through demonstrations or spontaneous movements of independence army.
Great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung united the people of this small and weak nation for the anti-Japanese war to liberate the country and defended the nation from the imperialist aggression.
Immediately after the liberation from the Japanese colonialism, he established the armament industry and paid attention to the strengthening of the defense.
Even after the Fatherland Liberation War, the US imperialists stationed in south Korea, ceaselessly making anti-DPRK campaigns, and the revisionists followed the capitulationist line and the imperialists intensified their arbitrariness. Well versed in this situation, Kim Il Sung set forth the line of simultaneously developing the economy and defense.
He set forth the original self-defensive military line of turning the whole army into cadre army, modernizing the whole of army, turning the whole country into an impregnable fortress and arming the entire people and made every effort to build a strong self-defensive military power.
On this basis, great Comrade Kim Jong Il consummated national historic cause of placing the country in the position of a military giant through the Songun politics.
The DPRK, a small country in the East, has been under the persistent sanctions and blockades of the allied imperialist forces, but she became a military giant.
A foreign publication wrote, "...in evaluating Stalin, Churchill, the former Prime Minister of UK said that Stalin was handed over backward Russia that did farming with hoes and armed it with the atom bombs and handed it over to the next generation.
...
Kim Jong Il, the Chairman of the National Defense Commission placed the DPRK in that position, thus being famous as the world leader."
Russian newspaper Patriot wrote, "For decades, the US and its following forces have resorted to the moves of sanction, blockades, isolation, and suffocation but they may feel painful to recognize the reality of the DPRK that became strong enough to be an outer space country, instead of being weakened." A Jordanian newspaper wrote, "On the occasion of launching the satellite in the DPRK, the Western world was mad, losing its reason. That is because the DPRK successfully launched the satellite with her own efforts, without depending on the Western technology."
When the DPRK strengthened the military power for peace and safety of the country and the region, the US imperialists made the UN Security Council adopt the "sanction resolution" which was followed by more intensive one and the south Korean puppets were running wild for the DPRK-targeted war exercises in ally with the foreign forces, trumpeting the "removing of the DPRK's nuclear threat."
The US imperialists who forgot the lesson of setback in the Fatherland Liberation War in the 1950s and who got drunk with small success in the wars against the weak countries must not misjudge the strong gut and will and the strong military power of the DPRK that does not make an empty talk.
Military and technical superiority is no more the monopoly of the imperialists and the time to threaten other countries by them with nuclear has gone forever.
The South Korean puppets that are backed by the US imperialists who are keen in robbing others' wealth with nuclear, must know through the voice of the public that they are considerably benefited by the military power prepared by the DPRK, the same compatriots.
"Mal," the South Korean magazine No. 6 issued in 2003 wrote, "In case of nuclear war breaking out in the Korean Peninsula, the total amount of loss will be about USD 21,020,440,000,000 and in case of peace being ensured, the south Korean people will be benefited worthy of tens of trillions of USD." The DPRK, in the future, too, will cement its military power under the banner of Songun to build the new world free from domination and imperialism for the country's safety and the region's durable peace.
3) Economic Giant and Civilized Nation
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said that under the condition that our political and ideological position and the military power are firmly cemented, it is possible to successfully consummate the cause of building a thriving country, if the economic problem is solved.
The Juche-oriented socialist thriving country is the country that has features befitting not only political and ideological giant and militant giant but economic giant and civilized nation.
While consolidating the position of political and ideological giant and military giant, the DPRK is marching forward to build the country into the economic giant and the civilized nation.
What, then, is the criterion of such a country and what kind of successes are made by the Korean people?
The Korean people are now making efforts to build an economic giant of socialism.
The economic giant is the reliable guarantee for the independent politics and self-defensive military power and an important condition for the people to have conviction in victory of socialism by providing them with happy life.
The DPRK accelerates the building of the economic giant to place it in the position of giant with the overall national power, while consolidating its position of the political and ideological giant and the military giant.
Many outsiders argue about the criteria of the economic giant with the existing idea.
They ask by when will the DPRK rank in the advanced countries in terms of GNP? Which country's model will she take in the production index?
The DPRK that regards the increase of the people's welfare as the basic goal of the building and development of the economy has the criterion of building an economic giant, centering on the people.
It is the country that fully provides the people, the masters of society with bountiful and rich material and cultural life and that guarantees the independent politics and self-defensive military power materially and economically with the developed economic power.
The economy of a strong socialist country must be self-sufficient, modern, and on the basis of information.
Economy is the material basis of social life and it develops with a state as a unit. In order to make a sustainable and solid development of the economy and to place the economic power in the position of a giant, the economy must be independent.
The independent national economy serves the people and stands on its own footing.
The independent economy has the diversified economic structure that can produce the products of heavy and light industries and agricultural products mainly by itself that are necessary for the building of a thriving country and the people's life. And it is comprehensively equipped with all production processes from the production of raw materials to the production of the finished goods. And it develops by the national cadres on the basis of its own technology, raw materials and fuel.
Along with independence of the economy, the modernization and information of the economy are one of the main criteria of the economic giant.
The modern economy based on information equips all sectors with the latest modern technology, and its production and management is based on the modern science and technology.
The modernization and information of the economy is important requirement for the rapid development of the economy, for ensuring the practical utility and for satisfying state's and people's need.
The strong socialist country is the country with the economy that guarantees the rich material and cultural life for the people and the country where the people live without envy with their enhancing life demand satisfied.
The ultimate goal of placing the economy on the basis of modernization and information, while strengthening the independence of the national economy in socialist state is to provide the people with independent and creative material and cultural life conditions, and the success of the economic construction must be expressed in the people's living standard.
The DPRK has given the main stress on putting the economy on an independent and Juche-oriented basis. In this process, she has the multi-sided and comprehensive structure that enables the economy to develop by herself and serve the people.
She can produce raw materials and fuel locally, largely decreasing the degree of importing them.
It scored big success in establishing the system of producing iron, fertilizer, fabrics, and fireproof materials badly needed for the economic development, with the raw materials and fuel bountiful in the country.
Being proud of these successes gained by applying the Juche idea, the DPRK calls them Juche-iron, Juche-fertilizer, Juche-vinalon and Juche-fireproof materials.
The DPRK accelerates the economic modernization and information, according to the world trend in which science and technology rapidly develop and science becomes closely combined with production.
While paying attention to the sectors of metal, electricity, coal, and railway transportation, the key sectors of the national economy, she considerably improves the level of modernization of the overall economy.
In this process, the science and technology on cutting edge were developed and introduced, and the economy changed its look into knowledge-based economy.
UHP electric arc furnace, the top technology in the knowledge-based economy was built, fertilizer began to be produced through gasification of coal and AC electric locomotives are produced.
In particular, she is breaking through the cutting edge in CNC technology in the machine-building industry, the pillar of the modern industry.
The DPRK breaks through the cutting edge, making the industrial revolution in the new century on the basis of the successes gained in CNC technology through producing the CNC mother machine tools and establishing the production process computerized combined system.
She reconstructed many factories in a modern way and built new factories that are operated on the basis of the science and technology of the cutting edge.
With the development of her economy, the traces of arduousness have been removed and the people's living standard is being improved.
The issue of the people's life is the issue of food, clothes, and housing.
Since a long time ago, the Korean people have had the desire of eating boiled rice and meat soup, wearing silk dresses and living in tile-roofed houses.
To satisfy this desire, the DPRK gives the main thrust of building an economic giant to the light industry and agriculture that directly serve the people's life.
Along with this, she increases the state investment to the building of dwelling houses for the people.
The Korean people's desire to live in palace-like tile-roofed house was satisfied by living in the socialist fairy cities and villages built in the care of the Party and the state in the era of the Workers' Party of Korea, the era of Songun.
In fact, the housing problem, the biggest problem in many countries is satisfactorily solved in the DPRK.
Of course, her people have not yet led unenviable rich material life, and light industry and agriculture must be further developed for the improvement of the people's living standard.
Due to over 4-decade long vicious military occupation of the Japanese imperialists in the last century, her economy became one-sided and deformed and was totally destroyed by the war started by the US imperialists. The DPRK has developed its industry in a short span of time, amidst ever-intensifying sanctions of the allied imperialist forces.
The US fostered up about 40 acts against the DPRK since the 1950s such as Act of Export Control (June, 28, 1950,) the Act of Trade with Enemy State (December 17, 1950,) the Act of External Aid (August 1, 1962,) the Wassenaar Arrangement (July 12, 1996) and the Act of International Financial Structure (1994.) By these acts, all economic sectors of the DPRK are under sanctions and she has been prohibited to make trade, financial transactions and the exchange of science and technology.
The US imperialists and the allied forces prohibited or limited the transactions of the materials necessary for the people's life, to say nothing of the major factory equipment and sophisticated technology, under the pretext of dual uses.
They checked the overall development of the DPRK's economy, adopting the "sanction resolution" of the UN Security Council in 2006, 2009, 2012, and 2013 against her exercise of independent rights such as the launch of satellites.
It is admiring that the DPRK has scored successes in the building of economy under this arduous conditions.
The more the imperialists intensify sanctions, the more the Korean people will be prepared, enhancing the level of independence, modernization, and information of the economy.
Adhering to the socialist principle, the principle of giving priority to military affairs and self-reliance, the Korean people follow the line of simultaneously carrying on the construction of the economy and the upbuilding of the nuclear forces, while giving precedence to development of the defense industry and the line of giving importance to science and technology.
If she builds the strong economic power by accelerating the development of the economy, the DPRK will have full-fledged look of a thriving socialist country, and the people will lead worthwhile political life, sound ideological and cultural life and rich and civilized material life.
Now, we explain about the civilized nation of socialism.
The civilized nation of socialism the DPRK is building is the strong advanced country where the people's cultural life is in the highest level.
Culture consists of science, education, art, and literature, sports, public health, etc. In this sense, the civilized nation of socialism will have high level of science, technology, education, art and literature, and sports and public health.
Since the inception of building a new society, the DPRK issued and materialized the line of building advanced and popular socialist culture, scoring proud successes in its building.
Her science and technology and education reached the level of civilized nation of socialism.
We are in the era of science and technology and IT in which science and technology play considerably big role in social development and social life.
In the economic sector only, at the beginning of the 20th century, the raw material, labour, and fund took large part in the economic growth, but in the 1970s science and technology accounted for 75% and the raw materials, labor, and fund for 25%, and after the 1990s the production growth is made mainly by the development of science and technology.
As required by the era, the DPRK issued the line of giving importance to science and technology and paid attention to it, scoring wonderful successes.
In the sectors of metallurgical industry and machine-building industry, she developed cutting-edge technologies successively. In the biological sector, she developed the technologies of interpreting genes, life information, clone, transfer of gene by genome, differentiating organism on the basis of gene interpretation, developed avertin, new organic agricultural medicine free from poison and pollution. She scored high level of scientific and technological successes such as the establishment of the production process of nano antibiosis fabric, scanning tunneling microscope (STM), the production of anti-cancer medicine depending on Korean traditional medicine, etc.
As mentioned before, the DPRK succeeded in launching the satellites on 3 occasions. The present sophisticated science and technology have 12 fields in 6 scopes such as organic medical apparatus industry, biological engineering industry, intellectual machine industry, software industry, superconductivity industry, solar energy industry, space industry, marine industry, etc.
This tells the high level of the science and technology in the DPRK.
These successes are inconceivable, apart from the development of the advanced and popular education.
The DPRK is the only country where the entire Korean people study free of charge throughout their life from young age under the care of the Party and the state.
In the difficult days even before the laying of the economic foundation, the DPRK began the popular policy and now has the advanced popular education system; the universal 12-year free education system and higher education system through the regular universities and colleges and the study-while-working system.
Through the compulsory senior middle school education system, the pupils possess the loyalty to the Party and the leader, the ardent love for the country and the people and the spirit of serving them with devotion, socialist morality, thus growing into able people with the basic technological knowledge and sound physical strength.
Thanks to the higher education system, the students in regular universities receive scholarship and the students in the study-while-working education system receive income from the state, learning the expert's knowledge for the social development.
The Party and the state that regard education as the far-reaching plan for the future of the country have paid deep attention to training huge army of able intellectuals.
The Workers' Party of Korea issued the idea of breaking through the cutting edge in all fields, keeping their feet firmly planted on their land and looking out over the world.
The DPRK updates the contents and methods of education so as to train the revolutionary personnel who practically support the Party's idea of building a thriving country, while cementing the material and technological foundations of education.
The DPRK is the exemplary education country, the civilized nation in view of the universal, popular, and sustainable education system with the scientific and revolutionary contents and method of education.
The DPRK is developing the art and literature, public health and sports to become the civilized nation of socialism.
The Korean art and literature has the socialist contents in national form. Its mission is to give the genuine idea and morality and the sound and rich cultural attainments that enable the people to live as true human beings in an independent way.
The DPRK made an overall development of the art and literature such as poem, novel, opera, music, dance, fine art, drama, film, etc. This is well proved by the method of dancing notation, the famous 5 revolutionary operas, 5 revolutionary dramas and the grand gymnasium and art performance "Arirang."
Carrying the revolutionary contents that reflect the people's desire in the national form that conforms to the national feeling, the Korean art and literature enhances the working people's mental and moral quality and their cultural attainments and inspires them to the true life and the building of a thriving country.
In terms of its mission, form, contents, the level of development and the value of ideological education, the Korean art and literature is excellent.
The DPRK has enviable free medical care system.
Regarding the essence of the socialist medicine as the preventive medicine, the DPRK has paid attention to it, thus completely preventing the contagious diseases.
She provides the people with the universal free medical care by building hospitals in all parts of the country.
Thanks to the section-doctor system, the medical doctors give regular medical check-up and preventive medical treatment to the citizens under their charge.
She develops the medical science according to the world trend, builds a lot of specialized modern hospitals and improves the management of the hospitals and thus improves the quality of medical care to reach the level of the advanced countries.
In this free medical care system, the average span of life of the people increased, without any worry about the medical treatment.
Sports develops, beating the world.
The Korean sportsmen took the excellent places in the items of football, Taekwon-do, judo, shooting, marathon, athletics, weight-lifting, etc. in the international games like the World Championship and Olympic Games. And some athletes took the first place continuously 3 or 4 times.
In the DPRK where the sports become part and parcel of the people's life, new hurricane of sports is sweeping over the country, creating the atmosphere of great upsurge and displaying national spirit.
The athletes are full of zeal and patriotism to hoist the DPRK's flags winning all the games, with the ideological, speed, technical campaigns to repay the care of the Party and the state for the sports. This will result in big development in the near future in the DPRK.
Civilized life environment is also important criterion of the civilized nation of socialism.
In conformity with the desire of the people who want to live in a civilized environment as required by the new century, the DPRK makes the urban and rural areas and factories in a modern way and covers the country with trees and flowers through mass movements. As a result, the whole country turned into the people's paradise and the socialist fairy land in which the socialist production culture and life culture is fully established.
If she accelerates the development of science and technology, education, art and literature, sports, and public health while consolidating the already-made successes, the DPRK will demonstrate her dignity as the enviable civilized nation.
In the near future, the Korean people will build a civilized nation and lead a happy and dignified life.
3. The Way to Building of Thriving Country
"Single-hearted unity and invincible military might plus the industrial revolution in the new century together make a thriving socialist country."
Kim Jong Un
The DPRK has scored big successes but has to go more to achieve the big goal of building a thriving socialist country.
In order to realize the people's centuries-old desire for an unenviable happy life, she needs not only clear-cut goal but the correct and straight way towards the goal.
The shortcut to the building of a thriving socialist country is the Juche way, that is, the strengthening of the single-hearted unity and the invincible military might and the acceleration of the industrial revolution in the new century.
The DPRK defends the country and the people against the aggressive moves of the imperialists by dint of the single-hearted unity and tries to build a thriving socialist country with it.
The single-hearted unity in the DPRK is the unity of the leader, the Party, the army and the people based on one ideology, will, and moral obligation.
The might of the people is the might of the unity, and the most solid unity is the single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party and the masses with the leader's love for and trust in the army and the people as the fundamental source.
According to the old military book, in case of a group of peasants being mobilized as soldiers, they can defeat the enemy, if united.
The most powerful is the might of the single-hearted unity formed with the benevolent and wise leader as the only center and based on the Juche idea, the ideological foundation that illuminates the way to the true life and struggle, reflecting their demand for independence and interests.
The army and the people who are united around the Party and the leader on the basis of the noble revolutionary obligation and comradely love can display the strong mental strength, the motive force for the building of a thriving socialist country. The spirit of devotedly defending the leader who is the destiny and the future of the socialist country and people, the strong spirit of national self-respect to demonstrate the national dignity and might, the self-reliant and strenuous spirit of overcoming all difficulties by one's own efforts and the spirit of loving the future—this is the superior mental strength for the building of a thriving socialist country.
The single-hearted unity is the fundamentals of the Korean revolution and is the decisive factor for victory in the building of a thriving socialist country.
The history of the Korean revolution is the proud history full of victories and miracles performed by the might of single-hearted unity.
Historical victory of Korea's liberation was won by the ardent fighters who respected great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung as the Sun who led the anti-Japanese war in the van under the banner of independence, to liberate the country deprived by the Japanese imperialists.
The Korean people won the Fatherland Liberation War by dint of the single-hearted unity in which the leader trusts and loves the people and the people absolutely trust and respect the leader.
The Korean people rehabilitated in 3 years the totally destroyed country that the US imperialists claimed it is impossible to rise even in a hundred years. They also fulfilled the socialist industrialization within 14 years, turning the country into the socialist state independent in politics, self-sufficient in economy and self-reliant in defense.
In the period of the Arduous March and the forced march that took place amidst the anti-DPRK offensives of the allied imperialist forces in the latter half of the 1990s, the single-hearted unity with great Comrade Kim Jong Il as the center demonstrated its might again in the world.
It is miracle that the DPRK remained as the defender of socialism, overcoming grave trials, and even that the Korean people built a strong springboard for the building of a thriving country under the wise leadership of Comrade Kim Jong Il.
For a decade since 1995, the Korean people worked miracles, completing over 100 000 projects and scoring the unprecedented successes in all fields of social development.
Comrade Kim Jong II's love for and trust in the army and the people and the single-hearted unity of the army and the people who respect him with pure conscience and moral obligation demonstrated the more powerful might than atom bombs in the days of building a thriving country.
The history of the Korean revolution proves that the single-hearted unity is the powerful motive force and the invincible weapon for the building of a thriving socialist country.
The Korean revolution that started and won victory by dint of single-hearted unity is in a new historical stage of advancing towards final victory in the building of a thriving socialist country with respected Kim Jong Un as the center of unity.
Final victory in the building of a thriving socialist country will be hastened by the solid unity that many countries wanted to have but failed, the single-hearted unity inherited and consolidated by the Workers' Party of Korea through centuries.
The path to the building of a thriving socialist country is to consolidate the invincible military power with single-hearted unity.
It is needless to say to strengthen the military power for the existence and development of a state.
This is well proved by the following facts.
After the successful launch of the satellite Kwangmyongsong 3-2 on December 12, 2012, the US fabricated the resolution No. 2087 of the UN Security Council on January 22, 2013, randomly violating the independent sovereignty of the DPRK as before. In March and April, it mobilized the south Korean puppet army and its allied forces for joint military exercise "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle," bringing in nuclear strategic bombers B-52, stealth strategic bombers B-2A and nuclear-loaded destroyer, overtly blackmailing the DPRK with nuclear. Again bringing in the US Chemical Battalion No. 23 once withdrawn and conducting joint anti-submarine drill in May, the US tried to ignite a nuclear war, deploying nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Nimitz and super large nuclear-powered submarine.
Only through strengthening the self-defensive military power, can the DPRK defend the national right to survival and socialism and build a thriving country as she wishes, destroying the ambition of the US imperialists who try to annex the Korean Peninsula militarily and make the Korean people its modern slaves.
The invincible military power is the life and treasure of the nation, as long as the imperialism exists on the earth and the people desire for independent development and prosperity of the country.
The industrial revolution in the new century is the shortcut to the building of a thriving socialist country where the national power is strong, everything prospers and the people live without envy.
The industrial revolution in the new century in the DPRK is a great change in the economic field to turn the economy into the modern knowledge-based socialist economy.
The intellectual ability of the people who ushered in the era of machine industry in the 20th century has rapidly developed, ushering in the new era of the knowledge-based economy in the 21st century.
The era of the knowledge-based economy pushes ahead with the development of society and economy, depending on the production, circulation, and application of the knowledge and information.
At present, science, and technology, especially the information technology make rapid development, increasing their role considerably in social development and social life.
With the comprehensive development of the science and the social sciences through their cross infiltration, new scientific fields such as biochemistry, economic law, measuring economics, mathematical philosophy, etc. were created, trying to place the development of science in the major fields decisive for the national power on the latest level.
With the increase of the computer processing speed by 10 billion times for 5 decades between 1950 and 2000, we can observe the micro world as small as one billionth of 1 meter. Through Internet, we can see and hear the situation on the opposite of the earth.
The DPRK makes the industrial revolution in the new century, in order to overtake the world-level development of science and technology in a short span of time to stand in the van in the era of knowledge-based economy.
In the period of the Arduous March, the Workers' Party of Korea invested its valuable fund firstly for the machine-building industry, the key of the modern industry for the building of a thriving country, thus creating an example of knowledge-based industry. The latest CNC technology is pushing ahead with the industrial revolution in the era of knowledge-based economy.
On the basis of the experience of having taken the upper hand, the DPRK integrates the science and technology with production, knowledge with economy in all fields of the national economy, breaking through the cutting edge.
The industrial revolution in the new century to turn the national economy into the knowledge-based one will bring about an epochal turn in the promotion of the people's life, putting the overall national power onto the level of a thriving country in a short span of time.
The way to a thriving country—the way of cementing the single-hearted unity and strengthening the invincible military might and accelerating the industrial revolution in the new century—is the invariable path of Juche started by the devoted efforts of the distinguished leaders who have the noble patriotic idea and will. The DPRK has scored big successes but has to go more to achieve the big goal of building a thriving socialist country.
In order to realize the people's centuries-old desire for an unenviable happy life, she needs not only clear-cut goal but the correct and straight way towards the goal.
The shortcut to the building of a thriving socialist country is the Juche way, that is, the strengthening of the single-hearted unity and the invincible military might and the acceleration of the industrial revolution in the new century.
The DPRK defends the country and the people against the aggressive moves of the imperialists by dint of the single-hearted unity and tries to build a thriving socialist country with it.
The single-hearted unity in the DPRK is the unity of the leader, the Party, the army and the people based on one ideology, will, and moral obligation.
The might of the people is the might of the unity, and the most solid unity is the single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party and the masses with the leader's love for and trust in the army and the people as the fundamental source.
According to the old military book, in case of a group of peasants being mobilized as soldiers, they can defeat the enemy, if united.
The most powerful is the might of the single-hearted unity formed with the benevolent and wise leader as the only center and based on the Juche idea, the ideological foundation that illuminates the way to the true life and struggle, reflecting their demand for independence and interests.
The army and the people who are united around the Party and the leader on the basis of the noble revolutionary obligation and comradely love can display the strong mental strength, the motive force for the building of a thriving socialist country. The spirit of devotedly defending the leader who is the destiny and the future of the socialist country and people, the strong spirit of national self-respect to demonstrate the national dignity and might, the self-reliant and strenuous spirit of overcoming all difficulties by one's own efforts and the spirit of loving the future—this is the superior mental strength for the building of a thriving socialist country.
The single-hearted unity is the fundamentals of the Korean revolution and is the decisive factor for victory in the building of a thriving socialist country.
The history of the Korean revolution is the proud history full of victories and miracles performed by the might of single-hearted unity.
Historical victory of Korea's liberation was won by the ardent fighters who respected great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung as the Sun who led the anti-Japanese war in the van under the banner of independence, to liberate the country deprived by the Japanese imperialists.
The Korean people won the Fatherland Liberation War by dint of the single-hearted unity in which the leader trusts and loves the people and the people absolutely trust and respect the leader.
The Korean people rehabilitated in 3 years the totally destroyed country that the US imperialists claimed it is impossible to rise even in a hundred years. They also fulfilled the socialist industrialization within 14 years, turning the country into the socialist state independent in politics, self-sufficient in economy and self-reliant in defense.
In the period of the Arduous March and the forced march that took place amidst the anti-DPRK offensives of the allied imperialist forces in the latter half of the 1990s, the single-hearted unity with great Comrade Kim Jong Il as the center demonstrated its might again in the world.
It is miracle that the DPRK remained as the defender of socialism, overcoming grave trials, and even that the Korean people built a strong springboard for the building of a thriving country under the wise leadership of Comrade Kim Jong Il.
For a decade since 1995, the Korean people worked miracles, completing over 100,000 projects and scoring the unprecedented successes in all fields of social development.
Comrade Kim Jong II's love for and trust in the army and the people and the single-hearted unity of the army and the people who respect him with pure conscience and moral obligation demonstrated the more powerful might than atom bombs in the days of building a thriving country.
The history of the Korean revolution proves that the single-hearted unity is the powerful motive force and the invincible weapon for the building of a thriving socialist country.
The Korean revolution that started and won victory by dint of single-hearted unity is in a new historical stage of advancing towards final victory in the building of a thriving socialist country with respected Kim Jong Un as the center of unity.
Final victory in the building of a thriving socialist country will be hastened by the solid unity that many countries wanted to have but failed, the single-hearted unity inherited and consolidated by the Workers' Party of Korea through centuries.
The path to the building of a thriving socialist country is to consolidate the invincible military power with single-hearted unity.
It is needless to say to strengthen the military power for the existence and development of a state.
This is well proved by the following facts.
After the successful launch of the satellite Kwangmyongsong 3-2 on December 12, 2012, the US fabricated the resolution No. 2087 of the UN Security Council on January 22, 2013, randomly violating the independent sovereignty of the DPRK as before. In March and April, it mobilized the south Korean puppet army and its allied forces for joint military exercise "Key Resolve" and "Foal Eagle," bringing in nuclear strategic bombers B-52, stealth strategic bombers B-2A and nuclear-loaded destroyer, overtly blackmailing the DPRK with nuclear. Again bringing in the US Chemical Battalion No. 23 once withdrawn and conducting joint anti-submarine drill in May, the US tried to ignite a nuclear war, deploying nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Nimitz and super large nuclear-powered submarine.
Only through strengthening the self-defensive military power, can the DPRK defend the national right to survival and socialism and build a thriving country as she wishes, destroying the ambition of the US imperialists who try to annex the Korean Peninsula militarily and make the Korean people its modern slaves.
The invincible military power is the life and treasure of the nation, as long as the imperialism exists on the earth and the people desire for independent development and prosperity of the country.
The industrial revolution in the new century is the shortcut to the building of a thriving socialist country where the national power is strong, everything prospers and the people live without envy.
The industrial revolution in the new century in the DPRK is a great change in the economic field to turn the economy into the modern knowledge-based socialist economy.
The intellectual ability of the people who ushered in the era of machine industry in the 20th century has rapidly developed, ushering in the new era of the knowledge-based economy in the 21st century.
The era of the knowledge-based economy pushes ahead with the development of society and economy, depending on the production, circulation, and application of the knowledge and information.
At present, science, and technology, especially the information technology make rapid development, increasing their role considerably in social development and social life.
With the comprehensive development of the science and the social sciences through their cross infiltration, new scientific fields such as biochemistry, economic law, measuring economics, mathematical philosophy, etc. were created, trying to place the development of science in the major fields decisive for the national power on the latest level.
With the increase of the computer processing speed by 10 billion times for 5 decades between 1950 and 2000, we can observe the micro world as small as one billionth of 1 meter. Through the Internet, we can see and hear the situation on the opposite of the earth.
The DPRK makes the industrial revolution in the new century, in order to overtake the world-level development of science and technology in a short span of time to stand in the van in the era of knowledge-based economy.
In the period of the Arduous March, the Workers' Party of Korea invested its valuable fund firstly for the machine-building industry, the key of the modern industry for the building of a thriving country, thus creating an example of knowledge-based industry. The latest CNC technology is pushing ahead with the industrial revolution in the era of knowledge-based economy.
On the basis of the experience of having taken the upper hand, the DPRK integrates the science and technology with production, knowledge with economy in all fields of the national economy, breaking through the cutting edge.
The industrial revolution in the new century to turn the national economy into the knowledge-based one will bring about an epochal turn in the promotion of the people's life, putting the overall national power onto the level of a thriving country in a short span of time.
The way to a thriving country—the way of cementing the single-hearted unity and strengthening the invincible military might and accelerating the industrial revolution in the new century—is the invariable path of Juche started by the devoted efforts of the distinguished leaders who have the noble patriotic idea and will.
4. Songun Era's Terms
"Though he devoted his all throughout his life to the prosperity of the country and the happiness of the people, General Kim Jong Il left nothing for himself. He was on the most intensive forced march, taking not a moment's rest, until he breathed his last on a moving train. Such a leader has never been witnessed anywhere in the world."
Kim Jong Un
Human history knows different eras with different characteristics.
There had been the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age that were divided by the development of labor tools and the Slave-holder Age, the Feudal Age and the Capitalist Age that were divided according to the socio-class relations.
In the latter half of the 20th century, Korea met a new era fundamentally different from these historical ages.
The new era is the Songun era ushered in by the Songun idea.
By the Songun idea, the thoroughgoing anti-imperialist idea and the idea of loving the country, nation, and people, a new Songun era was ushered in, producing the era's terms that characterize the era.
In this book, you will read only the terms related with the devoted efforts of great Comrade Kim Jong Il who planned to make Korea an economic giant and civilized nation dignified with Songun as soon as possible.
Through the Songun era's terms unprecedented in history or unavailable in any dictionary, the readers can have better understanding of how the DPRK greeted the period of building a thriving country, overcoming all the difficulties.
The readers will convince in that the DPRK will build a thriving country as she has the firm foundation provided by the devoted efforts of Comrade Kim Jong Il, the father of the nation.
1) Super-Intensive Forced March for On-the-Spot Guidance
It is difficult to imagine that one makes the intensive forced march continuously for hundreds or thousands of days, not for a day or a month.
However, Comrade Kim Jong Il, the great leader of the Korean people had super-intensive forced march for on-the-spot guidance continuously with ardent patriotic will.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said that he has worked, willingly complying with the difficulties, imagining the look of boundlessly prosperous socialist fatherland and of the people enjoying the more worthwhile and happy life in its care.
General Kim Jong Il who had huge plan of building a thriving country in 1999 appealed to the army and the people that in the era of great Comrade Kim Il Sung, we ran on Chollima and in a new Songun era, we must rush on steed at a canter and then after we achieved the immediate goals, we must rush forward faster like the wind.
With the ardent enthusiasm, he continued his on-the-spot guidance, in order to achieve the huge goal of building a thriving country in a short span of time by considerably speeding up the advance.
He visited all the factories and farms ranging from the industrial complexes in the key field of the national economy to the small local industrial factories. In this period, he led the factories and farms to place their production and management on the Juche-oriented, independent, and modern basis through socialist competition.
He saw to it that fruit farms, livestock farms, fish breeding farms, service centers and cultural life centers were newly built in every part of the country, cultivating the people's happiness and showed the fatherly love to the people, visiting the houses of the ordinary workers and farmers.
While visiting the central or local universities, middle schools and science institutions, he taught the methods of developing the country's science and education as required by the developing era.
Visiting the tree nurseries and forest management institutions, he opened bright vista for the building of the socialist paradise full of trees and flowers. And he gave on-the-spot guidance to the field of art and literature so that the masterpieces representing the Songun era could be created.
He visited hundreds of units a year, traveling 40,000 km on the train in 2009 alone.
His on-the-spot guidance was the super-intensive forced march unprecedented in terms of the number of visiting places, the traveling distance and the diversified width of guidance.
His on-the-spot guidance was unimaginably super-intensive forced march in terms of speed.
He inspected many units continuously in a day and traveled over 40 kilometers from the East coast to the West coast, from the capital to the northern part of the country a day to solve the problems arising in the building of a thriving country.
His visit to every part of the country at a canter or faster to attain the high goal of building a thriving country was really super-intensive forced march.
Among the era's terms that characterize his forced march, we can face the terms such as the forced march of over a thousand ri, the forced march in the snowstorm and the forced march in sultry season.
The Forced March of Over a Thousand ri
This expression tells a day's route of Kim Jong II's on-the-spot guidance.
When he visited Hungnam Fertilizer Complex in February 2009 to solve the food problem, he came to know that the production process was not finished because of the delay of the equipment necessary for the modernization of the complex.
Saying that he had to personally give the task to well produce the ordered equipment, he went to Rakwon Machine Complex, traveling over thousand ri at night in the February cold day. Upon his arrival, he looked at the bird's-eye view of the equipment and asked the officials to produce the ordered equipment in time.
He could have given the task through officials concerned or by telephone but did not hesitate to travel such a long distance at deep night, as he longed for the day when the fertilizers and rice would fall like waterfalls.
One day, he was returning to the capital city after his inspection but went back to the distant factory again, traveling a thousand ri, as he felt sorry for not having met the factory officials and workers, and encouraged them to the success, with warm love and trust.
The more difficulties and tasks his people had, the more intensive his super-intensive forced march became.
The forced march of over a thousand ri a day he made with patriotic conviction made Songun Korea leap forward, being remembered by the army and the people as the legend of the new era.
The Forced March in the Snowstorm and the Forced March in Sultry Season
Regarding the improvement of the people's life as the top affair and the top goal, Comrade Kim Jong Il continued his on-the-spot guidance, regardless of the season or day and night to satisfy the desire of the people.
On a winter day, he visited Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex and continued his travel to Musan Mining Complex. Standing on Cholsan Peak in a cold day of 20 'C below zero, he appealed upon the miners to send more iron ores to the developing metallurgical bases.
In January 2010, he visited the building site of Huichon Hydro-Power Station in a cold day of 30 C below zero, for his first inspection in the New Year. Traveling over a thousand ri through the snowstorm, the car windows were covered with frost and he could hardly move as his body was stiffened by the long forced march. Although he was too tired and uncomfortable, he got out of the car and sent a broad smile to the builders, being afraid that the soldiers and the people would worry about his health.
His great devotion, noble idea and boundless love encouraged the builders of Huichon Hydro-Power Station, the outpost of the building of a thriving country to the creation of new Chollima Speed, the Huichon Speed.
He visited a lot of large-sized industrial bases, the construction sites of power stations and service centres for the people in snowstorm. In every place, he encouraged the officials, scientists, technicians, and the workers to display their mental strength for the building of a thriving country.
The people asked General Kim Jong Il, the destiny and the future of the country and the people not to travel in snowstorm but he continued his forced march in the snowstorm even in 2011, the last year of his life.
In cold January, he visited the bottle production factory and continued his travel to many factories, science research institutes, people's cultural service centers, etc.
In cold December, he gave on-the-spot guidance without rest to many units including the comprehensive art information base and commercial center.
His on-the-spot guidance continued even in sultry season.
Since the olden time, Korea has the hottest summer season that is divided into three periods.
Korean proverb goes "In this hottest summer season, a grain of rice on the lip is felt heavy."
In this hottest summer season, he visited many sectors of the national economy including the factories in the machine industry and light industry sectors, being wet with sweat.
In hot July 2011, he visited the exhibition of commodities in Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 for a long time, asking to produce and supply more commodities the people like.
Many heads of state have holidays at summer resorts in hot season, and the Korean people cool down their hot bodies in swimming pools or park in this hot season.
However, he continued his forced march in the sultry days and rain-pouring days, in order to give the people the more prosperous future.
Without caring for his sufferings for the sake of the people, he visited every part of the country. His spirit of the forced march enabled the army and the people to fully display their mental strength in the building of a thriving country, bringing about the heyday of Songun Korea through his forced march.
2) Field-Style Life
History does not know that any political leader or supreme military commander lived in the field at a normal time, not wartime.
The field-style life not available in any great men expresses the patriotic devotion and enthusiasm of General Kim Jong Il who made unremitting efforts for the safety and happiness of the people.
The Korean revolution was particularly arduous and difficult, as it set it as the goal to defend the red flag of socialism against the most vicious US imperialism and to realize the people's ideal.
He made the field-style life, overcoming the difficulties in the van under the slogan "Charge after me!" not "Charge forward!"
He was always on the road of giving on-the-spot guidance to defend socialism, frustrating the unprecedented suffocation moves of the allied imperialist forces in the latter half of the 1990s and to encourage the entire people to the building of a thriving socialist country in the 2000s.
In his car or train traveling to give on-the-spot guidance, he used to have a short sleep and take humble balled rice.
He could hardly sleep, though tired, thinking that if he took rest, the advance of the country would delayed and that he was afraid of the time flying, as he had a lot of work to do for the sake of the people.
Saying that the balled rice is good as it did not consume much labor to make it and it is easy to take it quickly anywhere without giving troubles to others, he liked it as the ideal meal on the way.
When he was too busy with giving on-the-spot guidance, he used to skip even that humble rice.
His field-style working and living traits did not change even in the days of his visit to foreign countries.
On the running train, he had talks with the foreigners and studied the necessary documents, without sleep. During his visit to foreign countries, he shortened his lunchtime, trying to look at more objects and meet more people.
As a human being, he felt tired and loved his family more than anyone else. However, valuing the soldiers and the people, he had devoted his all, sacrificing his entire personal affair.
General Kim Jong Il who had devoted his all day and night for the country's prosperity and the people's happiness, burning himself as a light candle breathed his last on a train.
The terms of the Songun era "field-style life" unprecedented in history of the world politics imprint his peerless greatness and awaken the people to the fact that the present and the future of Songun Korea is bright, thanks to his sacrificing devotion for the building of a thriving socialist country.
5. People's Increasing Happiness
"We should ensure that the priceless assets bequeathed by General Kim Jong Il through a painstaking effort fulfil their potential, thus making our people who have invariably trusted and followed our Party the happiest in the world. This was the ardent desire of the General, and is the firm determination and will of our Party."
Kim Jong Un
The fireworks soiree took place in a grand way in Pyongyang in April 2009, demonstrating the invincible spirit of the Korean people who met a turning point in the building of a thriving country.
The various styles of fireworks cast the eyes of the people upon mysterious night sky.
Looking at the test fire of the fireworks in February 2009, General Kim Jong Il said it was his determination to provide the Korean people with numerous happiness like the wonderful colors of the fireworks.
The grandiose firework display in April 2009 told the wish of the motherly Party to give numerous blessings to the people.
The devoted efforts of the General who regarded it as his lifelong ideal to make the people live better life without envy could provide them with happy life as beautiful as the firework display.
1) Blessings with Food, Clothes, and Housing
In general, blessing gives satisfaction and pleasure.
Since the olden time, people have wished to be blessed with food, clothes, and housing.
Food, clothes, and housing are closely linked with man's survival, and apart from these blessings, his happiness and social development at large are inconceivable. The people's life with food, clothes, and housing, therefore, tells whether the politics is right or wrong.
The Workers' Party of Korea, since its foundation, has improved this life, in a responsible way.
The Korean people lead a happy life with food, clothes, and housing in the care of the Workers' Party of Korea that does not spare anything for the people, setting it as the top principle of its activities to improve the people's life.
In the latter half of the 1990s, however, the Korean people had to make the arduous march, suffering from the shortage of food and others. It was an urgent requirement for building a thriving country to improve the people's life.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said that when the people's life is considerably improved, the voice of hurrah of socialism and the song of prosperity would echo over the country and the door of the thriving country be open.
General Kim Jong Il set the light industry and agriculture as the main thrust for the building of a thriving country, to improve the living standard of the people who follow the Party invariably even in difficulties.
Amidst the fireless war against the allied imperialist forces, he laid firm foundation for the improvement of the people's living.
Thanks to the foundations he made through his continuous on-the-spot guidance, the DPRK scored successes in improving the people's living.
The food problem is now being solved.
In order to solve the food problem, it is necessary to increase the grain production, develop the livestock farming, fruit farming and fishing industry.
The DPRK solved the problems of land and water, the main conditions for the increase of the grain production and issued a new policy of agricultural revolution.
For 5 years since 1998, the Korean people administered land in Kangwon Province, South and North Phyongan Provinces, South and North Hwanghae Provinces, and in other cities, counties stage by stage, thus standardizing hundreds of thousands of land of the country. They also built over 10,000-km gravity-fed waterways at different stages, satisfactorily solving the water problems in the granary areas. Along with this, the Party issued the new policy of agricultural revolution such as seed revolution, potato farming, double-crop farming, bean farming, etc., laying firm foundation for the increase of agricultural production.
The DPRK opened vista for the increase of grain production by expanding the double-crop farming areas, the accumulation of the experience of the triple-farming in the mountainous areas, the establishment of the ring-type cyclic production, the enhancement of per hectare yield by the help of high-yield varieties and compound micro organic fertilizers, etc.
To solve the meat problem, the DPRK modernized the livestock bases once suspended in the period of the arduous march and built many pig farms, chicken farms, duck farms and breeding stock farms that are managed on the basis of the latest science and technology in different parts of the country.
She also built ox farms, ostrich farms and soft-shelled turtle factories to provide the people with the diversified and high level of diet.
Modern system was set up to breed on a large scale the sturgeons and trout in the sea, breaking through the cutting edge. The comprehensive fish-breeding institute that integrates the study and the processing of fishes of higher quality such as salmon was built in the East coastal area. Fish breeding farms were built in mountainous and plain areas in all parts of the country, considerably increasing the production of the sweet water fishes.
Regarding that the validity of the Party's policy must be proved in the people's diet, the Workers' Party of Korea laid agricultural and livestock foundations in the difficult days of defending socialism and thus provided the people with richer diet, hastening the day of their better life.
Taedonggang Combined Fruit Farm and Taedonggang General Fruit Processing Factory, the large-sized exemplary bases were built and the fruit farms were modernized, intensified, and specialized so that the people are supplied with different varieties of fruit irrespective of season, receiving the Party's love.
Following the example of Samilpho Specialities Factory, combined foodstuff factories were newly built in every province and cornstarch factories and foodstuff factories were modernized.
Every year, national food cooking festivals take place in the capital city, provinces, and counties on a grand scale and the newly built restaurants help the improvement of the people's diet.
The famous Pyongyang cold noodles, meat tray noodles, cooked soft-shell turtle, salmon, sturgeon, and quail and other foods are served in Delicacy House under Okryu Restaurant, telling the high level of their diet life.
The DPRK scored successes in solving the problem of clothes, increasing the production of the necessaries of life and the articles of daily use.
The old central and local textile mills, shoe factories and daily necessities factories were modernized or newly built, preparing the strong potentiality to satisfy the increasing need.
The suspended February 8 Vinalon Complex was rehabilitated, producing vinalon, the Juche-fabric and other necessaries, bringing about a turning point in solving the problem of clothes.
Along with the activating of the production of light industry goods, the commercial service centres were modernized or newly built, giving substantial benefits to the people.
As the Workers' Party of Korea makes the popular policies, the independent economy has its strong foundations and the officials and workers in this sector have high enthusiasm, the people will lead a civilized life in the near future.
The socialist fairy streets and villages were built in all parts of the country, removing the traces of arduousness and considerably improving the housing condition of the Korean people.
The DPRK provides the people with dwelling houses and apartments free of charge, satisfying their need for housing.
These modern houses and apartments built in the urban and the rural areas as required by the increasing cultural demand in the new century give the look of the socialist fairy land.
The apartments with the capacity of thousands of families built in Mansudae Street and Changjon Street, the symbols of the new century, were built in Pyongyang city in a short span of time and a large number of dwelling houses were newly built.
In the rural areas, hundreds of fairy villages rise every year.
Village at Poman-ri, Sohung County, North Hwanghae Province and village at Migok-ri, Sariwon City have several rows of palace-like tile-roofed houses behind which are various kinds of fruit trees and in front of which are vast fields and neat fish breeding ponds. Such socialist fairy villages are springing up competitively in every part of the country.
The simple workers, peasants, and intellectuals, not angels, are living in this paradise, the socialist fairy villages in the era of the Workers' Party of Korea.
The DPRK is the only country that builds tens of thousands of flats every year for the people.
In the capitalist society known as the welfare society, the housing condition is getting worse and worse.
In south Korea alone, over 8.06 million families among 14.31 million families live in rented houses. The Seoul citizens must accumulate their salaries of 23 or 27 years to buy houses. Due to this, numerous poor peoples live painful life in shanties with a 0.7 or 2 m² wide room, paying 210,000 won per month in average.
The people in the DPRK have the enviable blessings with house.
Her people's ideal for good food, clothes, and housing is materialized one by one.
In December 2001, great Comrade Kim Jong Il visited a machine factory on his way of giving continuous on-the-spot guidance for the building of a thriving socialist country.
A young man at the age of about 20 thanked him for having sent chicken and eggs.
The poultry factories built under his warm care and wise leadership well served the people.
With a broad smile on his face, he replied that he has no other desire when the people are happy and he finds his happiness and pleasure in the people's happiness and pleasure, adding that he is inspired instead of being tired even after working without sleep.
Everybody can understand how the people's happiness and pleasure increased, but nobody knows how to thank this.
2) Full Happiness is Oncoming
A Korean proverb goes, "the more one has, the more one wants." This tells man's desire has no limit.
Apart from the demand for food, clothes, and housing, people have demand for the dignity and prestige of country, society, and themselves and for their health and development.
A country finds it difficult to satisfy all these demands. This is, however, not impossible at all.
Great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il said that the day of final victory is not far when our people live better life without envy in the world, when Korea takes the position of the socialist economic giant and the scientifically and technically advanced country following the position of the political and ideological giant and the military giant.
The biggest blessing for the people is to be the masters of the country and the people of the thriving country.
Without being the masters of the country, the people can not satisfy the socio-political demand and material and cultural demand for survival and development. The country and the people that are under the foreign domination and interference, failing to build a thriving country are no better than beasts.
The Korean people already became the true masters of the state and society. They satisfied their socio-political demand that the people in many countries have desired but failed to realize.
The Korean people became the people of the ideological giant, political giant and military giant.
With the Juche idea, the idea of independence that illuminates the road of country's development and prosperity, the road of worthwhile life, adding glory to their dignity and value, the Korean people could have the blessings of saying the last farewell to the mental wandering. When the people in many countries were stumbling in mental poverty, entrusting their destiny on God, the Korean people advance straightly with full conviction, shouldering their destiny upon themselves.
In the history full of division, conflict, and fighting, the DPRK is proud of the great tradition of the single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party, the army and the people made on the basis of one ideology.
With the great ideology and the great unity, she successfully satisfied the national desire for the military giant which no enemy can dare to attack, overcoming all difficulties.
The Korean people do not know the words like tax, school fee and medical treatment fee, as they do not pay tax, learn free of charge throughout their life and get free medical care.
Even at the time of food crisis, fuel crisis and energy crisis, the universal compulsory free education continued across the country. The state paid more attention to the development of education, science, and technology.
The Juche-oriented socialist preventive public health care satisfies the people's desire for longevity in good health.
This is well proved by an example.
A worker in a stone pit was fatally wounded because of the unexpected accident.
Age: 26,
Diagnosis: Serious cerebral contusion, cranium fracture, bronchial pneumonia.
This fact was immediately reported to the Party, which took emergent state measure.
The patient who was carried to the central special hospital miraculously regained consciousness in 15 days.
When he was recovered, the hospital official showed him a sheet of paper which reads:
"Emergent measures taken for the recovery of the patient:
- Transportation means for the patient
- A helicopter, a passenger plane and ambulance vehicles
- The organizations involved for the treatment
- Tanchon City People's Hospital, Pyongyang Medical College Hospital,
- KPA Air Force unit, Korea Civil Aviation Bureau
- The medical doctors for the treatment
- Over 10 academicians, professors, and doctors
- Over 10 medical doctors and nurses
- Medicine used
- Musk, 72 kinds of quality medication including broad antibiotics
- Blood transfused
- 5.7 litres (a normal body contains 5 litres)
- Total treatment fee
- About USD 150,000"
The price in the DPRK for a patient is unimaginable, when compared with the total amount of USD 120,000 offered to south Korea by the US and Japan for the flood sufferers in 1984.
The Korean people are the blessed people living in the country brimming over with love, trust, and moral obligation.
Good politics makes people good whereas evil politics makes them evil.
With the fundamental goal of the revolution as the love for the people, the Workers' Party of Korea makes the politics of love and trust, turning the whole country into a big harmonious family.
In the big family with the leader as their father, the Korean people share sweets and bitters, helping, and leading each other forward.
Many people look after orphans as their own children and the childless aged people as their own parents and young people get married with the honored ex-service people and save their friends at the cost of their lives in the unexpected situation—this is normal phenomena.
According to the Rodong Sinmun dated April 27, 2013, two young people in Kangryong peninsula were drifted in the sea by storm, while catching shells in December 2012.
After discovering the drifting boat, the navy men of the KPA approached the boat but were pushed far away by the stormy wave. They jumped into the icy cold water and saved them with all difficulties. They covered them with their blankets and overcoats, giving the first aid and then sent them to the military hospital.
For 6 months, the doctors and nurses did their best and at last they were recovered by the devoted efforts of the doctors, nurses, and navy men.
This is normal phenomena in the DPRK.
The Korean people are happy people who enjoy rich cultural life.
Juche-oriented art and literature is prospering, enhancing dignity and value of an independent man and satisfying the cultural need of the people.
Thanks to the music policy of the Workers' Party of Korea, Korean music reached the high level of the revolutionary and optimistic music art.
When the decadent songs lead the people to pathos and pessimism and even to suicide, the militant and optimistic Korean songs lead to courage, serving as the mental source.
The Korean people enjoy themselves in the famous mountains and scenic places.
Mts. Ryongak, Chilbo, Kuwol, Jangsu, Myohyang, and Jongbang were wonderfully turned into the people's cultural resorts and the Central Zoo and the recreation places in Majon, Sokam, Songdowon, Waudo, and Mt. Paekun were modernized. New parks, recreation grounds and wading pools were built in Pyongyang and rural areas, adding pleasure to the people.
Ryongmun Cavern and Songam Cavern were well built, too. Ryongmun Cavern has 11 wonderful and famous spots and large space and waterfalls which are unavailable in deep caverns in other countries. In these underground scenic places, the Korean people enjoy themselves.
The Korean people enjoy ever-growing happiness and pleasure, with all their desires being fully satisfied one by one. This is not an accident given by God but necessity of history given by the motherly Party.
Mothers are not normally satisfied with the things done for the sake of their children, trying to give better and better things.
Happiness is snowballing in the DPRK thanks to the motherly Workers' Party of Korea.
6. The Future of Building of Thriving Country
"Our Party will triumphantly build a thriving socialist nation, the most powerful country, on this land in our own way, the way the General did, by relying on our people who are the best in the world."
Kim Jong Un
The Korean people are now making the general advance for final victory in building a thriving country, frustrating the anti-DPRK moves of the imperialist allied forces.
General Kim Jong Il set a huge goal for a thriving socialist country to make the people live happy life without envy. The DPRK has already attained the goal of building the political, ideological, and military giants and now has the immediate task to build the economic giant and the civilized nation.
Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un is now leading the cause of building a thriving socialist country towards final victory, while consolidating the already-gained successes.
The Korean people are optimistic of the future of the thriving socialist country, the ideal society of humanity, that is being built under the wise leadership of respected Kim Jong Un.
People say that they foresee the future in history.
By traversing the road of independence, the road of Songun and the road of socialism successively under the leadership of the predecessor leaders, the Korean people have scored in a short span of time the success that took several centuries in other countries.
The idea and ability of a political leader are confirmed by his idea, theory, and practice.
Respected Kim Jong Un wrote over 10 works in a short span of over 1 year.
In his works, he made historic contribution, by formulating the revolutionary idea of the Workers' Party of Korea into Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism and clarified it as the supreme programme of the Party to model the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism. He also clarified the concrete tasks and ways of building a thriving country, true to the idea of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, holding them in high esteem as eternal leaders, and does everything according to their intentions.
The future of the building of a thriving socialist country is bright, as long as respected Kim Jong Un with the extraordinary ideological and theoretical wisdom, inherits the idea and cause of the predecessor leaders as they are and leads the people to the road of independence, the road of Songun and the road of socialism.
His political ability and traits confirm final victory of building a thriving country in the DPRK.
In a short span of his revolutionary leadership, he demonstrated his incomparably high political ability.
South Korean Internet website Minju Rochong carried an article that reads:
"Kim Jong Un, the Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (the then) became famous at a jump, as soon as he appeared as the official successor.
CNN of the US selected General Kim Jong Un in north Korea as 20 candidates of the top 10 interest persons of 2010 who will be recently voted through Internet all over the world and selected him as the top 10 interest persons of the world on December 28.
...
After officially electing respected Kim Jong Un the successor, north Korea regained more energy and created events successively that surprise the world.
North Korea gave great shock to the world by disclosing the facilities of enriching uranium and shelling on Yonphyong islet, while scoring a lot of noteworthy successes in the building of the economy.
These great events are no more than some of the successes gained at once, after Vice-Chairman Kim Jong Un was elected the successor.
Through fully disclosing the uranium enriching facilities, north Korea dealt a fatal blow to the US that insisted on the strategy of pressurizing north Korea.
This technically and practically proved that north Korea manufactured and possessed various kinds of the highly effective nuclear weapons including the uranium nuclear weapons to cope with the US and thus demonstrated that the US can never defeat north Korea forever.
And north Korea demonstrated that it can build and operate the modern nuclear reactor including the light water reactor by itself and thus made the world recognize the failure of the economic sanction of the US that tried to economically isolate north Korea with delaying tactics.
Meanwhile, north Korea redoubled the conviction in overcoming the economic difficulties through self-reliance and achieving victory in the building of a thriving country.
With these politically calculated measures, north Korea dealt a heavy blow to the US that resorted only to the anti-North confrontation, denying dialogues and brought the US to the inescapable negotiation table as she aimed and demanded, thus decisively breaking the wrong policy of the US towards north Korea.
North Korea changed the understanding and view of the US and the rest of the world about her.
The world that doubted whether north Korea would kneel down before the US, being affected by the distorted propaganda of the ultra right conservative forces, became to know that 'north Korea's economic withering' is a sheer lie, looking at the developing reality of north Korea.
Looking at the continuously developing reality overtaking the world level in all sectors of north Korea, the world came to recognize that the building of a thriving country is materialized in north Korea.
The north Korea's strong measure against anti-North aggressive war exercises of the US and south Korea that aggravate tension in the Korean peninsula, and north Korea's afterward flexible measure taught the world that the DPRK is victor and defender of peace in the Korean peninsula and the world.
Coping with the shelling of south Korea, north Korea gave precision strike only to the military headquarters and facilities, thus demonstrating her will of merciless retaliation and sufficient ability.
At the time of the 2nd provocative shelling from Yonphyong islet, north Korea controlled her military countermeasure beyond expectation and thus controlled the shelling of the US and south Korea without firing a shell, becoming the defender of peace of the Korean peninsula in a moment.
In the confrontation over the issue of Yonphyong islet, north Korea won victory militarily and politically and put the US and south Korea on the position of defendant as the direct destroyer of peace in the Korean peninsula and the world.
With the highest level of military measure and political diplomacy, north Korea changed the political structure around the Korean peninsula at once, enjoying the support and sympathy of the world.
In a short span of 3 months after set-up of the official system of the successor, the world came to know the first ability of north Korea's successor who strengthens the political system and develops the defence industry and economic construction, handling the US as he likes and could expect the future of Kim Jong Un's era."
With the wide range of knowledge, world-level vision, extraordinary wisdom and decision and the strong gut, respected Kim Jong Un leads the affairs in all fields like politics, diplomacy, military, economy, and culture in a three-dimensional way, creating surprising successes, as recognized by the world.
Comrade Kim Jong Un, another Songun Commander of the Korean people, considerably strengthens the Korean People's Army politically and technically invariably holding the banner of Songun.
Saying that the Supreme Commander is necessary for the soldiers, he visits frontline outposts including Panmunjom, Mu islet and Jangjae islet and other Korean People's Army units and has photo session with the soldiers arm in arm and shoulder to shoulder, looking after their life.
In the care of the Supreme Commander who calls the soldiers his comrades-in arms, giving love and trust to them, the Korean People's Army soldiers are being prepared to be ideological and organizational integral whole that fights at the cost of their lives for the Party, the leader, the country and the people.
He teaches the concrete ways for combat preparation and victory, visiting the Korean People's Army units. And he personally guides combined exercise of the Korean People's Army, the joint strike drill and other combat drills, preparing the Korean People's Army to be strong army.
He led the successful launch of satellite Kwangmyongsong 3-2 to demonstrate the national dignity, adding glory to the exploits of the great generalissimos for building army and demonstrated the prestige of Kim Il Sung's nation and Kim Jong II's Korea.
Giving on-the-spot guidance to the munitions industry, he took measure to modernize the military production and make the working class display their mentality, bringing about a new heyday of the development of the defense industry. Coping with the overt US nuclear threat, he controls the enemy with continuous and overall offensives, demonstrating the strong will, wisdom, and boldness operational strike capability of the DPRK that is not afraid of the overall nuclear war.
Creating favorable conditions for building a thriving country with the able political and military measure, taking upper hand in the confrontation with the US imperialists, he leads the people to the building of a economic giant, scoring noteworthy successes.
With the strong decision to make the Korean people enjoy all the benefits of socialism without tightening their belts any more, he makes every effort, calling them the best people and changes the look of the DPRK considerably.
For over 1 year, a lot of factories based on the latest technology, Pyongyang Folk Park, Rungna People's Pleasure Ground, Rungna Dolphinarium, the People's Open-air Ice Rink, Thongil Fitness Centre, the People's Theatre, Mansugyo Meat and Fish Shop, Pothonggang Fish Shop, Haedanghwa Service Centre, Ryugyong Health Complex, Pyongyang International Football School, etc. were completed in Pyongyang and over 10 parks were built in every district of Pyongyang city. And cultural service centres were erected in every part of the country.
Displaying the spirit of breaking through the cutting edge, the scientists scored successes in the basic technical fields such as nano-technology, information technology and biological engineering technology.
With the appearance of fresh and militant Moranbong Band, a new phase was developed in art and music, and learning after it, the hurricane of creation sweeps over the country.
Planting new variety of turf and trees, the whole country is covered with dense forest, changing the look of the urban and rural areas.
His boundless devotion for the country and the people, boundless simplicity, benevolent popular traits consolidated the single-hearted unity of the society on a higher stage.
He regards the people's interests as the top, sincerely loves them, open-mindedly treats them and attracts their mind.
In the days of big national loss of the demise of Kim Jong Il, the father of the nation, he took care of the people lest they should shiver from cold, took measures to supply the citizens with fish and sent a plain sports woman to a foreign country for medical treatment.
He saw to it that the palace-like apartments for thousands of families were built in a year for the plain workers and intellectuals.
He visited with his wife to congratulate the newly-moved families, supplying them with kitchen utensils and other things.
Personally picking up weeds in the interstice of roads in a people's recreation ground, he implanted the spirit of devoted service for the people in the mind of the officials. And he teaches not to give any slightest inconveniences to the people.
With the special love for the children, he kisses on their cheeks, pats on their heads, kindly talks with them and has photos taken with them, whenever he meets babies, kindergarten children and pupils.
Mentioning that mothers do not cast aside troublesome children and take more care of the disabled ones, he looks after every one who follows the Party, irrespective of their class status, family background and socio-political life records.
Thanks to his benevolent politics and all-embracing politics, those who defected from the country in arduous days return home.
His ardent affection serves as great driving force to make the army and the people give full display of their mental strength for the rapid building of a thriving country.
Therefore, the Korean people sing that the future of the country is bright with the benevolent and wise leader.
The Korean people are proud of their tradition of remaining loyal to the leader and following the spirit of self-reliance.
They defeated 1,000,000-strong Japanese army by producing Yongil bombs with self-reliance and liberated the country. They defeated the armed invasion of the US imperialists and won victory in the war, greeting the day of 2nd liberation. Leaping forward on Chollima, they realized the industrialization within 14 years and built the socialist country independent in politics, self-sufficient in economy and self-reliant in defence in a miraculous way. With the power of self-reliance, they heroically frustrated the suffocation moves of the imperialist allied forces and broke through the cutting edge on the road of Songun.
The Korean people who have grown up learning the history of self-reliance and the Chollima speed have nothing impossible to do.
With the great leader and the great people, the future of a thriving socialist country is bright.