As we approach the 100th anniversary of the birthday of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung,on April 15th, we reflect deeply of his achievements and consider his greatness. It is difficult to express it properly. I feel that others have probably expressed it much better than myself and indeed the DPRK itself has published many excellent articles and books . I myself have written the short booklet "The Eternal People's Sun". Nevertheless such a great occasion which will be shortly be celebrated not just in the DPRK but every corner of the globe, so one should say something about it.
The great leader comrade Kim Il Sung was the father of socialist Korea, liberator of the Korean people, a great theorist and ideologist , an ever victorious iron -willed brilliant commander and the great leader of the world revolution.
I first got acquainted with the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung and Korea by reading a book called“A Dictionary of Politics” but the book had very little information about the DPRK and Juche ( in fact it failed to mention Juche !) and was hostile and dismissive . However one thing it said made a deep impression on me , that the DPRK maintained independence and kept relations with both the Soviet Union and China. At the time this was very important and the DPRK was virtually the only socialist country in the world to do so. I grew up in a period when the socialist camp and international communist movement were badly split between the 2 big socialist countries. Splits, division and confusion very common, we not only had the split between the USSR and China but also Trotskyites and Euro-communists. There was a pressing need for a wise and responsible leader of the world communist movement who would both maintain revolutionary, class and anti-imperialist principles but at the same time maintain unity and solidarity. It was quite a feat for the DPRK to maintain independence it had two great powers,Russia and China ,on its doorstep not mention Japan just across the sea and the US. Just to maintain independence under such conditions was the great feat of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung.
Although I did not know much at that time about the great leader President Kim Il Sung, it was very much apparent to me that he was the most tested and experienced of all the leaders of the socialist countries, having led the DPRK for over 40 years. Comrade Kim Il Sung outlived many veteran communist leaders such as Mao, Tito, Hoxha and others. He was still active as a world communist leader in the 1990s and played a key role in rallying the socialist forces after the frustration of socialism in the USSR and elsewhere.
Despite my admiration for the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung it was hard to find out any other information about the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung and the DPRK. One day I happened to find by chance some books from the DPRK, these were “Korean Review”(1974) and Volume 5 of “KIM IL SUNG Selected Works”. I was immediately impressed by the massive economic social, political and cultural achievements of the DPRK which were not publicised in the West even by so called progressives and communists. I found the sharpness, clarity and militancy of the DPRK captivating. It was a breathe of fresh air.
Reading volume 5 of Kim Il Sung selected Works, I read several speeches including the one made at the 20th anniversary of the founding of the KPA and was struck by the revolutionary fervor and thorough going anti-imperialist stand. I read works such as the “The Great Anti-Imperialist Revolutionary Cause Of The Asian, African And Latin American Peoples Is Invincible", “The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the banner of Freedom and independence for our people and the powerful weapon of building socialism and communism” and the report to the 5th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
All these works made a great impression on me for a number of reasons, such as complex and profound ideas conveyed with such simplicity, clarity and precision but above all their deep revolutionary nature that was a breath of fresh air compared to the stale revisionism that pervaded many organisations in the UK . I felt totally enthralled by the Juche idea. It was exciting, radical and revolutionary. I was deeply impressed by the steadfast anti-imperialist line espoused by great leader comrade Kim Il Sung and his militant defence of socialism. He sharply condemned the 'liberalisation' and 'opening up' moves of the East European countries and expounded the dictatorship of the proletariat and proletarian democracy. I was particularly struck with comrade Kim Il Sung's unswerving and stouthearted revolutionary anti-imperialist line , others spoke about 'peaceful co-existence and even co-operation with imperialism but the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung instead talked of chopping the limbs and head off US imperialism and sternly warned them over the "Pueblo" incident that if they provoked a war they would only get corpses and death. I decided to become a follower of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung.
The achievements of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung are so great and so numerous that it is impossible to list them within a single article or even a book or indeed many books. I will just list a few of his achievements, creation of the Juche idea, his role as a great outstanding military commander and the building of independent Juche-based socialism. I think these three areas actually constitute a solid core of comrade Kim Il Sung's life and work but of course there are others.
The Juche idea authored by the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung is now known throughout the world. Seminars on it take place all over the world from Lima to London ,from Maputo to Moscow. It is an idea that fully embodies the hopes and aspirations of the world people for independence, to live as masters of their own fate. It inspires the oppressed and toiling masses everywhere. It is an idea which is both simple and complex. It was first outlined by the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung at the Kalun meeting in June 1930 . Later it was expanded on in many works. Comrade Kim Il Sung defined Juche as follows
"In a nutshell, the idea of Juche means that the masters of the revolution and the work of construction are the masses of the people and that they are also the motive force of the revolution and the work of construction. In other words, one is responsible for one's own destiny and one has also the capacity for hewing out one's own destiny."
Juche means a lot more than independence and self-reliance though of course these underpin the practical application of the Juche idea. Juche overcame the limitations of previous revolutionary theories which stressed material and economic factors and emphasised the base and superstructure. Juche showed the correct path for liberation for the oppressed countries of the world and the correct path for
building socialism. The vitality of the Juche idea has been proved by the successful construction of socialism in the DPRK and by the fact they when socialism was frustrated in other countries , the DPRK stood firm.
building socialism. The vitality of the Juche idea has been proved by the successful construction of socialism in the DPRK and by the fact they when socialism was frustrated in other countries , the DPRK stood firm.
Self-reliance in defence was and is one of the key pillars of the Juche idea in practical terms. The great leader comrade Kim Il Sung was the iron -willed brilliant commander who defeated 2 big imperialist powers within the space of one generation. He was the protean guerrilla strategist and partisan who led the armed struggle against Japanese imperialism for 15 years . Comrade Kim Il Sung formed the Korean Revolutionary Army in 1930 after the Kalun meeting and later the Anti-Japanese People's Guerrilla Army(which became the Korean People's Revolutionary Army in 1934). They did not have a state or rear base to rely , the anti-Japanse guerrillas had to be self-reliant. They captured weapons from the Japanese aggressors and produced their own weapons such as the Yongil bomb( today the DPRK has its own nuclear Yongil bomb the proud fruit of self-reliance) . Kim Il Sung was like a modern Robin Hood. He set up liberated zones it which land was distrubuted free of charge to landless peasants. Comrade Kim Il Sung was the master of strategy and tactics who defeated the well armed Japanese armed forces in many battles such as Pochonbo, Musan and many others. Korea was liberated in 1945 but only 5 years later did the drums of war sound again when the DPRK was attacked by the south Korean puppets instigated by the US imperialists . The US imperialists threw massive armed forces into the conflict including those of their satellite forces. To my great shame the Attlee government (heavily in debt to the US and pursuing a rabidly pro American line) sent British troops to fight in the war against the DPRK. The odds were stacked against the DPRK; the US had more troops than the DPRK and had the latest weapons , their ground troops were backed by air power. The US in terms of population and area was much greater than the DPRK . However after 3 years it was the US commander general Mark Clark who had to admit "I return with feelings of misgiving from my third war-I was the first American commander to put his signature to a paper ending a war when we did not win it.”. US imperialism bit the dust and went on the road of decline and ruin. This was due to the Juche-orientated brilliant military tactics of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung.
Comrade Kim Il Sung showed his genius by not only being a great military commander but an excellent and unparalleled leader in peacetime who built an independent socialist country of Juche and a socialist paradise. Comrade Kim Il Sung made independence the cornerstone of socialism in Korea. The DPRK refused to join the CMEA and instead pursued a policy of self-reliance. The DPRK under the leadership of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung firmly resisted pressure , plots and sabotage by great powers who did not want to see the building of an independent socialism. Comrade Kim Il Sung made sure that the Rightist deviation of modern revisionism and the Left opportunism(aka "maoism") were avoided. He put forward a policy of the class line and mass line. Class struggle continued under socialism in the DPRK but at the same the unity of the people was stressed. Today the DPRK is the most united society in the world where the people, leader, party and army all form an integral harmonious whole. The DPRK does not know social conflict or riots and strikes.
The DPRK became a socialist paradise for the people The DPRK has provided people with the right to work,housing is provided at a very low cost or even totally free(one could only sigh when you contrast this to the recent headline about house prices in London going up even faster). Education is also free up to all levels which include university and post graduate study. School clothes and other things for children are either free or sold at 50% of cost price. Mothers with more than 3 children can work a 6 hour day but be paid for 8 hours. The retirement age is 60 for men and 55 for women. Free medical care was introduced in 1953 and buttressed by further legalisation in 1960 and 1980 .All treatment is including medicine is free and the state even pays travelling expenses to the sanatorium!Taxation including local autonomy tax was abolished in 1974.
Such measures have not been taken in all socialist countries nor in rich countries but have been taken in the DPRK because of the profound concern of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung for the people and the belief that the country should shoulder full responsibility for the destiny and well-being of the people. President Kim Il Sung made sure that improvement of the peoples living standard was enshrined in the principles of both the WPK and DPRK.
Such measures have not been taken in all socialist countries nor in rich countries but have been taken in the DPRK because of the profound concern of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung for the people and the belief that the country should shoulder full responsibility for the destiny and well-being of the people. President Kim Il Sung made sure that improvement of the peoples living standard was enshrined in the principles of both the WPK and DPRK.
Thus Juche socialism in a model for the world . Socialist Korea is the greatest and durable legacy bequeathed by the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung.
Lets us study more deeply the achievements of People's Korea, the Juche idea and the revolutionary activities and life of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung.GLORY TO THE ETERNAL MEMORY OF THE GREAT LEADER COMRADE KIM IL SUNG!
Written by the Chairman of the Juche Idea Study Group
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