Friends,
It
is an arduous ,challenging and time consuming task to trace
the fight of independence of any country and here with reference to
Korea, permit me to acknowledge, that it
is studded with so many events of valor ,successes and failures that it would
take hours to narrate them In brief I would like to say that this country the
land of “Morning Calm” was occupied by
the callous tyrannical and unscrupulous
Japanese in 1910. Naturally the innocent and peace loving Koreans were
subjected to worst type of tyranny which a colonial power lets loose on its
subjugated people .But then a time comes when the soil of the land produces a
man of vision, a hero, a person with exceptional grit and determination to
throw out the tyrant. In our scripture we say that when the Dharma or
righteousness suffers and evil doers get
ascendency then in order to emancipate
the suffering people I (God Incarnate) come down to earth to emancipate the
suffering people. In our context it was Lord Krishna, but otherwise the history of mankind is dotted
with such valiant and brilliant people, to name a few –Garibaldi, Lenin. Gandhi.
etc, Here this soil produced the Great Kim Il Sung –Our eternal President, who
with his single minded resolve and determination
fought against the brute Japanese and threw them out of the Fatherland bag and
baggage,
Our Great President born in a poor family on 15 April 1912 was named as KIM JONG SU .
But seeing the spark and his great leadership qualities his young comrades
called him HAN BYOL meaning Morning Star
But later the young communist comrades
gave him the name KIM IL SUNG meaning The Sun. To narrate this incident or the
fact I appeal to you to appreciate the
great leadership qualities which he had
right from the start such as organizational skill ,ability to inspire others. and charging them with the
unquenchable spirit of attaining the freedom and driving out the tyrant
Japanese. This change of name was not stage managed. It was spontaneous urge
springing from the hearts of his
comrades in arms as can be gauged by the fact that this young boy even in his
school days formed a secret Reading
circle for the study of the works of Marx
and Lenin’, and formed in October 1926 a secret society named Down
with Imperialism.
So In
fact right from his childhood he was imbued with the strong and burning desire
to liberate his fatherland from the callous and tyrannical vice grip of Japanese.
He worked incessantly to achieve this goal . The War Lords/feudal lords got the
wind of his activities and he was interned in the jail . But in May 1930 he was
released from the jail . Since he was a man of vision and a man with
exceptional leadership qualities he thoroughly understood that his struggle
against the steel grip of Japanese can only be successful if he enlists the
common man - the masses and here in 1930 the great Juche Idea was proclaimed .
We find that through out his struggle against the Japanese he always enlisted the help of people.,and this fact can be understood if we
look at the outfits organized by him . He formed Anti Japanese People’s guerilla Army which
was later rechristened as Korean People’s guerilla Army. He formed Anti Japanese
Women’s Association and even Children he enlisted women, youth, children peasants
and workers in his struggle against the Japanese. So we find that he always
sought full support of almost every section of the society i. e the common man
or the masses and with his dynamic and magnetic personality he got it in
abundance. He could inspire his people to such an extent that in order to
communicate with others and send their message far and wide they inscribed them on the trees and they were labeled as singing trees. He also
formed guerilla troops who would harass the enemy and then suddenly disappear.
It was called Circling Operation. With his magnetic and imposing personality this Great man – the Sun of the 20th
Century endowed with an exceptional insight and farsightedness made his
struggle against the Japanese the
struggle of the masses. In his war efforts he could also get the help of Russia
as Japan was their common foe. And in August 1945 the Korean People’s Army and
the Soviet troops jointly launched the final offensive against the Japanese
troops on August 9, 1945 and the Japanese surrendered. And with this Korea
attained its independence on Aug 15,1945 It was the end of the arduous and very
trying struggle which was started in April 1932 with many ups and downs under
the brilliant leadership of the great President rightly called the Sun of the
20th century. Here I have no t tried to narrate numerous events
which took place in this long arduous struggle over a period of about 13 long
years as in a lecture there is always a constraint of time . those interested
in details can refer to lots of literature available in this regard.
But
the matter of fact is that the ordeal had just started and not yet finished.
The voluptuous and monstrous USA could not digest the emergence of a Democratic Socialist Country . It was a
pain in their neck ,and opposed to their very cardinal but dear principle of
foisting an imperious and dominative world order in which the voice of USA
would reign supreme. , And then as it always happens, with the help of traitors
who are found every where and all the time, they managed to buy Syngman Rhee
and in the name of fair play and human rights invaded North Korea. Friends it
was a war between two inequals On one
side was the mightiest power of the earth equipped with atomic weapons tested
and used very recently against Japan and on the other hand a nascent state
which had very recently freed itself from the callous and tyrannical rule of
Japanese . Koreans under the great leadership of Comrade Kim Il Sung were
almost unequipped ,semi trained- an army of young men and women who were ready
to do and die for the independence of the fatherland .They were less in number
and at the same time also stabbed in the back by the traitor South Koreans who
had virtually sold themselves off to the power and pelf of the US And then there was the US army well equipped
with the ultra modern weaponry and well trained soldiers. Actually in
figurative terms it was a battle between David and Goliath. But the
ill equipped, semi trained soldiers of North Korea under the leadership
of Eternal President Kim Il Sung bitten by the bug of patriotism , fully
dedicated, ready to shed their last drop
of blood and sacrifice their life at the alter of the Fatherland with a burning
spirit of living in freedom , to breathe in free air and to
live with independence were ready to create history. Perhaps they were imbued with these words of
Tagore:
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Into that heaven of freedom ,My Father, let
my country awake
And
a war was waged between US assisted by its allies traitor Syngman Rhee against the valiant North Koreans. The David
in spite of all his shortcomings proved to be more than a match to the combined
forces of US and South Koreans. They had to lick dust repeatedly despite the
fact that they were commanded from time
to time by such renowned generals as MacArthur, Ridgway, Clark, Walker, Van Fleet
and Dean. And to subjugate the brave and
fearless North Koreans even the most
barbarous forms of weapons such as
bacteriological and chemical were used
For the members of the audience who are
interested in greater details, I would request them to read Kim Il Sung
Encyclopedia Part 1 To cut short my
presentation in view of the limitation of time I would like to reproduce the
most authentic conclusion of the war in the words of General Clark Commander of United States
forces when he signed the armistice. He says :
“ In
carrying out the instruction of my Govt. I gained the unenviable distinction of
being the first United States Army
Commander in history to sign an armistice without victory.
I suffered a sense of frustration that was
shared , I imagine, by my two predecessors general Douglas MacArthur and Mathew
Ridgway” .
Friends this is the big war of Korean liberation or the war to
keep the flag of liberty flying high and
the struggle is continuing even today.
Now a word about the economic hegemony of
the capitalist society. In the name of globalization which ensures gains to the
capitalist countries they have started free trade draining the wealth of poor
countries out and stuffing their coffers. The economist says it is another ploy
of foisting their superiority on the weaker nations .The countries who oppose them
have to suffer from economic sanctions and trade blockade. Korea is a living
example of the same. Sanctions imposed upon it are meant to force it to accept
the unholy dictates of the colonialists headed by USA. But be it said to the
uprightness and strong will of the Korean people that in spite of this serious
economic blockade they are facing the ordeal with grit and determination but not
selling their hard earned independence to the brute designs of the Imperialists
headed by USA.
In order to prove my contention I would seek
your indulgence to have a look at what two great authorities on the issue have
said. Jorrge Heine (holding the Chair in global governance at the Balisthe School of International Affairs in Waterloo,
Ontario and Ramesh Thakur Professor of
Political Science , University of Waterloo) say:
“The
deepening of poverty and inequality- prosperity for a few countries and people
,marginalization and exclusion for many-has implication for social and
political stability among and within states. The rapid growth of global market
has not seen the parallel development of social and economic institutions to
ensure balanced inclusive and sustainable growth…………-global rules on trade and finance are inequitable . This has
asymmetric effect on rich and poor countries”
Now very
briefly about the launching of Hwa Song 14 missile. Here I am reminded about
the preamble of UN Charter which guarantees sovereignty to member states, Now
the objection of US and other axis powers to the testing of these missiles
means abject interference with the sovereignty of Korea. And if we see it in
the context of what these Imperialists and monopolistic countries are doing
themselves we find them hoarding the most devastating nuclear weapons which can
destroy this planet several times They constantly hold a threat to us, the
smaller countries - and in view of this if we also develop our weapon to pay
them back in their own coin then where is the fault. It is purely a deterrent .
It is not for any attack but to pay you back in your own coin. And even then if
we are labeled as the danger to the world then any impartial judge can say who
is at fault. “ Is it not a case of “Devil teaching scripture.” The history of
Korea is the history of non aggression. It is now a country with a strong socio
political set up imbued with the principle of granting every individual his/her
freedom. Equality with peace rules the roost, It is that Utopian land where
education is free, health services are free , there is no beggar, no arson and
no interference with the individual
liberty . Real and true democracy prevails here and since it does not bow down
before the imperious designs of the Imperialists ,it is an eye sore for them
and a pain in their neck. It is for my friends here to decide about the
Justness of such a State
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