THE Workers' Party of Korea has reached seventy-five years in its existence as the leading party of the Korean people. Over the course of seven decades, the WPK has shown its durability as a political force due to it's being based on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism. Although the WPK was founded on October 10th, 1945, the party has its historical roots going back to the 1920s. As a consequence of the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917 in Russia, many Marxist-Leninist groups were organised in Pyongyang, Seoul and other places in Korea.
The activities for the propagation of Marxism-Leninism was severely restricted by the Japanese Imperialists, Korea at the time was a colony of Japan (1910-1945). Many progressive patriots became Communists and undertook the road of revolution. The Communist Party of Korea was founded in April 1925. From the first day of its foundation, the Korean Communist Party was riddled with factionalism and sectarianism, which had no real connection with the rank and file of the Korean working masses. There were groups such as the "M-L Group", the "North Wind Association" and the "Tuesday Group", which eventually destroyed the Korean Communist Party. After much division and factionalism, the KCP was dissolved by the decision of the Communist International in 1928.
A new generation of revolutionaries centred around Kim IL Sung put the Korean Communist Movement onto a different course, away from the factionalism and flunkeyism of the KCP. Kim IL Sung and his comrades' setup The Down-With Imperialism Union on October 17th, 1926. The formation of the DIU was a declaration of a new start for the advancement of the Korean revolution. At the base of the DIU's programme was the principle of independence. which became the bedrock in the building of the Workers' Party of Korea. Kim IL Sung formulated the methodology of party building amidst the flames of the Korean people's national liberation struggle at the Kalun Meeting in June 1930.
At the Kalun Meeting Kim IL Sung announced the principles of the Juche Idea in conformity with the demands of the era. The positions put forward taken by Kim IL Sung in party building were unique, to establish the grassroots' organisations first, instead of proclaiming the formation of the party. By having this approach in the construction of the revolutionary party, it avoided all the false starts made previously. The first party organisation to be formed by Kim IL Sung was in Kalun on July 3rd, 1930 under the title "The Society For Rallying Comrades" and it had the slogan "With One Ideology & Will!".
Kim IL Sung actively promoted the establishment of a system which provided unified guidance to the party organisations. A very creative aspect of party building proposed by Kim IL Sung was to align the task of party construction with the fight against Japanese imperialism. Having the combination of the efforts for party building and the Anti-Japanese Revolutionary struggle made it possible to promote the political awareness and the organisational will of the masses. Party organisations had become embedded within the Anti-Japanese Peoples Guerilla Army which later was known as the Korean People's Revolutionary Army and the KPRA Party Committee was organised so as to coordinate party work at the forefront of the class and the national liberation struggle. Party organisations had sprung up in many parts of Korea, Manchuria and mainland China.
After Korea's liberation in August 1945, the founding of a party was an urgent necessity for the Korean Communists. Kim IL Sung's strategy of making the preparations for a revolutionary party had paid off. An inaugural congress of the Communist Party of North Korea was held in Pyongyang on 10th October to 13th October 1945. The first-ever congress of the Juche based Communist Party was attended by Anti-Japanese veterans, workers, peasants and intellectuals. The struggle to build up the new party after liberation was conducted in difficult circumstances when the Korean peninsula had just been divided between the north and south by the US imperialists. As the newly founded Communist Party was being strengthened in the period of the Democratic Revolution, Kim IL Sung wanted to push ahead with having a unified party of the working masses.
The prevailing situation demanded that the Communist Party transform itself into a powerful force which would cement the alliance of the workers, the peasants and the intellectuals. In the interests of the Korean revolution, it was vital to unite the anti-imperialist forces in the forms of the Communist Party, the New Democratic Party and the Peoples Party. The Workers' Party of Korea appeared on the historical arena at the congress held on August 28th, 1946. Two years later the Workers' Parties of north and south Korea merged into one party.
At the time of the Fatherland Liberation War (the Korean War 1950-53) the Workers' Party of Korea provided the ideological and organisational leadership of the Korean People's Army. In October 1950, a decision was made on the formation of party organisations within the KPA. Kim IL Sung ensured the leading role of the WPK in the battles to defeat US Imperialism in the frontline and the rear, and thus gaining the epochal victory of July 27th, 1953 over the forces of aggression.
Kim IL Sung set forth the strategic policy of converting society to the Juche Idea and put the task of stepping up the transformation of the whole party after the ideology and practice of Juche. So as to win the complete victory of socialism, Kim IL Sung set out the path of working-classization, revolutionization and the intellectualization of society. The three revolutions, the ideological, technical and cultural ensured the consolidation and the growth of socialism within the DPRK and increased the role of the WPK in all areas of activity.
On June 19th, 1964 Kim Jong IL began work at the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. Kim Jong IL consistently emphasised on enhancing the leading role of the WPK in the Korean revolution. Under Kim Jong IL's guidance, the WPK was developed into the party of Kim IL Sung, forever upholding the Juche Idea as its guiding ideology. On February 19th, 1974, Kim Jong IL launched the programme of transforming the entire society on the Juche Idea in a robust and systematic manner.
The WPK was to be in the lead in seizing the ideological and material fortresses in the building of socialism in the course of training all members of society into the Juche type revolutionaries. In effect, with socialist ideology, socialist morality and socialist culture it is possible to mould man, the master of everything, into the independent subject of social, technical and natural endeavours.
The Korean people began to regard the WPK as the motherly party out of the trust in and respect for the party. In its day to day activities, the WPK works tirelessly for the good of the people, putting their interests above everything else. Workers' Parties in other countries are usually called vanguard parties, but it is only the WPK which has the title been given to it by the rank and file people of being the motherly party. This was entirely attributable to the leadership of Kim Jong IL that the Workers' Party of Korea enjoys such a high reputation among the working masses, a motherly party devoted to the good of the people. Kim Jong IL over the course of his supervision developed the concept of the politics of love and trust, meaning the people's aspirations always came first in every policy decision of the WPK.
Kim Jong IL devoted many of his theoretical works to the issues of party building. In his works, Kim Jong Il dealt with the questions of how to construct a working-class party loyal to the leader of the revolution and to the independent ideology, while administering a socialist society, in a novel and original way. Among the celebrated works of Kim Jong IL on party building were such works as "The Workers' Party of Korea Is A Juche-Type Revolutionary Party Which Inherits The Glorious Traditions of the DIU", "The Historical Lesson In Building Socialism & The General Line of Our Party" and "The Fundamentals of Revolutionary Party Building".
Kim Jong IL exerted great efforts in the theoretical education in the Juche Idea among the WPK members and firmly maintained the Juche orientated view concerning the role of the party in a socialist society. Kim Jong IL's vast contributions to the development of the WPK over many decades were acknowledged in the election of Comrade Kim Jong IL as the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea on October 9th, 1997. The name and deeds of the Great Kim Jong IL were always associated with the motherly party of Juche, the Workers Party of Korea, so after Kim Jong IL passed away in December 2011, Kim Jong IL was named by the will of the party members and the working people the Eternal General Secretary of the WPK.
Ever since the appearance of modern revisionism in sections of the International Communist Movement after 1956, the Workers' Party of Korea has waged a consistent and militant struggle against right and left-wing opportunism. The leaders of the WPK, Kim IL Sung, Kim Jong IL and Kim Jong Un have exposed the poisonous influence of revisionism in their writings and analysed the causes and effects of revisionist tendencies. On the international arena, the WPK has battled the ideology and practice of revisionism in a principled and yet innovative manner, without falling into the dead-end of left opportunism like some other parties.
In the past, the revisionist cliques were revealed in time within the ranks of the WPK such as the Pak Hun Li - Sung Yop gang and the Jang Song Thaek group. The WPK is rightfully considered by the revolutionary people of the world as the model socialist party, an example of militant anti-revisionism and anti-dogmatism, a party which is true to its revolutionary principles.
The Workers' Party of Korea performed one of the greatest services for the unity of the international progressive forces by putting forward "Let Us Defend & Advance The Cause of Socialism" on April 20th, 1992. The Pyongyang Declaration made an overall investigation for the reasons for the frustration of socialism in the former USSR and the ex-socialist countries of Eastern Europe. In The Pyongyang Declaration, a strong affirmation was stated in the values of socialism and in the superiority and justness of the socialism system over capitalism. With the adoption of "Let's Us Defend & Advance The Cause of Socialism" in April 1992, the Pyongyang Declaration became a rallying cry for the Communist and Workers' Parties and the National Liberation Movements throughout the world to unite and resist the forces of imperialism.
In the 1990s many delegations from the Communist and Workers' Parties of different countries visited Pyongyang to witness the flourishing socialism of the Juche style in the DPRK and to strive together with the WPK for the common cause of human emancipation. Well over 300 parties and movements have already signed The Pyongyang Declaration, this document continues to inspire the faith and will of the progressive peoples of the world in socialism and liberation. It was attributable to the initiatives of Kim IL Sung and of Kim Jong IL that the Pyongyang Declaration was conceived, thus salvaging the International Revolutionary Movement from the consequences of the counter-revolutions of 1989-1991, thus putting the global socialist forces on a new and more confident footing. Internationalism and anti-imperialism remain as the bedrock of the Workers' Party of Korea's activities during the 75 years of its existence.
The WPK has had vigorous bilateral relations with various Communist and Workers' parties and displays the principles of mutual respect and independence in its relationships with the fraternal parties, delegations from the WPK have regularly attended conferences held by both individual Communist Parties and the International Communist Movement. As part of its internationalism, the WPK has always sought to overcome the divisions encountered within the revolutionary parties and movements and press for maximum unity against imperialism, dominationism and modern revisionism.
Kim Jong Un, the great successor to the revolutionary cause of Kim IL Sung and of Kim Jong IL formulated the ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea as Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism. The Workers' Party of Korea under Kim Jong Un's stewardship has transformed its theory and practice after the Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist ideology in all areas of its activity in recent years. At the core of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism is the fundamental principle of the methods and idea of Juche, that is of the people-first doctrine. In essence, KimIlsungism-Kimjongilism is the people-centred ideology which regards the popular masses as the most precious and powerful beings in existence.
The general goal of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism is to realise the independent desire of the people and make them the masters of the world and put everything at their service. Placing the popular masses at the forefront of the party and state affairs Kim Jong Un presents a grand blueprint for the triumph of socialism and the DPRK Supreme Leader makes every effort day and night so that the Korean people can enjoy all the material and cultural benefits of the Juche orientated socialist system. No other political leader on the international stage works so tirelessly for the well being of the rank and file citizenry as Kim Jong Un does.
At every opportunity, Kim Jong Un stresses to the party officials and members that they must consider the interests of the people as their first and absolute priority, undergoing all hardships and sacrifices for the good of the working masses. Kim Jong Un's conception of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism has illuminated the path to firmly rally the popular masses, the subject of history and has consolidated the national strength of the DPRK in every possible way. The Korean people have been mobilized by the WPK into building a socialist power in the DPRK in a brief period of time. It can be observed that under the leadership of Kim Jong Un and the guidance of the WPK, now the DPRK has been positioned into being an independent, self-reliant and self-defensive socialist country without suffering any adverse effects from the vicious isolation and suffocation moves made by imperialism.
In early May 2016, the Workers Party of Korea convened its Seventh Congress in Pyongyang, the capital of the Korean revolution. The congress became a watershed moment in the implementation of the Juche cause in the conditions of the 21st century and reflected on the progress gained by the party in the revolution and construction under the wise and benevolent leadership of the Great Kim IL Sung and the Great Kim Jong IL.
In the runup to the 7th Party Congress, a 70 Day Campaign was conducted by the working people of Socialist Korea. Production targets and norms at various enterprises were exceeded by over 111 per cent in output. Kim Jong Un delivered the Report to the 7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea on May 6 - 7th, 2016, which galvanized the party and people of the DPRK into action and amazed the world public opinion with its ambitious programme. The WPK 7th Congress was where the strategic line of placing the national economy on a Juche based, modern and scientific orientation and the 10 long term objectives for socialist economic construction were set. At the congress, significant progress was noted in the build-up of the military forces, particularly the nuclear deterrent, protecting the country from aggression. The 7th congress was marked with the dynamism characteristic of the leadership of the WPK's Chairman Kim Jong Un.
Kim Jong Un is striving always for the improvements in the work of the Workers' Party of Kore so as to achieve the ultimate victory of socialism in the DPRK. The 5th plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea which was held from December 28th to December 31st, 2019 set the tone for the subtenant intensification of activities and the redoubling of work for the party in the 2020s. Kim Jong Un advanced the revolutionary line on launching an offensive for a decisive breakthrough as required by the prevailing conditions.
At the 5th plenary meeting, the necessity was emphasised for the development of the ultra-modern military science and to greatly enhance the national power of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in light of the double-dealing manoeuvres of the imperialist allied forces. The key front in the offensive for the breakthrough required said Kim Jong Un at the December 2019 WPK plenary meeting was at the economic sector, setting forth to fully tap all the potentialities of the socialist economy in a more productive manner. Administrative and organisational matters within the structure of the party were to be reorganised more efficiently to suit the needs of the Korean Revolution.
In this atmosphere of heightened activity for the cadres and members of the Workers' Party of Korea, several plenary sessions of the Central Committee of the party and meetings of the Political Bureau of the CC WPK have been conducted throughout the year of 2020. A decision was adopted by the 6th plenary meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea to hold the 8th Congress of the WPK in January 2021.
Kim Jong Un declared at the 6th plenary meeting of the WPK Central Committee that the 8th Congress of the party should become the Congress of Struggle, the Working Congress. The 8th Congress of the WPK will outline the new 5 Year Plan and will be taking recitative measures in order to make progress in developing Korean style socialism further and in strengthening the WPK. Looking forward to the 8th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea scheduled for January 2021 all the party membership and the working people of the DPRK will be performing heroic feats of labour with the highest political awareness and ideological determination.
As the Workers' Party of Korea approaches the 75th anniversary of its foundation, the party has much to be proud of in its history and alot to look forward to in the party's future. While some other Communist and Workers' Parties have gone to the wall or compromised their guiding ideology, the WPK has remained steadfast in its faith and principles. The flame which was lit by Kim IL Sung on October 17th, 1926 in Huadian, Manchuria with the formation of The Down With Imperialism Union shines brightly in the ideology and practice of the Workers' Party of Korea.
For the WPK solves all the problems arising on the inexhaustible strength of the people in every kind of circumstances. The priority of the WPK has been to take on the responsibility for the political, cultural and material integrity of the working masses without fail. The Great Leader President Kim IL Sung founded the Workers' Party of Korea, the Great Leader Chairman Kim Jong IL consolidated the WPK and the Dear Respected Marshal Kim Jong Un has developed the WPK into the formidable party of Juche trusted and loved by the people.
I hope that in this essay I have been to give a flavour of the epic saga of the Workers' Party of Korea's history and of course it is not possible to review everything from the annals of such a great party as the WPK. Only victory and glory are in store for the Workers' Party of Korea, the invincible party of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism!
GLORY TO THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE WORKERS' PARTY OF KOREA!!
Comrade Shaun Pickford
Chairman of Staffordshire UK KFA Branch
Secretary General of the British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea
Chairman of the Stoke on Trent branch of the British Group for the Study of Juche Idea
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