DPRK's History of Self-reliance (23)

Pyongyang, August 19 (KCNA) -- In the history of the DPRK, the 1970s was a period of great change during which proud achievements had been made in the socialist economic construction under the invincible leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).

At the 5th WPK Congress held in November Juche 59 (1970), President Kim Il Sung declared the great victory of socialist industrialization and advanced the tasks for speeding up the three revolutions--ideological, technological and cultural-- and the high targets of six-year plan.

The President visited the then Huichon Machine Tool Factory in February 1971 to open a breakthrough for implementing the six-year plan with the production of machine tools. He assigned an honorable task to its workers of producing 10 000 machine tools, four times the previous year's output.

The workers of the factory conducted the technical modernization of production processes and introduced technical innovation plans, fully displaying the spirit of self-reliance and fortitude and finally worked a miracle of finishing the production of 10 000 machine tools in time.

Following them, those at other machine tool factories across the country launched a vigorous drive for increased production and thus turned out 30 000 machine tools in a little over one year.

Meanwhile, through the struggle for strengthening the Juche-oriented industrial bases by domestic efforts and technology, the Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex was turned into a leading comprehensive metallurgical industry base and the Hwanghae Iron and Steel Complex into a model of the all-round automation. And a long-distance belt conveyor was successfully built at the Unryul Mine, an iron ore producer on the west coastal area, in a matter of six months.

Thanks to all the people's patriotic devotion and spirit of self-reliance, all the targets of the six-year plan were hit before the set time.

In 1978, the Korean people launched a new struggle for implementing the second seven-year plan, giving full play to the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance. They increased the total industrial output value of the year by 17 percent over the preceding year's and by 15 percent next year.

The decade after the 5th WPK Congress was, indeed, a period of glory in which the might of the country and the dignity of its people were fully demonstrated under the banner of self-reliance. -0-