On the 15th of August 1945, Korea was liberated from the grim and oppressive fascist rule of Japanese imperialism which had lasted 36 years. Decades of Japanese imperialist tyranny vanished in one day as if they had never existed. .Korea became a nation once again !. This was thanks to the armed struggle waged by the guerrilla fighters of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army commanded by General KIM IL SUNG .
Japan had annexed Korea formally in 1910 but effectively took control of Korea after 1905 ,dissolving the Korean Army in 1907 . Japanese colonial rule in Korea was particularly harsh ; there were long working hours and starvation wages , peasants were robbed of their crops , raw materials were plundered and even the use of the Korean language was prohibited . I remember on one of my first visits to the DPRK speaking with a Korean who had been alive during the period of Japanese colonial rule . He told me that whilst at school he spoke in Korean , the Japanese teacher made him stand on top of a chair and not say anything for the rest of the day. In those days Korea was shown as a province of Japan on world maps.Japan was an axis power , allied to Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.
Japanese colonial rule was so overwhelmingly oppressive that it seemed impossible to achieve independence . Bourgeois nationalists tried to win independence by peaceful means such as petitions or worse still by appealing to big powers for salvation . Some pinned hopes on the US , others on China , or the new Soviet Union and some even thought Japan would grant Korea independence .Some bourgeois nationalists advocated national reformism or the idea of national self-improvement or self-cultivation ! . It was not surprising that the bourgeois nationalists fell into factionalism or became corrupt .One such individual was Syngham Rhee who stole funds from the Korean independence movement but was later brought to Korea by the US imperialists to head the puppet regime in south Korea.
The young President KIM IL SUNG realised that national liberation could not be achieved by peaceful means or by leaders divorced from the masses or by relying on big powers. He pointed out that “Experience shows that in order to lead the revolution to victory, one must go among the masses of people and organize them, and solve all problems arising in the course of the revolution independently on one’s own responsibility in accord with the actual conditions, instead of relying on others”
President KIM IL SUNG formed revolutionary organisations with the new generation of militant anti-imperialist youth such as the Down-With-Imperialism Union in 1926 , the Young Communist League of Korea and the Anti-Imperialist Youth League.President KIM IL SUNG put forward an independent line for the Korean revolution at the historic Kalun meeting on the 30th of June 1930 and formed the Korean Revolutionary Army in July 1930. President KIM IL SUNG said that “Weapons are our life and soul! Oppose armed force with armed force” On the 25th of April 1932, the Anti-Japanese People’s Guerilla Army,, a revolutionary armed force composed of workers, peasants and revolutionary youth. This later to become the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army in March 1934 , was founded and launched the anti-Japanese war which continued for more than a decade .
The anti-Japanese guerrillas led by President KIM IL SUNG, fought in the spirit of self-reliance under the banner of the Juche idea. They seized weapons from the Japanese aggressors or manufactured their own. Some had hoped that the Soviet Union, the first socialist state, would supply them with a hand-grenade factory but this never materialized so they made their own hand grenades the 'Yongil bomb'.Of course today People’s Korea has its own nuclear Yongil bomb.
The KPRA fought many battles against the million-strong Kwantung Army of Japanese imperialism and the puppet Manchurian troops of Japanese imperialism. The KPRA was vastly outnumbered by the Japanese imperialists. The Japanese imperialist armed forces not only outnumbered the KPRA but were armed to the teeth. They had the latest weaponry including tanks and planes The Juche-oriented guerrilla tactics of the great leader President KIM IL SUNG and the indomitable struggle of the Anti-Japanese People's Guerrilla Army (later the Korean People's Revolutionary Army ) tore the guts out of Japanese imperialism paving the way for the final defeat of Japanese imperialism in Korea in 1945..
As well as guiding the armed struggle against Japanese imperialism President KIM IL SUNG organised a national united front body the Association For the Restoration of the Fatherland in May 1936 . A front body of the Association For the Restoration of the Fatherland called the Korean National Liberation Union was founded inside the Korean homeland.
On the 9th of August 1945, the KPRA under the command of comrade KIM IL SUNG commenced the final operation to liberate Korea from Japanese imperialist rule.
The KPRA units, remaining true to President KIM IL SUNG's order for a general offensive, advanced like angry waves, in close contact with the Soviet army, annihilating the Japanese aggressor army. The KPRA units that had been occupy ing offensive positions around the secret camp on Mt. Kanbaek for the final operations advanced as planned, strengthening their ranks. The units on the Tuman River broke through the enemy fortresses on the frontier in one fell swoop, liberated many areas of the north east coast of Korea and continued to advance to the area of Chongjin.
#Other units, having taken Jinchang, Dongning, Muling and Mudanjiang, pursued the enemy troops and gave fatal blows to the Kwantung Army before pressing on towards the Tuman River.
In response to the final offensive operations, the small units and political operatives from the KPRA which had been active in the homeland roused paramilitary corps, armed resistance organizations and broad sections of the people to armed revolts. They harassed the enemy in the rear by boldly attacking the Japanese imperialist aggressor troops, gendarmerie and police establishments, in strong support of the advancing KPRA units.
The People’s Armed Corps in Rajin in North Hamgyong Province had already liberated the Rajin City before the Soviet army landed there, while the Kkachibong People’s Armed Corps destroyed the retreating enemy soldiers and liberated Hoeryong by its own efforts. The armed corps in Chongjin, Kilju and Songjin areas attacked enemy stragglers, took control of factories, and raided police establishments.
The resistance organizations in Cholwon and Poptong in Kangwon Province, and in Sinuiju in North Phyongan Province attacked local police substations and border guard posts, and occupied the provincial police department and provincial office building. They also disarmed enemy stragglers hiding at the airfield.
In South Phyongan Province and Pyongyang a large resistance unit centred on the Fatherland Liberation Corps raided an arsenal, and occupied the provincial and city office buildings. Meanwhile, the resistance organizations in Hwanghae Province also attacked and contained enemy troops in various locations.
Hard hit by the fierce attacks of the KPRA units and the Soviet army and by the decisive blows from the stubborn national resistance, Japanese imperialism declared its unconditional surrender in great haste on August 15, just a week after the start of the operations against Japan.
The defeat of Japanese imperialism, one of the main forces and shock brigade of international fascism, by the partisans of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army led by the great leader General KIM IL SUNG made a great contribution to the victory of the worldwide anti-fascist forces.
The victorious liberation struggle of the Korean people led by General KIM IL SUNG, a gifted military strategist and ever-victorious iron-willed brilliant commander was an inspiration for the peoples of the colonial countries fighting for their independence and liberation. The 1968 World Cultural Congress in Havana adopted a document praising the anti-Japanese armed struggle waged under the leadership of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG.
After Korea was liberated, the colonial ruling machine of Japanese imperialism was liquidated and a new Korea , Korea of Juche rose like a phoenix from the ashes of Japanese colonialism . The Korean people became masters of their destiny .Today People’s Korea led by the respected Marshal KIM JONG UN is well known as the most independent country in the world and is building a powerful socialist country of Juche.
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