Pyongyang, May 25 (KCNA) -- The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un sent a letter "Let Us Write a New Great Chapter in the History of the Movement of Koreans in Japan by Carrying Forward the Patriotic Spirit of the Founder Generation" to the officials of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) and other Korean compatriots in Japan on May 25 on the occasion of the 70th founding anniversary of Chongryon.
The full text of the letter is as follows:
Esteemed officials of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon),
Dear compatriots resident in Japan,
Having traversed a road of patriotism with the honourable appellation and dignity of being a prototype of overseas compatriots' organizations in the world, Chongryon has greeted the 70th anniversary of its founding.
Over the many decades since the day when it was founded, flying high the national flag of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and demonstrating the spirit and mettle of indomitable Korea at the centre of a capitalist country, Chongryon has left indelible imprints in history, sharing its destiny with the motherland.
In the swirling vortex of history Chongryon and Koreans resident in Japan stoutly followed the road of the national movement of patriotism from one century into the next and from one generation into the next linking their destiny to that of their dear homeland. Their merits shine resplendently in the history of the Juche-oriented movement of overseas compatriots.
On this significant occasion of the founding anniversary of Chongryon I pay ennobling tribute to Comrades Han Tok Su, Ri Jin Gyu, So Man Sul, Ri Kye Baek, Ri Sim Chol, Yun Tok Gon, Kim Un Sun, Pak Jong Hyon, Ro Jae Ho and other first-generation officials of Chongryon and other known and unknown Korean activists in Japan, who founded the dignified entity–Chongryon–pioneering the thorny path of the Juche-oriented movement of Koreans in Japan in the vanguard under the leadership of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung.
I also offer my warm congratulations and encouragement to Chairman Ho Jong Man, First Vice-Chairman Pak Ku Ho and other officials who, witnessing the historical development of Chongryon, have worked with devotion in the vanguard of its patriotic struggle, and to all the officials of its grass-roots organizations who, living most closely with our compatriots, have formed ties of kinship with them and are looking after them with sincerity by carrying forward the soul of the preceding generations.
My heartfelt thanks go to Chongryon's educationalists and all other compatriots who, without any selfish motive and without seeking any reward, are making earnest efforts to develop national education under the difficult circumstances in the alien land.
In addition, I extend my best wishes to the students at Korea University and our lovely schoolchildren in Japan, who are applying themselves to their studies as they cherish the mission and desire of adding lustre to the honour and history of Chongryon.
Availing myself of this opportunity, I express my deep thanks to the Japanese conscientious people and sponsors for actively supporting and sincerely helping Chongryon in its righteous activities.
I am pleased that in celebration of this day when Chongryon's history grabs the limelight, I, on behalf of the government of our Republic and the people in the homeland, extend congratulations to all the compatriots in Japan and look back upon Chongryon's proud path with deep emotion.
The fact is itself a miracle that over the past seven decades, following the same path as trodden by their beloved homeland, our compatriots in Japan have overcome the vicissitudes of history on an alien land where national discrimination and inequality are rampant.
This would be something of a surprise to the world, which is hardly believable, yet it has been possible because our compatriots in Japan have such a patriotic body as Chongryon.
Since the word diaspora was coined, there have existed overseas compatriots' organizations of all hues on this planet. However, there has been no body like Chongryon, a body which boasts its great ideas and traditions, solid organizational structure, masses of the patriotic compatriots and well-regulated system of national education.
The founding of Chongryon, which brought about a significant change in the life of our compatriots in Japan, was a historic event signifying that, having suffered a miserable lot as people of a weak colonized country, they finally settled down in the embrace of their genuine homeland.
With the founding of Chongryon, they had a powerful organization which, on behalf of their homeland, defends their dignity, rights and interests on the alien land, and they also had the high honour of being members of the Republic's first Juche-oriented overseas compatriots' organization.
More precious than anything is the fact that the original ideals and spirit cherished by the founder generation at the dawn of the historic event–founding of Chongryon–are being faithfully carried forward by the later generations without the slightest vacillation.
The compatriots of the first generation have all gone, who, led by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, blazed the trail in the movement of Koreans in Japan, and only a few of the second generation are alive, who, led by the great General Kim Jong Il, went against all odds to defend Chongryon.
The people of the third generation have already become grandparents, who were born in the heyday of Chongryon and added glory to their youth by enthusiastically working on the foreign land for the sake of their homeland that was overcoming difficulties in the 90s of last century.
Though many things may change with the passage of time, there is something that must never be weakened or lost; it is the original ideals and spirit that were held aloft in the initial days of Chongryon's founding and that must be unswervingly carried forward.
Even though time goes by, these original ideals and the exploits performed by the forerunners must never be forgotten and their patriotic spirit and mettle must be steadfastly carried forward.
The greatest of the exploits achieved by the founder generation of Chongryon is that they created the traditions of loyalty, unity and love for their country and nation on the alien land.
In retrospect, perhaps no overseas compatriots must have been as fervent as ours in Japan, in their wish for human dignity and a powerful nation.
The present-day generations can hardly imagine without the help of TV screens or books the misery the poor Koreans suffered during the years of national distress, the misery of the first and second generations of Korean residents in Japan who were taken to the foreign land and subjected to slavery, which they regarded as their inescapable fate even when they were faced with death for no reason–this was all because they were deprived of their own country.
That was why they put absolute trust in the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung and followed him, regarding him as the peerless patriot and saviour of the nation, as he had liberated the country through an arduous 20-year-long struggle after he declared death-defying resistance against the Japanese imperialists.
As they kept such absolute trust in the father of the nation, the first generation of Chongryon courageously crossed the raging East Sea aboard a small boat to celebrate the founding of the DPRK; they did not hesitate to give up their lives to hoist our sacred national flag; and they readily chose to visit Pyongyang to get advice when the movement of Koreans in Japan was at the crossroads of rise and fall.
Under the care of the great leaders, the founder generation of Chongryon created the traditions of unity and patriotism, thus laying the foundations for a harmonious and powerful Korean community and ushering in a brilliant heyday of Chongryon.
What still vividly reminds the people in the homeland of the image of Chongryon is the compatriots from Japan who were setting foot on the benevolent homeland with tears of excitement with the national flag in their hands, structures named after the patriotic-minded Korean businesspeople in Japan, and a stream of members of the Korean Youth League in Japan who were running with a red letter of loyalty to the homeland.
As the founder generation bequeathed their descendants such precious traditions as their spiritual heritage, Chongryon has been able to firmly maintain its intrinsic and original features for so long even in the face of all sorts of tempests.
The founder generation of Chongryon waged a courageous struggle to defend the dignity, rights and interests of the Koreans in the whirlwind of national chauvinism that was charged with hatred and prejudice against other nations.
As their dignity, rights and interests directly meant the national pride that was the last thing for them to concede, the preceding generations never stopped the struggle in defence of their rights and interests, and handed over bitter lessons and precious traditions as the heritage.
Recorded in the history of the movement of Koreans in Japan as laudable patriotic deeds are what the preceding generations performed to the admiration of all the people across the world, typically the April 24 struggle for education, the hoisting of our national flag at Sendai, the grand mass gymnastics performance–in which a huge national flag of the DPRK was flown–staged for the first time in the history of overseas compatriots' movement, and even the creation of an opera. This helped the unyielding and indomitable spirit of the Korean people better known to the whole world.
The proud appearance of the sturdy and robust Chongryon with its organizations, ranging from the central to the lowest-level ones, mass organizations of different strata, affiliates, bodies and bases for national education, is a good indication of how indomitable the Koreans are.
The Korean compatriots are still continuing their struggle to instil the spirit of the Korean nation into the mind of their children, refusing to accept assimilation and naturalization.
Outstanding among the achievements made by the founder generation of Chongryon is that they created a model of history and tradition of national education.
The history of the movement of Koreans in Japan is that of national education, and the secure succession of the patriotic cause of Chongryon is unthinkable separated from the spirit of boundless devotion displayed by its founder generation for national education.
As they had cherished even in the rough storms of the time the dream of having their children go to school, the Koreans in Japan began to build schools after the liberation of their homeland before they engaged in the building of organizations.
The bell of our schools could be heard in different parts of Japan, instilling the Korean soul and spirit anew in the mind of the compatriots. It was the sound of patriotism that aroused national consciousness in them.
Chongryon's national education stands historic witness–through the substantial entities of the Korean schools as well as the students who are growing up happily and admirably as dignified Koreans even in the alien land–to what sort of legendary tales are written by those who love the younger generations and devote themselves to the good of the future.
Whenever I am told about Chongryon officials and other compatriots who, without vacillating in the face of difficulties and trials, dauntlessly push ahead with patriotic undertakings in capitalist Japan while building up its organizational foundations rock-solid, I am proud of Chongryon and, at the same time, feel my heart swelling with respect for the founder generation of Chongryon who unyieldingly cleared the path untrodden by overseas citizens in any other countries.
The brilliant history of Chongryon will continue forever, since the traditions established by the founder generation in the face of the worst-ever difficulties, not in a peaceful environment or under affluent conditions, serve as the invaluable paving stones on the road of patriotism to be followed by the coming generations.
Carrying forward the traditions means inheriting the spirit and creating a more wonderful history.
The patriotic traditions bequeathed by the founder generation of Chongryon are not merely recorded in history book; they are permeated in the spirit of their descendants who have assumed the mission of carrying them forward, and also mirrored in the appearance of the community of compatriots they are building up.
Steadily stepping up the education in the history and traditions of the movement of Koreans in Japan and prioritizing the training of the younger generations and making strenuous efforts to this end–these are all aimed at providing a sure guarantee for carrying forward the ideas and spirit of Chongryon.
Our Party and state, just as they have done in the past decades, attach importance to Chongryon and work to defend it and consolidate its position, maintaining doing so as an invariable strategic task and a consistent principle.
On the occasion of the Eighth Party Congress, in reflection of the will of the millions of Party members, we ensured that the items dealing with how to defend our overseas compatriots' national rights and interests are stipulated in the Rules of the Workers' Party of Korea. Also, for the first time in the legislation history of the Republic, the law on championing the rights and interests of overseas compatriots was promulgated. This is a manifestation of the unshakable will of our Party and government to remain faithful to their mission as eternal guardians of the Koreans in Japan and other overseas compatriots.
In the future, too, we will do everything in our power to defend Chongryon's legitimate rights befitting an overseas compatriots' organization of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and bring greater dignity and glory to the Koreans in Japan.
As an authoritative overseas compatriots' organization of our Republic, Chongryon has a proud history spanning seven decades. However, it should not rest content with the strenuous efforts it has made so far nor mark time. Filled with redoubled courage and stamina, it should ensure that the glorious history of patriotism continues for a hundred, nay a thousand years.
With the coming decade till its 80th founding anniversary set as a new struggle period, it should achieve substantial progress in developing itself into a body that puts our compatriots first and serves them faithfully.
Chongryon, while steadily taking every year's development step in the new struggle period, should defend the rights and interests of the compatriots, bring up the new generation well and zealously preserve the national identity in the compatriots' community.
Defending the rights and interests, bringing up the new generation and preserving the national identity are the three major undertakings it should consistently hold fast to.
Setting it as a task of top priority to defend the national rights and interests of the compatriots, it should wage a bold struggle and thus achieve successful results without fail.
Since the country's liberation, Koreans in Japan have waged a struggle without letup to defend their democratic national rights and interests, but still infringed upon are their core interests such as the rights to be educated, conduct business and travel freely to their homeland.
The persisting, heartbreaking situation is that our compatriots cannot travel freely to their homeland, and the remaining tragic hard fact is that though they fulfil their obligation to pay taxes like Japanese citizens, their sons and daughters are excluded from the application of such education systems as "free high schooling" or "programme for free education and upbringing of children."
We cannot leave their life and future threatened in this vicious circle of discrimination.
With its congresses as the starting points, Chongryon should expand its struggle stage by stage to defend the rights and interests, thus substantially providing the compatriots with more stable and improved rights to existence and development.
The first and foremost right and interest it should defend and expand is none other than the right to national education.
In view of the need to raise the quality of education and provide the sons and daughters of the compatriots with a stable educational environment, this right constitutes the supreme right and interest Chongryon must never concede.
It should continue to expand and develop its struggle for defending national education, which encapsulates the common interests of all families of compatriots and take measures for lightening the parents' burden of school fees for their children, so that there are no clouds in their young hearts.
It should regain all the rights plundered and infringed upon, including the right to national education, and, if it is an issue related to the dignity and life of the compatriots, it must resolve it without fail, in disregard of its importance, by waging an all-out struggle of the compatriots.
It should not make even a slightest concession to but resolutely oppose such infringements upon the right to business as unwarranted intervention, restriction and national discrimination imposed on the activities of the Korean businessmen in Japan, and steadily push forward with its work for promoting the interests of the compatriots' businesses.
Chongryon, as the forerunners conducted an unflinching struggle to open a sea route to their homeland and resolutely safeguarded it, should organize and wage an undaunted joint action and joint struggle involving all the compatriots so as to make sure that the vigorous whistle for travelling to and from their homeland resounds again across the East Sea.
It should make efforts to defend its legitimate and just national rights so as to rally more compatriots into the organization and deepen friendship and amity with the Japanese people, thus providing on its own initiative a favourable environment for its activities.
It should firmly guarantee a rosy future of the movement of Koreans in Japan by bringing up younger generations, who will carry forward the baton of its patriotic cause, to be lively, cheerful and upright.
Excellent as the history and traditions may be, if a generation is not prepared to take them over, the withering away of the organization itself is inevitable, not to mention their inheritance.
The homeland attaches as much importance to the Conference of Mothers and the Congress of the Korean Children's Union as to the Party Congress just to bring up younger generations as reliable successors to the revolution and thus lay a solid foundation for its bright future.
Early in January I met members of the art troupe of Korean schoolchildren in Japan, who took part in the New Year performance. It was because I wanted them to be true successors to the patriotic cause in leading the coming generations of Chongryon, and to emphasize once again the importance of training of the new generation in this year that will constitute a watershed in the history of Chongryon.
Chongryon should put much effort in national education to bring up its next generation to be patriotic, excellent, sound and responsible.
What is important in national education is to enlist more children of the compatriots in the regular education network involving Korean schools, and help them learn our language, both written and spoken, and national culture to cultivate patriotism in their mind, and grow up soundly amid the concern of the compatriots' community.
In recent years, owing to the decreasing number of children caused by the falling birth rate prevalent in Japan, lack of funds and the like, not a few Korean schools are experiencing difficulties. Chongryon should acquaint itself in detail with the conditions of our schools and lend an ear to the compatriots' opinions to take appropriate and timely measures.
To turn every Korean school into an ideal learning space for the children of the compatriots and an excellent space for training men–this is an important goal to be attained by national education.
What is the main thing here is the strengthening of the foundations for education in Korea University.
Next year the university will greet the 70th anniversary of its establishment.
Chongryon should readjust and reform the system of education on a rational basis as required by the reality of the movement of Koreans in Japan and the global trend of educational development and bring about an eye-opening change in the efforts to create the student-centred conditions for teaching, studying and living. By doing so, it can develop Korea University into a prestigious university which every Korean student in Japan wants to enrol at.
Korean schools at all levels should pay close concern not only to education work but also to the edification of their students.
The edification of students for their sound development is more important than imparting knowledge to them, so their school life and activities in the children's union organization and in the Korean Youth League in Japan should be organized to provide them with active and positive opportunities for arousing and fostering love for their country and nation.
The organizations of Chongryon and our compatriots should put their heart and soul into training the new generations, regarding it as their principal task and part of their responsibility.
Whenever we provide all the schoolchildren here with new uniforms and schoolbags every year, and whenever we renovate schools in different parts of the country, we are reminded of the lovely faces of the cute Korean schoolchildren in Japan.
All the organizations of Chongryon and the community of our compatriots, as teachers, parents and sponsors, should take good care of these schoolchildren, who represent the future of the patriotic cause, doing their best to ensure that they grow up to be always dignified and courageous.
Maternal care is fundamental to building a rosy future for the organizations of Chongryon and the community of our compatriots.
I hope that, as befitting stout and upright mothers of Korea, our women in Japan brave all manner of difficulties and work hard for the rejuvenation of national education, thereby translating their children's beautiful dreams into reality and opening up a bright future for them.
We are planning to invite our Korean mothers and students in Japan to the upcoming Conference of Mothers and Congress of the Korean Children's Union, so that they can swap precious experience with the mothers and students here and discuss their work plans to map out a rosy future for Chongryon by themselves.
For the community of our compatriots, national identity is the common denominator in consolidating their harmony, unity and kinship and encouraging them to turn out in the patriotic cause.
Chongryon should ensure that all the compatriots, by carrying forward the excellent baton of preserving the Korean national identity, conduct a national cultural movement, so that all the places in which they live are pulsating with the soul of our nation.
This movement should, to all intents and purposes, focus on giving the new generations a better understanding of the time-honoured history and brilliant culture of the Korean nation and its ennobling manners and customs, and on encouraging them to add glory to them.
Chongryon should form an association for the dissemination of national culture and other non-permanent organizations by enlisting the compatriots who treasure our fine national traits. By doing so, it can expand the dissemination and propagation of our national traditions in an all-round way, and it can thus ward off national assimilation and reform, which are a hindrance to preserving the national identity, and strengthen the roots of the community of our compatriots.
The organizations of art and literature should be active in conducting creative and artistic activities, thus leading the community of compatriots in preserving their national identity.
The Kumgang-san Opera Troupe and the song and dance troupes in the regions, true to the intentions of the artistes of the preceding generations, should conduct creative and artistic activities to inspire their fellow compatriots with national feelings and rouse them to the patriotic movement. By doing so, they can ensure that all the places where our compatriots live are alive with our national sentiments.
Along with the activities of these art troupes, the activities of various literary and artistic groups and different styles of cultural and artistic festivals should be promoted. This will usher in a new era when the art and culture of Chongryon are further flourishing.
The mass-based cultural and sporting activities, which are a major factor in consolidating the unity among compatriots, should be encouraged to inject vigour and vitality into their struggle to preserve the national identity.
Chongryon should organize traditional sports games and other various sporting activities to strengthen the unity among compatriots. It should also be effective in training excellent Korean sportspersons in Japan to rank among the Republic's national team members, so that they can demonstrate the spirit of our nation and have our national flag hoisted in international competitions.
The new struggle period of Chongryon requires redoubled courage and firm resolve corresponding with it.
The masses of the compatriots are responsible for writing a new great chapter in the history of the movement of Koreans in Japan by carrying forward the ideals and spirit of the founder generation.
As the banner guiding Chongryon in its work, the compatriots-first principle highlights the need for its officials to work with devotion for the sake of compatriots, yet it also implies that compatriots themselves should be responsible for Chongryon's work.
Koreans in Japan are the foundations of Chongryon and a source of inexhaustible strength of patriotism.
Mindful of the fact that not only Chongryon officials but they themselves are responsible for its work, all the compatriots should play the role of masters in pushing ahead with the movement of Koreans in Japan.
Success in the new struggle period for strengthening Chongryon entirely depends on the role of its officials.
Chongryon officials experience more difficulties than anybody else in the Korean community, and this reminds me of the words hard-fought battle in spite of myself.
One step backward, and they can live for their own wellbeing, but true to the pledge they made to the homeland and organization, they are devoting themselves for the compatriots whether they are appreciated or not and even though they are sometimes misunderstood by the people closest to them. These patriots of patriots are our Chongryon officials.
Cherishing the expectations and trust of the homeland and organization, Chongryon officials should invariably follow the road of devotion for the compatriots, comparing themselves with the preceding generations who fought courageously without giving up their faith and principle on the road of patriotism.
The founder generation, who were infinitely honest with the compatriots and regarded resolving the difficulties facing them as their natural mission and pride, devoted their all for the latter's rights, interests and safety; they were their faithful and devoted servants.
Chongryon officials should embrace the compatriots of all descriptions and show them their sincerity with the ennobling moral traits, warm humanity and motherly love as befits officials of the Juche-oriented overseas compatriots' organization, which were possessed by the founder generation.
They should strictly guard against any slightest affectation or formalistic elements in their work with the compatriots, and become competent workers with novel and seasoned work method and style, wide-ranging practical abilities and activity.
I would like to request all Chongryon officials once again.
I hope that you will regard your lofty title of Chongryon official as the greatest honour bestowed on you and become genuine servants, blood relations of the compatriots, who devote your all for them and make tireless efforts for their wellbeing.
I also would like to make a request to the always grateful family members of Chongryon officials.
For our Chongryon officials who are working devotedly for the unity and interests of the Korean community with their family affairs left behind, warm support from their dear families is a great encouragement.
I ask you family members sincerely to take good care of their health on my behalf and share the same intentions and feelings with them, so that the words "It fares well with a harmonious family" in the Korean community sound in your families first.
Chongryon organization should constantly educate and lead all its officials and other compatriots to become genuine Koreans possessed of the spirit of patriotism and the Korean-nation-first principle.
As the strategic position of our Republic is rising radically and the pride of our nation is being inspired more than ever before, it should push forward effectively and proactively with education in patriotism in combination with the education in the Korean-nation-first principle.
It should arrange visits to their homeland on several occasions so that the compatriots including the rising generations can witness the development of their homeland with their own eyes. In this way it can turn the visits into an essential process in their mental cultivation and growth for training themselves to become perfect patriots.
The country we are going to build and defend is a powerful country, in which not only the people in the homeland but also the Koreans resident in Japan and all other overseas Korean compatriots live in comfort, harmony and good health, enjoying self-respect that no one would dispute.
Having always attached primary importance to the peaceful life of overseas Koreans, the government of our Republic will protect and defend all the Korean people on the strength of the sure guarantee for the defence of the national sovereignty and absolute mightiness, and on this road will perform its responsibility to the end.
Whoever are worried about their homeland and compatriots' community and care for them even a little, keeping in mind that they are Koreans by origin, we will embrace, defend and take care of them as members of our great nation irrespective of their nationalities, and ensure that they enjoy the same prestige and honour of the powerful country with us.
Mindful at all times of the fact that behind them is always their powerful homeland, the DPRK, Chongryon officials and other Koreans resident in Japan should pioneer their life and future proudly and imposingly with their heads held high and support their motherland and Chongryon organization with a pure mind.
Chongryon should pay special attention to ensuring that all its officials, compatriots and rising generations love and defend to the last the community of compatriots, organizations of Chongryon and Korean schools, the cradles of their life.
In particular, it should intensify education of the newly-emerging generation to train them as fully-fledged masters of the movement of Koreans in Japan in the new era. In this way, they can help them take a proactive part in defending the rights and interests of the Korean community and strengthening Chongryon organization with a deep attachment to them.
This year the Korean Youth League in Japan and the Association of Korean Young Persons of Commerce in Japan will greet their decadal anniversaries. These organizations should encourage the young compatriots to give play to their surging might and wisdom as befits the vanguard of patriots and young motive force and thus create a new model of love for the homeland and nation.
Considerable challenges and difficulties will inevitably crop up on the road ahead of Chongryon, but as there are the great ideas on the movement of Koreans in Japan, the powerful homeland and patriotic masses of the compatriots, the future of Chongryon its founder generation pictured in their mind will come true.
No force can check the vigorous advance Chongryon makes towards a rosy future sharing its destiny with the motherland, and its sacred journey will shine its brilliance along with the high prestige of our Republic.
Let our motherland and Chongryon strive to build a powerful Chongryon, the former always remembering the latter and the latter always thinking about the former.
I wish all the dear Koreans resident in Japan happiness and prosperity. -0-
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