July 8th is always a poignant and reflective day for true friends of People’s Korea and followers of the Juche idea for it was the day that President KIM IL SUNG , the founder of socialist Korea and author of the Juche idea , passed away suddenly in 1994 . President KIM IL SUNG departed from physical existence at the age of 82 whilst working on important state documents in his office .
I had actually visited the DPRK , whilst leading a delegation of the then Juche Idea Study Group of England (now the British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea ) in June 1994 and had only been back in Britain 6 days when the terrible news of the passing away of President KIM IL SUNG was announced . When we were in the DPRK we saw television footage of President KIM IL SUNG giving on the spot guidance and meeting foreign guests as well as pictures of President KIM IL SUNG in the “Rodong Sinmun “(translated “Daily Worker “ or “Labour Daily “) , little did we know that these were the last days of his physical life.
June 1994 was my third visit to People’s Korea ,my first being in May 1992 . Visiting the DPRK I was to see and witness with my own eyes the people-centred socialism of Juche that had been built under the leadership of President KIM IL SUNG . The early 1990s were days of turmoil , confusion ,disillusion and retreat for the socialist forces and international communist movement yet one country stood out as an oasis of calm and as a country truly upholding socialist principles; that country was the DPRK founded and led by great President KIM IL SUNG .
Staying in the DPRK in the early 1990s I witnessed how the DPRK was unaffected by the cataclysmic events that had unfolded in the USSR and in other socialist countries . Socialism in People’s Korea was solid , it was unbreakable . I remember thinking one night, amidst an atmosphere of calm that was so unlike the chaotic capitalist world , that socialism in People’s Korea would last 1,000 years or 10,000 hdzfx . There were no signs of decay or degeneration that I had seen when visiting Eastern Europe in the 1980s . In People’s Korea there was no revisionist backsliding . No one wanted ‘glasnost ‘ or ‘perestroika ‘ or ‘reform ‘ and ‘opening up ‘ Instead people expressed their resolve to continue along the road of socialism . I remember a researcher called Kim Tae Jin saying “As you can see, socialism in our country is victorious “ . On another trip our driver said “Gorbachov should be denounced “.
It was thanks to President KIM IL SUNG leadership that not only had socialism in the DPRK been built splendidly but the DPRK despite the raging storms of anti-socialism continuined along the path of socialism defying the threats of the imperialists who wanted to overturn socialism .When ‘perestroika ‘ appeared some people cheered it , even saying that wanted to introduce petresoika in their own countries but President KIM IL SUNG saw through . In December 1986 he gave a speech titled “ For the Complete Victory of Socialism “ to the Supreme People’s Assembly in which he said “The people's government must guard against the poisonous ideas of capitalism and revisionism and resolutely fight against all attempts to infringe upon the socialist system". In another speech in 1989 President KIM IL SUNG said " Careless opening may allow mosquitoes and blowflies to fly in and cause damage”.
In 1990 President KIM IL SUNG emphatically stated that there should not be the slightest retreat from socialism declaring that “Socialism can only be built on socialist principles and by socialist methods. All the problems arising in the building of socialism must always be solved on the basis of socialist theories, on the principle of bringing the advantages of socialism into play, and by giving rein to the inexhaustible creativity of the popular masses, the motive force of the revolution. When the situation is complex and the reactionary offensive is being stepped up, the revolutionary people must hold fast to revolutionary principles and advance, holding higher the banner of socialism”
When the countries that had abandoned socialism suffered plummeting living standards and the capitalist countries were in crisis President KIM IL SUNG took far reaching measures to improve living standards .On the 13th of February 1992 President KIM IL SUNG had the Decree of the Central People's Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea titled "On Enforcing the Policy of Pay Raises For All Workers. technicians and office employees and of increasing the income of office workers " which was to be effective from the 1st of March ,1992 pay for workers, office workers and technicians was to increase by 43.4 percent Social security payments for pensioners were to be increased by 50.7 per cent . The scholarships of students were to rise by 33 per cent . Prices paid to farmers for rice were to be raised by 26.2 per cent and for maize by 44.8 per cent , in order to boost their income . At the same time it was decreed that there would be no increase to the prices of food. Also in 1992 flats for 50,000 families ( roughly 150, 000 to 250,000 people , roughly up to the size of Nottingham in the UK ) were completed in Pyongyang .Thus people enjoyed a great leap forward in living standards thanks the people's policy of President KIM IL SUNG and the superiority of the Juche-based socialist system built under his leadership.
When others betrayed socialism with the basest of excuses President KIM IL SUNG defended socialism and upheld socialist principles to the end of his life . We remember him for this .
Dr Dermot Hudson
Chairman Korean Friendship Association UK
Chairman British Group For the Study of the Juche Idea
Hon Secretary General Global Farmy for the Study of KIM JONG UN People’s First Policies.
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