Speech on the 30th anniversary of “"Respecting the Forerunners of the Revolution is a Noble Moral Obligation of Revolutionaries"

30 years ago on the  25th of December  comrade KIM JONG IL published the work ' "Respecting the Forerunners of the Revolution is a Noble Moral Obligation of Revolutionaries”  which expounded in a most lucid fashion the idea of respecting the revolutionary forerunners.

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30 years ago the situation was different to now ; socialism had been frustrated  in many countries such as the USSR . The imperialists and bourgeoisie were crowing over these defeats and reverses as well as attacking previous revolutionary leaders such as Lenin and Stalin . I can remember at the time how some people instead of blaming revisionism and opportunism for the collapse of socialism they instead blamed Stalin ! This shows the influence of not only bourgeois propaganda but also Trotskyite and revisionist lies .

The situation was summed up well by comrade KIM JONG IL who wrote in the work “The history of the world socialist movement provides the serious lesson that a revolution advances victoriously when revolutionary forefathers are respected and their accomplishments are preserved and developed, and that a revolution is abandoned and frustrated when revolutionary predecessors are betrayed and their accomplishments are negated. In several countries that had built socialism in the past, opportunists occupying the leadership of the parties and states defamed their revolutionary predecessors and obliterated their achievements. In consequence of their traitorous acts, the reputation of communists has been damaged, the image of socialism clouded, and the socialist system itself has ended in collapse”

Comrade KIM JONG IL defined carrying forward the ideas of the revolutionary forerunners as being essential for victoriously carrying out the revolution and leading it to final victory . He wrote that " Establishing a correct viewpoint and attitude towards revolutionary seniors is most important for the development of the socialist movement.

Only when the red flag of the revolution raised by the revolutionary forerunners is carried forward down through generations can the cause of independence for the popular masses, the socialist cause, emerge victorious."

 

 The experience of the international communist movement and socialist countries proved that is very true . In the USSR Khruschov had attacked Stalin  , three years after he passed away , causing great damage to the cause of socialism not only in the USSR but the whole world . Similar things happened in a number of other socialist countries with the result that socialism collapsed or went off the rails in quite a few countries which gladdened the imperialists but caused despair to the world revolutionary peoples aspiring after socialism . As comrade KIM JONG IL explained “Historically, in opposing socialism, imperialists and renegades from the revolution have directed their attacks on the leaders of the working class and the revolutionaries of the preceding generation. This is because socialism was pioneered and has triumphed thanks to the guidance of the leader and the self-sacrificing struggle of the revolutionaries of the preceding generations, and because the dignity of socialism is associated with their honour. Modern revisionists and socialist renegades have caused socialism to degenerate and collapse by disgracing the leader and their revolutionary elders and by obliterating their exploits. The process of the degeneration and collapse of socialism began with the emergence of modern revisionism, which vilified the leader and revolutionary pioneers and distorted and debased the revolutionary ideas of the working class. Because of modern revisionists, socialism began to go off the track and crumble from within. Its collapse was due to the policy of “reform” and “restructuring”, pursued by socialist renegades who denied and obliterated every historical achievement of socialism. Opportunists and socialist renegades slandered the leaders of the working class and debased the sacred revolutionary struggle and great revolutionary achievements of their revolutionary predecessors. They destroyed socialism and revived capitalism. This is a most despicable counterrevolutionary crime that betrayed the revolution under the pressure of imperialism, an immoral perfidy that discarded loyalty to the revolution and trampled underfoot elementary human morals. Traitors to the revolution left no stone unturned in slandering and defaming their revolutionary predecessors. Thus they created ideological vacillation and confusion among the people and gave the imperialists and reactionaries the chance to slander the communists and socialism even more viciously.”

 

  In the work, comrade KIM JONG IL  says that the ideas and cause of comrade KIM IL SUNG, the great leader of the Korean people and founder of modern Korea , should be upheld . At the time he stressed the importance from the standpoint of internationalism , of upholding revolutionary forerunners throughout the world and pays high tribute to Marx, Engels , Lenin and Stalin  saying that “Our Party and people respect Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin as the leaders of the working class and speak highly of their distinguished services. Reflecting the demands and aspirations of the working class, Marx and Engels, the first leaders of the working class, developed socialism from a Utopian concept to a science and started the socialist and communist movement. Lenin inherited and developed Marxism to meet the change in the times and won the victory of the October Socialist Revolution by organizing and mobilizing the working class. Stalin, succeeding to the cause of Lenin, built the first young socialist state into a world power and defended the socialist fatherland from the fascist invasion, leading the army and the people.”

Today in the DPRK the legacy of Marx , Engels , Lenin and Stalin is upheld .Visiting the Central Cadres Training School of the Workers Party of Korea I witnessed large portraits of Marx and Lenin were displayed . Not only were the portraits of Marx and Lenin displayed  but we were told that the school gives lectures in Marxism-Leninism and that respected Marshal KIM JONG UN himself actually attended a lecture on Marxism -Leninism .Some ultra leftists and revisionists as well bourgeois hostile elements have falsely asserted that the DPRK had “deleted all reference to Marxism -Leninism “ . This is clearly untrue !

Moreover Marshal KIM JONG UN  also instructed that Red flags should be placed in lecture rooms so as to represent the communist ideology of the Workers Party of Korea . I also noticed that at the Party Foundation Museum portraits of Marx, Engels , Lenin and Stalin were displayed there when I visited it . Only two days before we visited the Museum   Marshal KIM JONG UN himself visited the Museum and there was an image on Korean Central TV of him with a portrait of JV Stalin behind him.

Another significant feature of the work is that   Comrade KIM JONG IL rightly stresses communist morality . This demolishes the incorrect view held by some communists in the West that communism has nothing to do with morality and is only economic.  Comrade KIM JONG IL incisively  says "Moral hypocrisy is the true nature of the exploiting class, and moral corruption is an inevitable product of the bourgeois society." This is indeed so very true . 

  To conclude this work . ' Respecting the Forerunners of the Revolution is a Noble Moral Obligation of Revolutionaries ' , is a very valuable work and is a relevant now as it was 30 years ago . We urge a deep study of it .

Dr Dermot Hudson Chairman British Group For the Study of the Juche Idea

30th anniversary of “ Respecting the Forerunners of the Revolution is a Noble Moral Obligation of Revolutionaries Thirty years of ‘Respecting the Forerunners of the Revolution is a Noble Moral Obligation of Revolutionaries’ By A British Academic

Introduction

It was in a book entitled For the Complete Victory of the Socialist Cause (Kim Jong Il , 1999) that I first encountered the essay, ‘Respecting the Forerunners of the Revolution is a Noble Moral Obligation of Revolutionaries’, and it is to that edition that my page numbers refer. It is a collection of Kim Jong Il’s vital writings of the 1990s and its title is an apt one. The period of its writing was one of extreme challenges for the socialist cause, marked by retreat and encirclement. Following the collapse of the revisionist regimes, the 90’s witnessed the forces of global reaction in the ascendency as neoliberalism swept the world from China to Europe. Only Cuba and the DPRK maintained any meaningful adherence to the socialist cause, and it fell to the DPRK alone to carry the torch of Marxism-Leninism unwaveringly into the new millennium.

It was thirty years ago, on December 25th 1995 that Rodung Sinmum first published ‘Respecting the Forerunners of the Revolution’. It articulated an argument that followed seamlessly on the heels of those other great works, such as ‘Abuses of Socialism are Intolerable’ and of course ‘Socialism is a Science’ the previous year. At the heart of each, the effort to hold the line and maintain the sanctity of the socialist cause in the face of the ‘final victory of capitalism’ and the ‘end of history’ that were so confidently and so wrongly trumpeted by the proponents of the new world order.

I will begin with a summary, followed by a brief analysis to spur further discussion among discussants of the British Group for the Study of the Juche idea. 

Summary

In this work, comrade Kim Jong Il emphasizes the critical importance of respecting and preserving revolutionary traditions as a cornerstone for sustaining the advances delivered by the revolution during the period of the arduous march towards communism. He argues that the Korean revolution, guided by the Juche idea, has endured and triumphed for over seventy years because successive generations have upheld the ideals, achievements, and moral principles of their forebears. 

The essay emphasises, firstly, that the success of socialism depends on unwavering loyalty to revolutionary predecessors and their accomplishments. Betrayal or neglect of these traditions leads to ideological collapse and the resurgence of capitalism, as evidenced by historical failures in other socialist states. Secondly, Comrade Kim Jong Il underscores that morality — particularly communist morality based on collectivism, comradely love, and revolutionary loyalty —is essential for revolutionaries. He contrasts this with bourgeois morality, which fosters individualism and corruption. Thirdly, loyalty to the leader is explained to be the highest expression of revolutionary obligation. The leader provides ideological guidance, organizes the masses, and ensures victory. KIM IL SUNGshould be venerated as the embodiment of these principles. Fourthly, Kim Jong Il urges educating younger generations in revolutionary traditions and communist morality to secure the future of socialism. Schools, families, and youth organizations must collaborate to instil loyalty, collectivism, and ideological steadfastness. Fifthly, while rooted in national independence, the Korean revolution aligns with global socialist movements. Even in this period of global reaction, the essay affirms respect for the great international revolutionary figureheads, Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin, and advocates solidarity with anti-imperialist struggles worldwide. And finally, Comrade Kim Jong Il warns against imperialist cultural infiltration and opportunistic distortions of socialist principles, urging vigilance and adherence to Juche-based ideology to maintain moral and ideological purity. 

Analysis

I suggest that this invaluable essay should be read as the apotheosis of antirevisionism. Contrary to all the muddleheaded critics who accuse the DPRK of leading astray its adherents, of abandoning communism, its very essence, its central tenet is to maintain unflinching loyalty to the cause of Marxism-Leninism. This is an essay about continuity, the unbroken passage from capitalist oppression to socialist equality, peace and common prosperity. 

As Torkil Lausen has written in his excellent book of the same title (Lauesen, 2024), the transition towards socialism and the end of capitalism in long. Indeed it has proved very long. And at every step, revolutionaries have given their lives to the cause. Comrade Kim Jong Il makes the point again and again that those lives were not lost, nor given in vain. ‘Our revolutionary forefathers’ gave them in that long, long struggle, ‘for the people and the happiness of the coming generations, not for the sake of personal interest or honour: our revolutionary forefathers shouted “love the future!” in do-or-die battles, or at the last moment of their lives on the gallows, precisely because they loved the coming generations.” (Kim, 1999, p. 243) The anti-revisionist cause of Kimilsingism-Kimjongilism is precisely the steadfast honor of that continuity of struggle through generation after generation towards the communist horizon.

Marx and Engels could not have known how long and arduous that struggle would be. Lenin, at the end of his life, the Lenin of ‘Notes of a Publicist’ (Lenin, 1965) in 1922, surely did, as did comrade Stalin, and after him comrade Kim Il Sung. By 1995, the scale of task, the seemingly neverending endurance of the march were more than obvious. 

The unbending road towards socialist society has seen many off-ramps along the way, many temptations, that Kim Jong Il highlights. Each represents a new revisionist exit: ‘Because of modern revisionists, socialism began to go off the track and crumble from within.’ (Kim Jong Il , 1999, 244) At each  milestone, there is a new revisionism, causing socialism to degenerate and collapse. Each of these diversions depends upon a re-visioning of the leaders, re-presenting them so as to ‘disgrace’ and ‘obliterate’ their exploits. Loyalty to the cause of socialism means upholding the memory of each generation of revolutionary leadership on the (long, long) way towards the final victory of socialism. 

Marx and Engels, Lenin, Stalin and KIM IL SUNG each represent a giant signpost along that road towards socialism. Each, says comrade Kim Jong Il, are respected by the people and the Party (Kim Jong Il , 1999, p. 251). The spirit of ‘Respecting the Forerunners’ is alive and well in the DPRK today where the images of each of the forerunners of the revolution, Marx, Lenin and Stalin, still hang proudly in the most venerated sanctums of the revolution. 

Yet the true antirevisionist road requires constant course-correction, constant creative adaptation to changing conditions and hazards: “While adhering to the revolutionary principles of Marxism-Leninism, our Party has established its own guiding ideology and theory on the basis of a correct analysis of the historical limitations of their doctrines, and used them as a weapon in advancing the socialist cause.” (Kim Jong Il , 1999, p. 252) Juche is the spearhead of the revolution honed and sharpened in the DPRK. It points the way along the road to socialism however long it may prove to be.

I strongly recommend all those wishing to better understand the distinctiveness of Korean socialism to read ‘Respecting the Forerunners of the Revolution is a Noble Moral Obligation of Revolutionaries’, to better understand the ways in which Marxism-Leninism can be adapted creatively to the necessities of the revolution, whilst maintaining the continuity of ideological clarity and steely-eyed antirevisionism. 

Kim Jong Il. (1999) ‘, ‘Respecting the Forerunners of the Revolution is a Noble Moral Obligation of Revolutionaries’, In For the Victory of the Socialist Cause, Pyongyang: Foreign Languages Publishing House, pp. 239-261

Lauesen, T. (2024) The Long Transition Towards Socialism and the End of Capitalism, Madison, WI: Iskra Books 

Lenin, V.I. (1965) ‘Notes of a Publicist’ in Collected Works, 2nd English Edition. Moscow: Progress Publishers, pp. 204-211

Press Statement of Spokesperson for DPRK Ministry of National Defence

Pyongyang, December 25 (KCNA) -- A spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defence of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea released the following press statement on December 24:

Recently, the U.S. is getting more undisguised in its attempt to permanently fix a grave nuclear instability element in the security environment of the DPRK.

A nuclear attack submarine of the U.S. Navy entered the Pusan operation base of the ROK on Dec. 23, under the pretext of its crew members' rest and replenishment of munitions.

The repeated emergence of the U.S. strategic asset 46 days after the entry of the nuclear carrier George Washington strike group belonging to the U.S. Seventh Fleet into the ROK on November 7 constitutes a grave act of causing instability and escalating military tensions in the Korean peninsula and the region.

The U.S. reaffirmed its commitment to offering the ROK "extended deterrence" by mobilizing all defence forces including nuclear weapons at the fifth U.S.-ROK "nuclear consultative group" meeting recently held in Washington. Worse still, it has given the green light to the ROK's development of nuclear submarine and is frequently deploying its nuclear submarines there. Clear is what this fact hints at against the regional security structure.

This is a warning that the U.S. is getting closer to the critical level in its attempt to gain strategic advantage in the region by making its military alliance with the ROK more surely evolve into a nuclear confrontation bloc sharing its nuclear weapons.

Given that the U.S. confrontational intention to cement the structure of a nuclear-to-nuclear collision with the DPRK has been confirmed once again, the DPRK remains unchanged in its practical will to strongly propel the development of the defence capabilities for ensuring its prospective interests and defending security at present and in the future.

Nothing will change no matter how frequently the U.S. brings its nuclear submarine to highlight the visibility of its nuclear attack forces.

The U.S. nuclear threat that persists in the vicinity of our state is pushing us into securing earlier the strategic retaliatory capability for wiping out such threatening entities within the scope of our maritime sovereignty.

We will consider countermeasures corresponding to the U.S. nuclear muscle flexing, according to the doctrine of mutual containment between nuclear weapons states, and the way and time of their implementation will be chosen on the principle of symmetry and asymmetry. -0-

www.kcna.kp (2025.12.25.)

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Guides Building of Nuclear-powered Strategic Guided Missile Submarine

 Pyongyang, December 25 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, guided the building of an 8 700-tonnage nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine on the spot.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un was accompanied by leading officials in the sectors of the warship-building industry and the defence science research and production.

Kim Jong Un went round the site of building the nuclear-powered submarine and received a report on its progress.

Workers, scientists and technicians in the warship-building field, all out in the glorious struggle for implementing the WPK's policy of modernizing the navy, are pushing ahead with the building of a strategic nuclear attack submarine, one of the five-point major tasks for developing the defence capabilities set forth at the 8th Congress of the WPK, by fully displaying the great power of self-reliance and inexhaustible patriotic enthusiasm.

Kim Jong Un stressed once again the importance and significance of building a strategic nuclear attack submarine in carrying out the self-reliant defence policy of the WPK and the government of the DPRK.

Noting that our defence policy is literally a defensive policy based on the strongest offensive power, he said that to this end, we regard the super-powerful offensive capability as the best shield for national security in developing the armed forces.

Saying that it is the noble mission and duty of the current generation to further strengthen the nuclear shield that represents the prestige and honour of the DPRK and absolutely guarantees its security and to consolidate the irreversible position, he stressed that the WPK and the government of the DPRK will remain unchanged in their determination to permanently ensure the peaceful environment and absolute security of the country by composing the nuclear forces that the enemy can't help fearing.

We have built in every way the nuclear shield capable of reliably defending our national security and secured the capability for expanding it to the extent necessary for ensuring the national security environment, he said, adding that the completion of a new nuclear submarine will serve as an epoch-making crucial change that further assures ourselves and even the enemy of the war deterrent level the DPRK has reached. He clarified the steadfast will and the strategic and tactical policy to steadily push forward with the nuclear weaponization of the navy.

The Party Central Committee is pleased to see the warship-building sector achieving signal production successes, true to the WPK's line of building up the naval force in the new century, he said, adding that the strategic nuclear attack submarine to be considered as an important component of the nuclear war deterrent will constitute the greatest immortal feats of the working class, defence scientists and technicians, the driving force of the DPRK, for the times and history.

He affirmed that the present world is by no means peaceful and such situation and the prospective threats to be posed highlight undoubtedly the decision made by the DPRK with regard to the future security of the country as the most just option and the manifestation of its will to safeguard its sovereignty and interests in a responsible manner.

Saying that the nuclear submarine development plan of the ROK, which Washington has agreed on at the solicitation of Seoul recently, will worsen the instability in the region of the Korean peninsula, he stressed that the DPRK regards it as an offensive act severely violating its security and maritime sovereignty and a threat to its security that must be countered.

Given the negative security situation that has come as present reality only, it is an urgent task and indispensable option to further accelerate the radical development of the modernization and nuclear weaponization of the naval force of the DPRK, he said.

Attack destroyers and nuclear submarines recently under construction will make a leap forward in bolstering up the combat capabilities of our fleets and contribute to defending the strategic sovereignty and security of our country, he said, adding that the DPRK will develop the navy and its strategic components in a constant and diverse way, steadily increase and expand the speed and scale of building various surface and underwater warships and continuously equip them with different offensive weapon systems.

Noting that the WPK and the DPRK government will stay definitely unchanged in their national security policy and their principle of deterring the enemy, he said it is needed to make the enemy understand with no doubt that they will be surely forced to pay a dear price when they violate the security of the DPRK's strategic sovereignty and that they will face a merciless retaliatory attack if they try to select a military option. The DPRK will continue to show such capabilities and this goes just as the responsible exercise of the true nuclear war deterrent and a reliable shield for defending sovereignty, he added.

That day, he learned in detail about the on-going research on the new underwater secret weapons under development and clarified a strategic plan for reorganizing the naval forces and establishing new units. -0-

www.kcna.kp (2025.12.25.)

Regional-industry Factories and Leisure Complex Inaugurated with Splendour in Jongphyong County

Pyongyang, December 25 (KCNA) -- Now that the whole country is pulsating with excitement at great transformation and fresh hope, an inauguration ceremony of the regional-industry factories and leisure complex, newly built in Jongphyong County for the Regional Development 20×10 Policy, took place with splendour on December 24.

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, attended the inauguration ceremony.

When he arrived at the venue for the ceremony, the participants raised deafening cheers with reverence for the great leader of the people.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un received a report on the completion of the project from the commanding officer of the military unit involved in the construction of the regional-industry factories and leisure complex in the county.

Present at the ceremony were members of the central leadership body of the WPK, commanding officers of the large combined units of the Korean People's Army, officials and working people in South Hamgyong Province and Jongphyong County, soldier-builders and employees of the regional-industry factories and leisure complex.

Ri Il Hwan, secretary of the Central Committee of the WPK, addressed the ceremony.

Saying the joy of great transformation in the new era of regional construction has also come to Jongphyong County, the speaker warmly congratulated the county citizens on the better life and new culture they will lead with the inauguration of modern regional-industry factories and leisure complex.

Thanks to the noble intention and sincerity of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un that the people's wish is the wish of the Party and the struggle for bringing wellbeing earlier to the people should be intensified nonstop, the construction of regional light industrial factories, the level of which are as good as those in the capital city, has been pushed forward at the state expense, and the regional-industry factories, which are more advanced than those built last year, have appeared in 20 cities and counties across the country, he said.

He noted that the leisure complex in the county is a valuable creation embodying the high intention of Kim Jong Un to bring about a sure change in the cultural progress of the regions by providing the conditions for enjoying advanced civilization not only in material life but also in all aspects of mental and cultural life.

The speaker expressed belief that the officers and men of the construction units, who successfully built the regional-industry factories and leisure complex in Jongphyong County in the high revolutionary spirit peculiar to the People's Army remaining absolutely loyal to the order of the Party and earnest in fulfilling its desire, would perform brilliant feats in every site of the further expanded regional construction under the uplifted glorious colors of theirs.

Kim Jong Un unveiled the monument to the inauguration of the regional-industry factories and leisure complex.

Lovely children presented him with bouquets of fragrant flowers reflecting the unanimous gratitude of the county citizens.

Kim Jong Un met some working people in the county and commanding officers of the construction units who participated in the inauguration ceremony, and shook hands with them one by one as a token of his warm encouragement.

He went round the leisure complex.

Going round various parts of the library and the general commercial district, he stressed the need to run and manage the complex effectively as befitting its characteristics as a public leisure centre for improving the regional cultures of life, study and commerce and training the regional citizens to be pioneers and creators of new culture.

Saying that the true significance of the regional revolution lies in raising the people's ideological consciousness and cultural level to the one corresponding to the new era and continuously setting higher goals and levels of creation, he clarified a series of tasks related to the next year's construction of leisure complexes in 20 cities and counties.

Then he visited the regional-industry factories.

There was an inauguration ceremony.

Kim Jong Un cut the inauguration tape.

He visited the Jongphyong County Foodstuff Factory.

When deciding on the Regional Development 20×10 Policy, there were certainly some individuals being skeptical about its implementation even among cadres as the plan for regional development was largest ever in its scale, but not only those cadres but also all our people are now convinced of the validity of the Party policy, practical power for its implementation and its bright future, witnessing the domains of construction further expanding with each passing year and the inauguration season which has come without fail this year like last year.

He said that the popular masses' deeper trust in the Party and absolute confidence in its policy are, indeed, the greatest success registered in the struggle of two years for bringing about fundamental changes in the regions.

He earnestly requested the officials and employees of the regional-industry factories to regard the people's demands and evaluation as an absolute criterion and conduct management and operation in a responsible manner so as to keep the production going at a high rate.

He sincerely hoped that the new leisure complex and regional-industry factories in the county would make a substantial contribution to the economic development of the county and improvement of the living standards of its citizens. -0

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Observes Test-fire of New-type Anti-Air Missiles

Pyongyang, December 25 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, observed a test-fire of new-type anti-air missiles.

The Missile Administration of the DPRK conducted a test-fire of new-type high-altitude long-range anti-air missiles under development in the East Sea of Korea on December 24.

This is the first test-fire for estimating the tactical and technical features of the high-altitude long-range anti-air missile system in development.

The launched missiles accurately hit the mock targets at an altitude of 200 km.

The test-fire is a part of the routine activities of the Missile Administration and its affiliated anti-air weapon system research institutes for the technical optimization of the national anti-air defence means.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un extended congratulations on the successful test-fire. -0-

www.kcna.kp (2025.12.25.)