Life of Working People Valued

2026.5.1.

http://www.mfa.gov.kp/view/article/24248
Our working people are greeting May Day with the pride and confidence as key performers and masters of the great era of a powerful nation. They are the powerful motive force of this era of overall development.

Under the warm care of respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, all the working people in the country, the smelters, coal miners, farm workers and construction workers, are leading a happy life.

He places the greatest trust in our working class, the farm workers, scientists and technicians; he gives such honorable titles as genuine representatives of the people and true patriots to the labor innovators and people with merits who strive hard to ease the strain on the country and he energetically leads our working people to invariably carry forward the revolutionary spirit, and glorious history and tradition of our struggle in the van of our construction of a socialist power.

Working people are given top priority not only in the allocation of dwelling houses in new streets and villages but also in the election of representatives to nation-wide meetings and a new era of people-first principle started on this land when the working people enjoy being masters of the country.

With the people’s leader in high esteem, our working people place national affairs above their domestic ones and exert themselves with patriotic ardor in the work for overall development of socialism as they know well that the leader places the highest value on working people’s life.

As we have patriotic working people who unreservedly devote their patriotic enthusiasm and sincere efforts to the prosperity of the country with great pride and honor of being citizens of a dignified power, the trend of transformation and progress that has started in our country is being reinforced and our cause is advancing with more dynamism.

Eleventh Congress of Socialist Patriotic Youth League Held

Pyongyang, May 1 (KCNA) -- The Eleventh Congress of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League was held in Pyongyang from April 28 to 30.

The congress reviewed in a comprehensive way the work done by the youth league during the period under review, and discussed practical tasks and ways for channeling the great strength of the large contingent of young people into the implementation of the fighting programme of the Workers' Party of Korea to further cement it as the powerful driving force for the overall prosperity and development of socialism.

Attending it were delegates elected by youth league organizations at all levels.

Present as observers were officials of the Party and armed forces organs, ministries, national agencies and the field of education of youths and children.

The platform was taken by Kim Jae Ryong and Ri Il Hwan, members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau and secretaries of the WPK Central Committee, Ju Chang Il, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the C.C., WPK, Kim Song Gi, member of the Political Bureau of the C.C., WPK and director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, executive members of the C.C., SPYL, chairpersons of the provincial youth league committees, exemplary youth league officials and members, officials in charge of youth work in the field of the armed forces and service personnel.

The congress elected the presidium and the secretariat.

The agenda items discussed at the congress are as follows:

1. Review of the Work of the Central Committee of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League

2. On the Revision of the SPYL Rules

3. Election of the Central Leadership of the SPYL

Kim Jae Ryong read out a congratulatory letter of the WPK Central Committee to the participants in the Eleventh Congress of the SPYL and all other youths across the country.

Mun Chol, chairman of the SPYL Central Committee, made a report on the first agenda item.

The reporter noted that the DPRK young people have grown up to be creators and performers of feats and vanguard fighters of the revolution in the struggle to pioneer a new era of comprehensive national prosperity, flying high the sacred flag of the youth league.

He also briefed about the valuable successes achieved in the course of directing the work of the youth league to training all the young people as the patriotic youth who staunchly defend socialism and devote themselves to the struggle for socialist construction.

He referred to the wise leadership of the respected fatherly Marshal Kim Jong Un who set it as a matter of great importance for the steady development of our cause to prepare our young people as the reliable driving force of socialist construction and energetically led the work.

The reporter highlighted the great heroic feats performed by young servicepersons in the forefronts of defending the country, revolution and people and in major theaters of socialist construction at the cost of their blood, lives and sweat over the past five years, true to the orders and instructions of the Party.

The young servicepersons, who regard the Party's order as their absolute mission and unconditionally realize the Party's desire, fully displayed their honor as reliable revolutionary soldiers and hardcore youth not only in defending the country's existence and the people's health from the global health crisis but also in the gigantic creation campaigns such as accomplishing the historic cause of regional transformation and building 50 000 flats in Pyongyang Municipality, he said.

He reviewed the achievements made in ideologically educating young people and enhancing the activity of the youth league organizations during the period under review.

Stating that the youth league organizations will steadily develop only when they thoroughly overcome the shortcomings and deviations in line with the requirements of the times while consolidating the successes and experience, the reporter comprehensively analyzed and reviewed the shortcomings revealed in the work of the youth league in the period under review and their causes and the ways for overcoming them on the basis of the data on the actual states of the youth league organizations at all levels.

The reporter ardently called upon all to courageously advance, redoubling the firm faith and will for the eternal dignity and glory of the DPRK and for the brilliant hope of youth and bright future as befitting the young vanguard in the great era of Kim Jong Un.

Speeches were made on the first agenda item.

Introduced in the speeches were excellent experiences gained in educating and training young people into reliable revolutionary soldiers and hardcore youth of the WPK, regarding the ideas and leadership of the Party Central Committee as the lifeline, and in training them to be honorable pioneers of socialist construction and those ready to make practical contribution to the country by conducting the organization and guidance over the youth league organizational and ideological life in close combination with the implementation of the revolutionary tasks.

The speakers expressed their resolve to bring about a new innovation in the youth league work, strictly analyzing the shortcomings and causes in the work of the youth league during the period under review.

The congress discussed the second agenda item "On the Revision of the SPYL Rules".

There was a report on the revision of the rules of the youth league.

The reporter summarized the contents of the rules to be amended and supplemented in conformity with the new tasks facing the youth league and the principles of building the youth league.

Noting that the rules of the youth league to be revised reflected the practical requirements for developing the youth league into elite militant reserves of the WPK and enhancing its organizing ability, unity and activity, the reporter submitted it for deliberation at the congress.

A decision on the revision of the rules of the youth league was adopted with full approval.

The congress discussed the "Election of the Central Leadership of the SPYL" as the third agenda item.

First, the Central Committee of the youth league was elected.

All the candidates for the members and alternate members of the Central Committee of the youth league were elected members and alternate members of the Central Committee of the youth league with the unanimous approval of the delegates.

The First Plenary Meeting of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Socialist Patriotic Youth League was held.

Ju Chang Il, secretary of the WPK Central Committee, made public the decision of the First Plenary Meeting.

The executive committee of the SPYL Central Committee was elected.

Paek Un Chol was elected chairman of the Central Committee of the youth league and Kim Ju Hyok, Pak Myong Jin, Wang Chol U, Kim Song Il, Ri Myong Hyok and Kim Song Il were elected vice-chairmen.

The Organizing Committee of the SPYL Central Committee was formed.

The chairperson, vice-chairpersons and members of the Central Inspection Commission of the youth league were elected.

Department directors of the SPYL Central Committee were appointed.

The congress elected a committee for drafting the decision of the congress with members of the newly elected eleventh-term central leadership of the youth league, and the committee deliberated the creative and constructive opinions raised by the delegates and supplemented the draft decision.

The decision of the Eleventh Congress of the youth league was adopted with the unanimous approval of the delegates.

A letter of pledge to the respected Marshal Kim Jong Un was adopted amid all the delegates' enthusiasm for single-minded loyalty.

The congress ended with the chorus "We Will Defend General Kim Jong Un with Our Lives". -0-

www.kcna.kp (2026.05.01.)

Greener Grass and the Unfinished Nature of States - by Comrade Kimlong Ly

 The idea or saying that “the grass is always greener on the other side” is often used to describe individuals, but it can also be applied to more sharply and politically. This writing will apply this idea to how nations perceive one another. However, it will not be as long as the writings of Hegel or Kant. It will be short.

In the 21st century, countries rarely evaluate themselves in isolation. Instead, they are infected by this incurable disease called comparison. A rich nation may look abroad and see other countries with stronger social welfare systems and then look inward to ask why its own citizens struggle with problems such as insecurity or inequality. A country with extensive welfare protections then look at foreign states with greater economic power or technological advancement and feel envious. Even highly militarised states are not immune to comparison; they may observe others with higher living standards or greater cultural influence and feel the pain in the chest.

In this sense, international relations are not only about material balance, but about perception. This perception creates a sense of insecurity. That insecurity creates rivalry. Then, rivalry leads to conflicts and wars. Perception, therefore, creates deaths.

Strength in one area can highlight the vulnerability in another. This creates a kind of permanent comparative psychology at the level of states. A state can never feel completed.

Political systems are not only judged by results, but also by the stories that they tell about how well they handle the human life. Liberal systems are valued for freedom but criticised for inequality, while socialist systems are seen as more equal but sometimes less efficient or innovative.

In contrast, Juche, the state ideology of the DPR Korea, tries to reject this constant comparison by emphasizing self-reliance and internal consistency. It argues that progress should be defined by a society’s own goals and conditions, rather than external approval, which it sees as a form of dependence on outside validation.

From this view, Juche can be seen as an attempt to solve this unaddressed psychological disease. I called this comparison an unaddressed disease as if nations keep measuring themselves against others, they risk shaping their development around foreign benchmarks rather than internal needs and morals. Juche, in this way, argues that a society should develop according to its own history, culture, and collective goals. It is one of the only few theories, that seeks to reduce the “greener grass” mentality by grounding national confidence in internal standards rather than foreign examples. Therefore, Juche is a liberating theory or ideology that not only liberates the nation, but also the nation’s mind from an international “disease”.

However, it is important to be precise: no country exists entirely outside of this seeming universal comparison. Even systems that stress on independence still operate in a world where economic data, military balance, technological development, and cultural influence are continuously observed across borders. Comparison is not just ideological. It is structural and it is built into the modern global system.

What matters more is not whether comparison happens, but how it is handled. Some systems use this to push competition and reform, while others see it as a threat to stability. Either way, the “greener grass” effect stays, there’s always another country that seems better in some domain.

Ultimately, the question may not be which nation or system escapes comparison, but whether comparison itself can ever be stopped. Or whether it is simply part of how nations, like individuals, define progress. 

Essay by Kimlong Ly 

Assistant Researcher, British Study Group for the Study of the Juche Idea

  

BGSJI and KFA UK on the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the Association For the Restoration of the Fatherland

  

BRITISH GROUP FOR THE STUDY OF THE JUCHE IDEA 
 email juche007@yahoo.co.uk
                                                 
                                                   

                                       London 30th of April 2026
 The British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea(BGSJI)  and the  Korean Friendship Association of the UK(KFAUK )  issued a joint statement on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the Association for the Restoration of the Fatherland by the great leader President Kim Il Sung  ;
   90 years have passed since the Association For the Restoration of the Fatherland was  founded by President Kim Il Sung on May 5, Juche 25 (1936), was the first anti-Japanese national united front in Korea. Its  foundation was a decisive turning point in the Korean people's struggle for national liberation
    The Association For the Restoration of the Fatherland(ARF)  made great contributions to liberating Korea from Japan's colonial rule, as it helped rally the anti-Japanese forces of different social strata under the banner of patriotism and anti-imperialism  thus creating  the driving forces of the Korean revolution.
   The ARF was the first steady anti-Japanese national united front organi­zation in Korea, an organization guided by a single programme and rules and under a unified organizational system. It was a mass organization and a powerful underground revolutionary organization, working to fully ensure the leadership of the leader and the Party over the broad patriotic forces all over the country. President Kim Il Sung formulated the 10 point programme of the ARF which represented the advanced line and idea of the anti-imperialist, anti-feudal democratic revolution.
   The ARF was firmly based on the worker-peasant alliance and on the leadership of the revolutionaries. It rejected  compromise and national reformism. It was firmly based on the Songun-based line of armed struggle .
  The founding of the ARF was the fruition of the Juche-oriented line  of the anti-Japanese national united front put forward by the great leader comrade  Kim Il Sung, which exemplified  the will of the Korean people to wage the struggle against the Japanese more vigorously on their own initiative and marking a historic occasion that gave rise to a new upsurge in the Korean revolution as a whole, based on the anti-Japanese armed struggle.
   Today respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is carrying forward the idea of the great leader comrade
Kim Il Sung on the united front and is putting them into action.
    The ARF was an excellent example of a Juche-based united front and popular front which showed the way forward for the people of oppressed colonies to defeat imperialism and win independence. The Association For the Restoration of the Fatherland stands out as a model of an anti-imperialist, anti-fascist united front and popular front and its great achievements will shine forever !

Glory to the 90th anniversary of the Association For the Restoration of the Fatherland !
  
BGSJI
KFA UK

Crime of Japan, Sworn Enemy of Korean Nation

Pyongyang, April 28 (KCNA) -- Emperor Kojong of Korea was murdered by poison in January 1919. This case is a historical proof of the brutality and viciousness of the Japanese imperialists who mercilessly killed anyone against their colonial rule.

At that time, anxious about the ever-increasing moves of the Japanese imperialists to invade Korea, Emperor Kojong resolutely rejected their demand for the conclusion of the "Ulsa Five-point Treaty" and later refused all the forcible demands aimed at seizing the sovereign rights.

When the Japanese imperialists illegally cooked up the "treaty", Kojong maintained his anti-Japanese stand through secret diplomatic activities to neutralize it.

At last, the Japanese imperialists formed a cabinet with pro-Japanese traitors to reduce the power of the emperor. With the Hague emissary case as an occasion, they plotted to dethrone and kill Kojong.

After forcibly dethroning Kojong by applying persistent pressure and trickeries, they cruelly poisoned him. In order to cover their atrocities, they took those who had examined the body of the emperor into custody and assassinated even the waiting maids who had witnessed his death.

The "Second Declaration of Independence", published by the Korean "provisional government" in China in 1921, says that Kojong's eyes were blood-colored and his whole body was marked with many red spots after he died.

Ten-odd years ago, a diary of the then director of the auditing bureau at Japan's royal office in 1919 was made public at an international academic conference. The diary disclosed the fact that Terauchi, the first governor-general in Korea, ordered the commander of the Japanese army in Korea to poison Emperor Kojong who refused to recognize the "Ulsa Five-point Treaty".

As seen above, the case was a heinous state-sponsored terrorist act committed by the Japanese imperialists in an organized and planned way. -0-

www.kcna.kp (2026.04.28.)

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Enjoys Concert Marking 80th Founding Anniversary of Central Military Band of Ministry of National Defence

Pyongyang, April 29 (KCNA) -- The respected Comrade 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, enjoyed a concert commemorating the 80th founding anniversary of the Central Military Band of the Ministry of National Defence on April 28.

Since it made its debut in the opening ceremony of the Pyongyang Institute, founded as a base for training military and political cadres of the country after the liberation of Korea, the Central Military Band of the Ministry of National Defence has made proud achievements in the history of development of the heroic Korean People's Army, upholding the Party and the country and powerfully encouraging the whole army to victory with the revolutionary military music pulsating with the spirit of the times and the strong army.

Among the audience were No Kwang Chol, minister of National Defence of the DPRK, Kim Song Gi, director of the General Political Bureau of the KPA, and other commanding officers of the Ministry of National Defence, officials of the WPK Central Committee, officials of ministries and national agencies and institutions and enterprises in Pyongyang, creators and artistes of military and civilian art troupes and service personnel.

The concert began with the solemn playing of the national anthem of the DPRK. Its performers played the stirring melodies of the revolutionary military music filled with the militant spirit to powerfully demonstrate the course of development of the heroic KPA, which has defended the vigorous advance of the ever-victorious Juche revolution under the leadership of the WPK and reliably guaranteed the invincibility and mightiness of our state.

The concert was acclaimed by the audience as it impressively showed the deep ideological and moral world and the will of loyalty of the service personnel to add eternal luster to the honor of the KPA, which has always been faithful to the orders of the country and the sacred appellation the army of the Party and the people and won legendary victories and created tales of miracles.

Comrade Kim Jong Un congratulated the performers on their successful performance, praising them for giving an excellent concert pulsating with the revolutionary character and militant spirit of our army.

He said that the shining history of the KPA is clearly associated with the feats of the Central Military Band of the Ministry of National Defence as it has displayed the tremendous might incomparable with any military hardware, encouraging the brave and heroic army with the revolutionary military music decade after decade. He added that he has always paid respect to the military band as a group of soldiers representing the revolutionary army, not as an art troupe.

Comrade Kim Jong Un highly appreciated that the Central Military Band of the Ministry of National Defence is the face of our state and symbol of the KPA, saying that wherever the military music resounded, there were the stirring scenes of those displaying matchless courage and bringing about the epoch-making changes.

He said that the creators and players of the military band should have boundless loyalty to the Party, the country and the people and high artistic ability and encourage the advance of the KPA with their revolutionary military music. And he had a photo session with all the creators, players and officials, expressing belief that the Central Military Band would always remain faithful to its most honorable mission.

The members of the Central Military Band of the Ministry of National Defence extended boundless gratitude to Comrade Kim Jong Un who is giving great trust and warm blessings, glorifying the band's honorable 80-year history of following the Party, and made a firm determination to usher in a new heyday of development of the revolutionary military music, powerfully encouraging the vigorous historic advance of the army and people of the DPRK for implementing the decisions of the Ninth Congress of the WPK with thunderous military music. -0-

www.kcna.kp (2026.04.29.)

Core of National Defense, Pioneers of Great Change, Creators of People’s Happiness

http://www.mfa.gov.kp/view/article/24142

 2026.4.25.

94 years ago, President Kim Il Sung clarified the truth of the revolutionary struggle that we should fight against the armed enemy with arms and founded the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army (KPRA) – the first Juche-type armed force in our country.

The founding of the KPRA led to the start of the nationwide war of resistance against Japan by means of armed struggle and the accomplishment of the historic cause of national liberation.

Waging arduous and bloody battles, the KPRA created the great idea, mental sprit and tradition which can firmly guarantee the lifeline of our revolution and continue the invincibility of our country, such as the spirit of devotedly defending the leader, the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance and fortitude, and revolutionary optimism.

After liberation, our revolutionary armed forces was strengthened and developed into a regular armed force inheriting the brilliant traditions created during the anti-Japanese armed struggle. They have now grown into an army strong in ideology and faith and an elite revolutionary army which takes full responsibility for defending the country and carrying out socialist construction.

Led by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, our revolutionary armed forces are now in the heyday of their development.

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un wisely led our revolutionary armed forces to fulfill their honorable mission and duty assumed as the core of the national defense. He put forward original army-building ideas and lines and launched an intensive drive for establishing military discipline. He also fired the enthusiasm for conducting mass movements under actual war conditions including the movement of Guards Unit and the movement for becoming crack shots.

Under his leadership, our revolutionary armed forces have assumed the honorable mission as the pioneers of great change and creators of people’s happiness to fully demonstrate their patriotic zeal and high spirits in all fields for implementing the Party’s policies and plans. They continue to perform feats that transform the country’s appearance and create homes of happiness for the people.

They are the invincible ranks of strong soldiers and the great creators transformers that follows the outstanding leadership of respected Comrade Kim Jong Un. With this revolutionary army in the vanguard of our revolution, it won’t take long to realize the bright future of comprehensive national prosperity.