THE WORKERS' PARTY OF KOREA IS A JUCHE-TYPE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY WHICH INHERITED THE GLORIOUS TRADITION OF THE DIU

KIM JONG IL

THE WORKERS' PARTY OF KOREA IS A JUCHE-TYPE REVOLUTIONARY PARTY WHICH INHERITED
THE GLORIOUS TRADITION OF THE DIU

October 17, 1982

Today, October 17, is the 56th anniversary of the formation of the Down-with-Imperialism Union ( DIU ) by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung.

With the formation of the DIU our people's revolutionary struggle embarked on a new road of development and our Party began to strike its glorious roots.

Our Party has traversed the glorious course of struggle for over half a century since it took root with the formation of the DIU; and on this road it has scored many of the most brilliant achievements of the century, and has grown and strengthened as a powerful revolutionary party, united rock-firm and equipped with a wealth of experience.

By leading the people our Party achieved national independence and carried out democratic and socialist revolutions, and through tremendous construction work, it radically changed the appearance of the country and built a "model socialist state" which strikes the world's people with admiration. In the hard-fought struggle against US imperialist invasion, our Party led the people to victory and preserved the country and the revolution with credit.

For its immortal exploits on behalf of the country and the people, the age and history, our Party enjoys the unreserved support and confidence of the entire Korean people.

With the monolithic ideological system firmly established throughout, our Party has been strengthened more than ever before, both organizationally and ideologically, as the tested General Staff of the revolution and, convinced of the justness of its cause and certain of victory, it is successfully guiding the cause of modelling the whole of society on the Juche idea.

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Ours is a glorious party with a long history, a revolutionary party which has carved out a new trail for progress.

A working-class party is the General Staff of the revolution and the organizer of all victories. Without party guidance, the working class and the masses cannot win the revolutionary battle. The Korean revolution which had suffered difficulties in the early communist movement, badly needed a militant party which would be able to lead the revolution to victory, overcoming all obstacles. This urgent requirement of the Korean revolution was admirably fulfilled when the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung came to lead the revolution.

Having assumed the role of helmsman of the Korean revolution in the grimmest days of Japanese imperialist rule, the great leader Comrade

Kim Il Sung, with a view to exploring a new revolutionary road, conceived a plan to form a revolutionary vanguard organization which, under a correct programme, would carry out the anti-Japanese national-liberation struggle relying on the masses and, in 1926, he formed the DIU.

The formation of the DIU was a historic declaration of a fresh start for the Korean communist movement and the Korean revolution. Now, the Korean communist movement and national-liberation movement bade farewell to the old generation, contaminated by flunkeyism and dogmatism, and welcomed a new age based on the principle of independence. The establishment of the D1U was the beginning of the struggle to found a new type of party, a revolutionary party of the Juche type, which was different from the one which had previously existed in our country. The programme of the DIU became the basis of our Party's Programme, and the principle of independence advanced by this organization became the principle of our Party building and activity; and the communists of the new generation whom the DIU began to train, became the backbone in the establishment of our Party. This shows that our Party grew from the very roots of the DIU .

The struggle to build a revolutionary party which began with the DIU , took on a new impetus as a result of the formation of the Young Communist League of Korea by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung. The YCLK was not just a youth organization. Since a new generation was appearing in the communist movement in our country at that time, it was a revolutionary vanguard organization which was given the task of exploring the road for the Korean revolution and which gave unified guidance to many anti-Japanese mass organizations.

Because the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung formed the DIU and the YCLK in the second half of the 1920's and led our revolution, the defects of the early communist movement were remedied, many communists of the new generation matured and the founding of a revolutionary party in our country became the first priority.

At the Kalun Meeting held in 1930, the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung set forth the Juche-inspired line of the Korean revolution and explained a unique way of founding a revolutionary party.

The most important aspect of this policy put forward at this meeting was to establish a party independently.

Maintaining independence is a fundamental need of the communist movement. This movement is a struggle to accomplish the independence of the popular masses in each country, and it is the communists and the people of the country themselves who are the ones who carry it out, the masters of this struggle. Founding a working-class party in each country is also a task which the communists of the country should necessarily carry out by their own efforts as the masters.

The policy of founding the party independently also accorded with the requirement of the international communist movement which had entered a new phase of development. Now that the revolutionary struggles of the working class and masses were being carried on extensively and in a diverse way on a worldwide scale, the revolution in each country would not be advanced correctly unless the communists of that country conducted it responsibly and independently. This demanded that party founding in each country should also be undertaken by the communists of the country through their independent efforts and on their own responsibility.

Another important aspect of the party founding policy set forth at the Kalun Meeting was to form grassroots party organizations first and found the party by means of expanding and strengthening them and make preparations for party founding in close combination with the anti-Japanese struggle.

Previously, it had been usual for a revolutionary working-class party to be found by uniting communist groups which were operating in isolation or as the result of a revolutionary faction seceding from a social democratic party. However, it was impossible to follow this course in the circumstances in our country. At the time those who called themselves communists were mostly factionalist-flunkeys who looked to foreigners and indulged in factional strife to the ruin of the party. It would be utterly impossible to establish a revolutionary party by "reconstructing" the party which had already been dissolved or by relying on the old generation who were infected with factionalist-flunkeyism.

In order to inaugurate a revolutionary party, it was necessary to break away from the old party and the old generation, polluted with factionalism and flunkeyism, develop new communists of the new generation, achieve the unity of ideology and purpose of the communist ranks and strengthen their ties with the masses. Only by setting up grassroots party organizations first and then continually expanding and strengthening them, would it be possible to train communists of the new generation from amongst the workers and peasants quickly through organizational and ideological life and practical struggle, and guarantee the unity of ideology, purpose and action and the purity of the communist ranks and consolidate the party's mass foundation. Also, only by making preparations for party founding in close combination with the struggle against Japanese imperialism, would it be possible to effectively develop communist nuclei who were tried and tested through struggle, and build up the party as a militant force with great fighting strength.

The party founding policy proposed at the Kalun Meeting was a correct one which reflected the real needs of the international communist movement and our country.

In accordance with this policy put forward by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, the work to set up party organizations was actively pursued after the Kalun Meeting.

In the early July of 1930 in Kalun, Comrade Kim Il Sung formed the first party organization with young communists of the new generation. This was the first party organization governed by the Juche idea, a glorious party organization which was the origin of our Party.

With this first party organization as the parent body, Comrade Kim Il Sung expanded party organizations in different areas.

Thanks to his dynamic guidance and activity, a party organization was established in the area of Onsong with activists of revolutionary organizations at the beginning of October 1930, and within a short time many grassroots party organizations appeared within the armed ranks and in east Manchuria on the Tuman River and in the area along the northern border.

While expanding and strengthening grassroots party organizations, work was actively stepped up to establish a system of guidance for party organizations aimed at providing them with unified leadership. As a result the system of guidance of party organizations from county party committees to party cells in villages was established. In the Anti-Japanese People's Guerrilla Army party committees were formed and active in the regiments, party cells in the companies and party sub-teams in platoons.

In particular, as the Anti-Japanese People's Guerrilla Army was reorganized into the Korean People's Revolutionary Army in March 1934, radical measures were taken by which the Party Committee of the KPRA was formed to supervise and control not only party organizations at different levels within the units, but local party organizations as well.

The formation of the KPRA Party Committee was an event of great importance to the Korean communist movement and the building of our Party. It was now possible to set up a unified system of guidance for party organizations at all levels and carry out the anti-Japanese armed struggle and the building of party organizations more vigorously by relying on better organized internal revolutionary forces.

Drawing on the successes achieved in the first half of the 1930's, the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung conceived a plan in the second half of the decade to expand party organizations in the homeland on a wide basis, achieve the unity of the whole nation under the anti-Japanese banner, set up a well-regulated unified system of guiding all party organizations and ensure party leadership for the Korean revolution as a whole. This plan was admirably carried out. Here, the Meeting of the Military and Political Cadres of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army held in Nanhutou in February 1936 was of historic significance.

At this meeting Comrade Kim Il Sung summed up the work of building party organizations in the first half of the 1930's and put forward a policy for the forceful introduction of this work on a nationwide scale to lay solid organizational and ideological foundations so that the founding of the party could be proclaimed as soon as an appropriate situation was created.

In accordance with the policy put forward at the Nanhutou Meeting, Comrade Kim Il Sung ensured that party organizations at all levels within the KPRA were built up and also that party organizations were expanded in the homeland and in the areas inhabited by Koreans in Manchuria. With the intention of strengthening guidance to these organizations, he set up the Party Working Committee in the homeland, the Changbai County Party Committee and the Party Working Committee in East Manchuria . As a result, party organizations were rapidly expanded in a wide area of Manchuria and in the northern border area of our country and a well-regulated system of guidance to party organizations was established.

Party organizations were increased throughout the country, and a unified system of guidance for party organizations was established, ranging from the Party Committee of the KPRA to local party organizations.

This firmly ensured the unitary guidance of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung for all party organizations and the revolutionary movement in our country as a whole.

The founding of the Association for the Restoration of the Fatherland in May 1936 was an event of historic significance in firmly rallying all levels of people, including workers and peasants, around the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung and in cementing the mass foundation of the party. The ARF was an anti-Japanese national united front organization to which party guidance was guaranteed. Party organizations and communists rallied broad sections of the people in the ARF and actively mobilized them to the struggle to implement the Juche-motivated line of the Korean revolution. With the founding and rapid expansion of the ARF more communists were trained, the mass foundation of the party considerably strengthened and fresh progress was made in giving party leadership to all sections of the people.

In this way, during the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle, our Party organizations were formed in the ranks of the KPRA and over a vast area at home and abroad and were, for organizational purposes, firmly welded to the Headquarters of the Korean revolution. Thus the leader's guidance, party guidance, to the whole Korean revolution was successfully achieved.

The most important thing in party leadership to the revolutionary movement is to make a scientific analysis of the situation created at each stage and put forward a correct line and policies, strategy and tactics and thus clarify the road of struggle.

The party's line and policies, strategy and tactics are put forward by the leader and they are discussed and decided upon at party meetings. The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung devised the immortal Juche idea; and applying this idea at each stage, he proposed a correct line, strategy and tactics for the Korean revolution at the meetings of party and Young Communist League cadres and military and political cadres. This was a firm guarantee for achieving the unity of the revolutionary ranks in ideology, will and action based on the Juche idea, and for enabling the Korean communists and people to fight always with a clear guideline even in adversity. In fact, at that time meetings of party and Young Communist League cadres and military and political cadres reflected the party's organizational will and served as an important means to put party leadership into effect.

Another important thing in party guidance to the revolutionary movement is to strengthen its kindred ties with the masses and organize them to implement the line and policy set forth by the leader.

At that time the mainstream of the Korean revolution was the armed struggle, and it was basic to party guidance to lead this struggle to victory. The party organizations formed within the KPRA rallied party members and guerrillas behind the leader, explained and brought home to them his revolutionary line, strategy and tactics and ensured that they were thoroughly implemented. Meanwhile, the party organizations in different areas at home and abroad rooted themselves deeply amongst the broad masses and creditably played the role of educators and organizers, who mobilized the workers, peasants, young people and students and other sections of the people on the side of the anti-Japanese struggle.

Because the Korean communists and people had these party organizations and fought under their guidance, they could give momentum to the anti-Japanese national-liberation struggle and accelerate its final victory despite unprecedented difficulties.

After the country's liberation the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, on the basis of the successes and experiences he had personally accumulated in party building during the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle, lost no time in setting up party organizations in different areas, and, on October 10, 1945, founded the Central Organizing Committee of the North Korean Communist Party. This was a historic event in accomplishing the cause of Party founding which had been carried on for many years under his guidance. Our Party shone forth all over the world as a revolutionary working-class party of a new type guided by the Juche idea, and our people were able to push ahead confidently with the building of a new society under its leadership.

Following liberation our Party, as a ruling party, developed in a new direction.

The course of the building of our Party in power was that of expanding its ranks and consolidating it organizationally and ideologically. The most urgent requirement was to develop the Party quickly into a mass party. Only when the Party was developed in this way and deeply rooted among broad sections of the working masses, would it be possible to mobilize all the masses and guide political, economic, cultural and all other affairs, thereby dynamically speeding up the construction of a new country.

The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, showing a deep insight into the prevailing situation and the inevitable need of our Party's development, put forward the unique organizational line of building it as a mass party and inaugurated a unified party of the working masses by merging the Communist Party with another party of working people.

To develop the Communist Party into a mass party was an urgent requirement of our developing Party and revolution, which accorded with the situation in a new era. In the new situation where the popular masses emerge as masters of history, the revolution is not only participated in by the working class but also by broad sections of the peasantry and working intellectuals. Only when a working-class party in power rallies all these people and provides them with unified leadership, can it successfully carry on the revolution and construction. Particularly in our country, which had been a colonial, semi-feudal society in the past, it was a highly important strategic problem to draw the peasantry and working intellectuals as well as the working class into the revolution and construction. As the Communist Party grew organizationally and ideologically strong and the revolution progressed after liberation, the Party had to be developed into a unified mass party which could rally the broad working masses as a political force and mobilize their strength. It was a task which was brought to fruition. Our Party merged with another working people's party in time and accepted a large number of advanced elements of the peasantry and working intellectuals, together with those of the working class, so that it firmly ensured the unity of the working masses, developed closer ties with them and pushed ahead with the revolution and construction successfully by mobilizing many people of various strata.

An important task arising in building our Party as a mass party was to consolidate its quality in order to keep pace with its rapid growth in numbers.

The Second Party Congress held in March 1948 accepted this need for an improvement in quality as a matter of cardinal importance in the building of a mass party, and advanced an overall task for this purpose—strengthening Party cells, improving its ideological work and guaranteeing its organizational and ideological unity. Through the struggle to implement the Party's policy on this subject as put forward at its Second Congress, the organizational and ideological work was improved, all the cells strengthened to become vital militant units and the level of the rank and file and cadres was raised. In this way the quality of the Party ranks was consolidated, its unity and cohesion increased and the militancy of its organizations and its leading role were improved.

The 1950's was a period of historic significance in the development of our Party as a party of a Juche type.

The Fatherland Liberation War against US imperialist invasion was a harsh trial for our Party. In order to achieve victory in the war the Party had to strengthen itself first of all, organizationally and ideologically and unite all the people closely behind it.

Even in the grim wartime conditions the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung convened the Third, Fourth and Fifth Plenary Meetings of the Central Committee of the Party and guided the Party to correct deviations and shortcomings in Party building and Party work promptly and strengthen itself organizationally and ideologically. The Third Plenary Meeting remedied the loose practices which were revealed during the temporary retreat and established revolutionary discipline within the Party, and the Fourth Plenary Meeting eliminated the "Leftist" deviation manifested in its organizational work and increased and consolidated its ranks. The Fifth Plenary Meeting in particular brought about a new change in strengthening the Party organizationally and ideologically by arousing all its organizations and membership to the struggle to temper the Party spirit of its members, fortify its unity and solidarity in opposition to factionalism and establish Juche in its ideological work.

As a result of these timely measures to strengthen itself, our Party was able to survive all ordeals and be victorious in the Fatherland Liberation War.

In the postwar period our Party effected a radical change in establishing Juche and cementing its unity and cohesion.

We rehabilitated the national economy in a short period after the victorious war, but the situation was still difficult. To make matters worse, the factionalists who had remained in the Party adopted revisionism and challenged it. The prevailing situation urgently demanded that the Party be strengthened organizationally and ideologically under the banner of Juche.

The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung called the Third Party Congress in April 1956 and set forth the very important task of opposing factionalism in the field of Party building, preserving its unity and solidarity and improving its organizational and ideological work. At the August 1956 Plenary Meeting of the Party Central Committee, he wisely led the struggle to expose and destroy the anti-Party, counterrevolutionary factionalists who opposed the Party. All the working people and Party members including the anti-Japanese revolutionary veterans who were infinitely loyal to the respected leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, determinedly countered the manoeuvres of the anti-Party, counterrevolutionary factionalists and firmly defended the Party and the leader. The historical significance of the Third Party Congress and the August 1956 Plenary Meeting in the strengthening of our Party lies in the fact that these meetings opposed all anti-Party, counterrevolutionary ideological elements including those of factionalism and revisionism and upheld the banner of Juche, the banner of Party unity and solidarity. After these meetings our Party established Juche more firmly in its work and further increased its unity and cohesion. Because it thus rebuffed factionalism and revisionism promptly, established Juche firmly and preserved its unity and solidarity, our Party was able to raise the revolutionary banner high without vacillation and strengthen itself organizationally and ideologically even in the face of the complex situation at home and abroad.

Our Party reached a new, higher stage of development in the 1960's.

The establishment of an integral, advanced socialist system and the creation of the solid basis of an independent national economy as a result of the fulfillment of the task of laying the foundations of socialism, radically changed the socio-economic conditions for our Party's activities. In addition, the stubborn struggle against the anti-Party factionalists and their lingering ideological poison fulfilled the historical task of eradicating the factions which had been doing tremendous harm for many years, and of achieving the unity of the Korean communist movement. This showed that our Party had entered a new phase of development.

At that historic moment, the Fourth Party Congress was held, during which the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung put forward the very important task of further strengthening the Party organizationally and ideologically and increasing its leadership role. In particular, he stressed the need to oppose revisionism, factionalism, regionalism and nepotism and preserve the unity of the Party's idea and purpose so that all Party members and organizations would think and act as the Party Central Committee did, cast in their lot with it and struggle to the end in whatever difficult circumstances there might be. Through the struggle to implement the tasks related to Party building proposed by its Fourth Congress, the Party further consolidated its unity and solidarity, enhanced its leadership role and made remarkable progress in improving its work method and style, re-educating the masses and uniting them around it. In particular, the 15th Plenary Meeting of the Fourth Central Committee of the Party held in May 1967 became an opportunity to effect a decisive change in establishing the Party's monolithic ideological system.

In the 1970's a great new change was made in the development of our Party.

The Fifth Party Congress held in November 1970 defined it as the general task of Party work: to establish a monolithic ideological system throughout the Party and, on this basis, fortify the unity and solidarity of its ranks. The congress set forth the very important task of the proper conduct of work with people, which is fundamental to Party work. We steadfastly carried out the general task of Party work put forward by the Fifth Congress and thus laid a solid organizational and ideological basis on which to continue to strengthen our Party and carry forward our revolutionary cause to completion.

The Party's cause continues from generation to generation, and it must preserve its revolutionary character until it fulfils its mission. If it is to keep this character throughout generations and carry out its noble mission, a working-class party must farsightedly carry on the work of consolidating itself, and of hardening its organizational and ideological basis.

Looking into the future of its development and that of the revolution, our Party laid down the strategic policy for transforming the whole of society in line with the Juche idea and, as its precondition, strove to accelerate the modelling of the whole Party on the Juche idea.

This is a new, higher level of establishing its monolithic ideological system. Our Party defined infinite loyalty to the Party and the leader as an essential quality of its membership and subordinated all its activities to establishing its monolithic ideological system. In this way it steeped itself in the Juche idea, the monolithic ideology, and, on this basis, further cemented the unity of idea and purpose amongst its ranks. Our Party paid particular attention to building up the backbone of the revolutionary forces. It strengthened the ranks of cadres on the principle of combining the elderly, the middle-aged and the young, regarding their loyalty to the Party and the leader as the basic criterion of their qualification. It intensified the training of cadres and members in Party spirit by enhancing their sense of organization and putting Party life on a regular and routine basis. Through the struggle to carry out the Party's policy for a cadre revolution and the policy of making the whole Party a party of cadres, which is aimed at raising the political and professional levels of cadres and Party members, the ranks of our Party and cadres were further strengthened, and the backbone needed to accomplish the revolutionary cause of Juche was created.

Our Party developed in depth the work of establishing its monolithic ideological system and cementing the ranks of the Party and cadres in close coordination with the establishment of a new revolutionary work system. We brought about a change in Party work and its activity by setting up within the Party a well-knit work system under which the instructions of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung and Party policy were promptly circulated to the lowest echelons, all Party organizations and membership moved as one and upheld and carried out Party policy unconditionally in accordance with centralist discipline.

The success achieved in Party building and its activities during the 1970's became a solid asset which enabled our Party to aim for higher objectives. The Sixth Party Congress held early in the 1980's put forward an outstanding new programme to model the whole of society on the Juche idea. It included the militant tasks of Party building: to further strengthen the ranks of the Party and the revolution with continued adherence to the principle of establishing the monolithic ideological system in the whole Party as the basic line of Party building, admirably carry forward and develop the revolutionary traditions and intensify Party leadership of the revolution and construction. This shows that our Party has entered a new, higher stage of development as a great party which is modelling the whole of society on the Juche idea, regarding this as its foremost task.

Our Party has travelled a glorious road of struggle under the banner of Juche and has been further trained and seasoned in the process.

In the whole course of its leadership of the revolutionary struggle and the work of construction, our Party has always found the key to success in the strengthening of the Party and consolidated itself organizationally and ideologically above all, and thus defeated the manoeuvres of the enemies within and without, further strengthened the revolutionary ranks and led the revolution and construction to brilliant victory at all times, overcoming manifold difficulties and trials.

The Korean communist movement which pioneered the revolutionary road under the banner of the DIU , is now at a very high level where it strives for the ultimate victory of the revolution, bringing the cause of modelling the whole of society on the Juche idea to the fore. Our Party, the organizer and leader of this great endeavour, has grown into unbreakable fighting ranks which are stronger than ever in terms of ideology and organization and in its ties with the masses. Today our Party has a firm organizational and ideological basis on which it can develop for all time as a revolutionary party of a Juche type, as well as a strong leadership system capable of gloriously advancing the revolutionary cause of Juche. This is a sure guarantee that the revolutionary cause initiated by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung can be carried on to its consummation.