Speech made to the February 16th meeting of the ASSPUK and JISGE by Dermot Hudson President of the ASSPUK and Chairman JISGE

Comrades and friends

Today February 16th is the 71st anniversary of the birth of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il the sun of Songun . It is rightfully celebrated as the day of the Shining Star by the Korean people and the progressive and revolutionary peoples of the entire world. Today when the Democratic People's Republic of Korea faces unprecedented threats from US and world imperialism it becomes ever more important for Juche idea and Songun idea followers to uphold this occasion. Marking the birth anniversary of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il is an act of positive solidarity with the DPRK in its struggle against US imperialism .

Today the DPRK is one of the few countries in the world that it is not a member of the IMF, World Bank or World Trade Organisation . It does not have a foreign owned or privately owned central bank . Moreover it does not have any foreign troops stationed on its soil and does not take orders from other countries , as has been demonstrated recently. This is the proud legacy of leader Kim Jong Il and why we uphold his birth anniversary The great leader comrade Kim Jong Il was born the son of guerrillas on snows-wept Mt Paektu during the anti-Japanese war . As a young boy he witnessed the the barbarous action of the US imperialists during the Fatherland Liberation War of the early 1950s. The great leader comrade Kim Jong Il resolved to fight imperialism to the very end as well as to treasure even a single blade of grass in the country and to make Korea mighty and prosperous. His successor dear respected Marshal Kim Jong Un wrote of him

“The General was a peerless patriot; he loved his country and fellow people more ardently than anybody else, and devoted his whole life to achieving the prosperity of the country and the happiness of the people, thus performing imperishable exploits that are etched in the history of the country.”

The great leader comrade Kim Jong Il was the loyal successor to the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung the father of socialist Korea. Comrade Kim Jong Il began his Songun revolutionary leadership in August 1960 with his visit to the the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su no 105 tank division of the Korean People's Army and began guiding the work of the Workers' Party of Korea in 1964 when he began his work at the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. The great leader comrade Kim Jong Il ensured that the road of Juche was firmly adhered. He smashed the attempts of the opportunists,counter-revolutionary anti-party factionalists and revisionists to derail the unity of the party making it ever more steel like and monolithic. He wrote many works exposing and criticising modern revisionism and imperialism notably “Characteristics of Modern Imperialism and its aggressive nature”. He wrote

“Modern imperialism is imperialism based not merely on monopolistic domination but whose political and economic basis is state-controlled monopolistic capitalism, depending not on old colonialism but on neo-colonialism. existing not in parallel with each other but reorganized in subordinate relation with US imperialism as the ringleader, and not growing in strength but making a last-ditch effort even while declining rapidly to its downfall."

Later on referring to the corrosive role of revisionism in literature he said

“Conventional revisionists played the role of a guide for introducing bourgeois literature invisibly under the guise of socialism, whereas modern revisionists have revealed their true colours, openly claiming bourgeois restoration and opening the door to the imperialists.

The so-called “supraclass literature” and “cosmopolitan literature” the revisionists advocate in an attempt to paralyze the social function of literature as a weapon of the class struggle is merely a smokescreen to hide their reactionary nature of betraying the interests of the working class. “

Comrade Kim Jong Il worked hard to develop and enhance the Juche idea , the guiding idea of the Korean revolution . He ensured its purity and comprehensively systematised the Juche idea in his famous work "ON THE JUCHE IDEA ". In the work he analyzed and explained the Juche idea in depth. Whilst emphasing the profound philosophical nature of the Juche idea he never lost sight of it revolutionary nature and relationship to socialist construction in Korea and the world revolutionary process ;

“The Juche idea has led the revolution and construction straight along the new road which had never been trodden by others before. The Korean revolution has paved an absolutely correct path for national liberation in a colony and opened a short cut to socialism. It has created a best socialist new life which the world’s people call a “model of socialism”, and is successfully pioneering the untrodden path to socialism and communism. Because the Juche idea illuminates the way, we have been able to advance along the shortest route and thus achieve in a brief period of time a great victory in the struggle for independence, sovereignty and socialism, a success which is amazing to the world.

The Juche idea has become a solemn reality in our country. The history-making changes and great creations worked out by our people are precious fruit of this idea. Very proud and honoured by the brilliant victory and results attained under the banner of the Juche idea, our people are now struggling for the historic cause of transforming the whole society in accordance with this idea.

Because it reflects the common aspiration of the world’s people to independence, the Juche idea is exerting a great influence on the contemporary revolutionary movements to build a new world of independence”

This work powerfully inspired the world's people in their struggle for independence and liberation.

The great leader comrade Kim Jong Il smashed the anti-socialist offensive of the imperialists, modern revisionists and renegades of socialism in the early 1990s. He militantly declared "Socialism Is a Science " and "expect no change from me". He wrote a number of powerful works which such as “Our Socialism Centred On the Popular Masses Shall Not Perish"Abuses of Socialism Are Intolerable", “ and " On Giving Priority to Ideological Work Is Essential for Accomplishing Socialism ". Under the leadership of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il the DPRK held high the red banner of socialism defying all challenges from the imperialists and others. The great leader comrade Kim Jong Il held no illusions about imperialism he said as follows

“ We are now defending socialism and conducting the revolution and construction in direct confrontation with US imperialism. We are waging what could be called a war without gunfire. We should get ready to wage a bloody struggle should the enemy attack us, and we must win the fight against the US imperialists by any means

“We must entertain no illusions about US imperialism. We must not make concessions or retreat in the confrontation with the US imperialists, but set our face against them.”

Comrade Kim Jong Il developed the Songun idea, an embodiment of the Juche idea initiated by the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung. When the US imperialists and world imperialist forces conspired to crush Korean-style socialism when the DPRK faced difficulties owing to the frustration of socialism in some countries and consecutive natural disasters the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il brilliantly administered Songun politics thus winning the war without gunshots against the US imperialists. He built the DPRK into a socialist military power of Juche with its own nuclear deterrent .

Thank you for listening.