KIM JONG IL A GREAT PEOPLE'S LEADER WHO FOUGHT BUREAUCRACY !special article by Dr Dermot Hudson

                           

The great leader comrade KIM JONG IL devoted his whole life  to working for people and passed away on a train on his way to give on the spot guidance.
  Comrade KIM JONG IL always hated bureaucracy and fought against all his life . He always dressed simply wearing the same clothes as the ordinary Korean working people with an old parka .
He sometimes slept in his car and eat rice balls for his meal.  A man of the people , the son of the people ,KIM JONG  IL was not an armchair or desk-bound  leader but a people's leader who went into the thick of things and got down to brass tacks .
  Rain, snow or sunshine , leader KIM JONG IL gave on the spot guidance. In the period of the "Arduous March" and "forced march" which lasted from September 1994 to December 1999 comrade KIM JONG IL gave on the spot guidance 247 times covering a distance of 129,000 km .
  Comrade KIM JONG IL's opposition to bureaucracy came from deep convictions
  He wrote in the work "Our Socialism Centred on the Popular Masses Shall Not Perish " that
  "Being domineering and practicing bureaucracy are an old work method and style which allow officials to wield power by abusing their authority and to behave contrary to the will and interests of the popular masses. Putting an end to the abuse of power and bureaucracy among officials is a vital demand for strengthening the close ties of kinship between the working-class party and the popular masses."
   This was a stern warning against those officials who tried to practise bureaucracy and ignore the people's interests . Comrade KIM JONG IL made an extremely cogent analysis of the nature of bureaucracy and its origin pointing out that
  "The wielding of power and bureaucracy have nothing in common with the true nature of the working-class party. These are the method of government employed by the reactionary ruling class of the old society"
 This was a correct judgement . Bureaucracy is rooted in the capitalist exploitative society . However it continued in some socialist countries such as the USSR where it eventually caused the frustration of socialism in that country . Some capitalist countries such as the UK tried to ameliorate the effects of the capitalist system by introducing limited social democratic reforms , however these were a disaster as they created masses of bureaucracy and paper work . People had to fill in forms for everything and capitalist governments spent huge sums on bureaucracy but not on  the people.
   The great leader President KIM IL SUNG and the Workers' Party of Korea made sure that they did not go down the road of bureaucracy. The DPRK and WPK instituted the Chongsan Ri and Chongsan Ri spirit which meant that the higher unit help the lower unit and that leaders go down to grass roots.
                                 

 Comrade KIM JONG IL was always a great believer in the Chongsan Ri method.. When he was a student comrade KIM JONG IL  worked on construction sites in Pyongyang and also in a textile machinery factory . In the capitalist societies it would be inconceivable for the son of a leader of the nation to be working at a construction site or indeed for someone who had worked in  factory or at building site to become the leader of the country, in the West power is only reserved for the privileged and the plutocracy .
  From June 1964  comrade KIM JONG IL worked at the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea . He declared war on bureaucracy . Under his direction instead of preoccupying themselves with paperwork , party officials went down to local units carrying knapsacks on their backs just like
the anti-Japanese guerrillas did . Comrade KIM JONG IL saw that the administration style of work which involved giving people orders was abolished . Thus the administrative and bureaucratic work style was eliminated .
   Later on under the leadership of the great leader comrade KIM JONG IL the WPK formed the three revolution teams  ,in the 1970s  to carry out the ideological , technical and cultural revolutions.
  As comrade KIM JONG IL  wrote in the work "  THE-DEMOCRATIC-PEOPLES-REPUBLIC-OF-KOREA-IS-A-JUCHE-ORIENTATED-SOCIALIST-STATE-WITH-INVINCIBLE-MIGHT"  which was written some 3 years before he passed away   "Every line and policy of our Party and the government of our Republic reflects the opinions and demands of the masses and is successfully implemented by their voluntary zeal and struggle. In our country, promoting the people’s well-being is regarded as the supreme principle in the activities of the Party and the State, the slogan “We serve the people!” is fully incorporated in State activities, and the infringement of the people’s interests and lording it over them by the abuse of authority and bureaucratic behavior are never tolerate".
 This is indeed true . In the DPRK there are many things that have the title People's in them such as
People's Hospital , People's Army etc .
  Therefore on the anniversary of his birth , I remember the great leader comrade KIM JONG IL as a true people's leader and a determined fighter against the scourge of bureaucracy.

Dr Dermot Hudson
President Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK
Chairman Juche Idea Study Group of England
Official Delegate Korean Friendship Association
Chairman British Solidarity Committee for Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula