The life of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG inspires us in the struggle for a fairer and more just society -speech by Dr Dermot Hudson to the JISGE, UK KFA and ASSPUK Meeting on the 7th of April

In 8 days time , on April 15th ,it will be the 106th anniverary of the birth of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG . The birth of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG is celebrated by Korean people and Juche idea followers as the Day of the Sun (meaning that President KIM IL SUNG  was like a bright sun bringing hope and liberation to the Korean nation) . In the DPRK  it is an anniversary that is celebrated magnificently  with meetings , music and dance performances and much else . Ordinary Korean people often mark the occasion with a meal or a picnic or some kind of outing . I remember back in 2012 being how every Korean family had received a free pack of provisions which included  duck meat, beer and sweets.
Delegations from our organisations have participated in these celebrations in Pyongyang  , for example in April 2002 , in April 2012 when our delegation participated in the World Juche Congress  which was attended by 300 delegates including Party and government leaders and more recently in April 2017  when other 70 delegations attended the celebrations, which included the most impressive military parade on April 15th .
  Being in People’s Korea on the Day of the Sun gives you a real feeling of excitement or euphoria that is unique. The atmosphere in the DPRK is simly amazing.
 Why is the birth of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG celebrated so grandly and with such vigour not only in the country he was born in but throughout the globe ?

President KIM IL SUNG was born into a humble family ,the son of a poor peasant but he became the greatest of great leaders.  He led the anti-imperialist national liberation struggle of the Korean people against Japanese imperialism, starting out with just 2 pistols that were bequeathed to him by his late father Mr Kim Hyong Jik . Comrade KIM IL SUNG founded the Anti-Japanese People’s Guerrilla Army (later Korean People’s Revolutionary Army )  in 1932.For 15 years the anti-Japanese guerrillas battled it out with Japanese imperialism which was an ally of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy . The anti-Japanese guerrillas led by President KIM IL SUNG fought major battles against the Japanese aggressors at Pochonbo, Musan and many other places . They had to endure hunger and temperatures of -30 c or -40 centrigrade
 Finally in August 1945 Japanese imperialism bit the dust. Korea became independent , the chains of Japanese colonialism were broken . The Korean people could now speak their own language .They could walk with their heads held high .They became masters of their own destiny .

President KIM IL SUNG  authored the Juche Idea the acme of progressive ideas of humanity. He declared that  “ In a nutshell, the idea of Juche means that the masters of the revolution and the work of construction are the masses of the people and that they are also the motive force of the revolution and the work of construction. In other words, one is responsible for one's own destiny and one has also the capacity for hewing out one's own destiny. “.
In order to translate the Juche idea into reality in the revolution and con­struction, he emphasized, it is essential to adhere to the principles of Juche in ideology, independence in politics, self-sufficiency in the economy and self-reliance in national defence.
   Juche is studied throughout the world, over a 1000 groups for the study of the Juche Idea exist today and there is the International Institute of the Juche Idea which is celebrating its 40th anniversary in a few days time. As Dr Vishwanath the late director general of the Institute of the Juche Idea used to say  “Study the Juche idea it will cost you nothing but will  pay in plenty”

This year will see the 70th anniversary of the foundation  the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea by the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG Today the DPRK is known as the most independent country and  the homeland of Juche .
 He founded the Workers’ Party of Korea, the supreme general staff of the Korean revolution, the organiser and guide of the Korean people. Also he founded the Korean People’s Army the stalwart sentential of Juche-based socialism.
  The great leader President KIM IL SUNG pursued people-orientated policies right from the start . Just after liberation although Korea was short of steel , he gave ordersd that a high voltage electric furnance built by the Japanese should be blown up because it was unsafe and had claimed many innocent lives. Of couse this meant a loss of production and economic cost but President KIM IL SUNG insisted that people’s lives should come first. He declared that  “The People are My God “.
In the DPRK many things carry the word People in their title  such as the Korean People’s Army , the People’s Governments , People’s Hospitals.

Pursuing this people orientate policy President  KIM IL SUNG made sure that espite the blockade and sanctions the DPRK introduced free health care and free education.
Throughout his life President Kim Il Sung was a tireless fighter against US imperialism and also to maintain the purity of the socialist idea against those who seeked to dilute it.

 President KIM IL SUNG was a strong advocate of independence , indeed it can be said that his whole creed was independence , independence and independence , but at the same time he  was a true internationalist who sent valuable internationalist assistance to many lands of the world including Cuba, Egypt, Vietnam and many other countries. The DPRK sent agro technicians to Africa  and Agricultural Institutes bearing the name of President Kim Il Sung were established in
Guinea and Tanzania.The DPRK the maintained relations with many countries big and small.It became a member of the Non Aligned Movement.
President KIM IL SUNG was indeed a giant of the international communist movement and its elder statesman and a world statesman.He met a galaxy of figures such as Stalin. Mao , Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, Salvador Allende , Erich Honecker, Ho Chi Minh, Tito , Enver Hoxha , Sukarno and even Francois Mitterand who was later to become President of France.
. The late comrade Fidel Castro Ruz supreme leader of the Cuban revolution said of President KIM IL SUNG “one of the most eminent, outstanding, heroic leaders of socialism.”
   In  Maputo there is a street named after Kim Il Sung  and a park in Damascus .
Some may ask what it is the relevance of President KIM IL SUNG and his life to Britain today ? Well I think it can be answered thus.
  Firstly , the great Juche idea is applicable to Britain as teaches that every country and every people should be independent and masters of their own destiny.  The Juche idea is expressed in practical  terms as Juche in ideology , independence in politics  and self-reliant in defence . These are policies that a new progressive government could and should implement .Although Britain is an imperialist country still ,at the same time is deeply subordinate to US imperialism and pursues the so-called
special relationship . A new government in Britain could apply Juche by leaving NATO and kicking out US troops . This would be a basic prerequisite to achieving independence in politics. The great leader President KIM IL SUNG understood the need for capitalist countries to be independent saying that
 "Our is an era when the people demand independence.Today even the people of the capitalist countries to say nothing of the socialist countries, want to take the road of independence,and ,especially the people of the third world who were exploited and oppressed by the imperialists over a long period are advancing under the uplifted banner of independence"
  Thus President KIM IL SUNG showed the way for the people's of the capitalist countries, socialist countries and third world countries to independence. Indeed the Juche idea reflects the aspirations of the peoples of all countries for independence this is an undeniable fact.
    To establish Juche and achieve both political and economic independence the UK would need to
 break with international capitalism and imperialism by leaving the EU plus the IMF, World Bank and WTO. Recently the British people voted decisively to leave the hated European Union . Presiden KIM IL SUNG condemned the European Union in the days when it was called the Common Market
 pointing out that
 "The “European Common Market”, the “integration of the world economy” and the like, loudly advertised by the imperialist powers today, all pursue the heinous, aggressive aims of strangling the economic independence of the newly independent states and subordinating these countries to their rule"
 Ironically during the referendum campaign John Major  described the DPRK as an example  of
“undiluted independence “ which was  a backhanded compliment  to the DPRK and the Juche idea , which is the legacy  of President KIM IL SUNG
   Indeed as Britain prepares to withdraw from the European Union the teaching of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG on building an independent national economy are highly relevant to the British people. When some big power chauvinists and revisionists tried to force the DPRK to join
the former COMECON but President KIM IL SUNG opposed this and upheld the banner of self-reliance and the independent national economy saying later that "It has become more clear today that our decision to build socialism by our own efforts on the principle of self-reliance and not enter the CMEA was quite correct"
   He defined the building of an independent national economy as ; " building an independent national economy means building a diversified economy equipping it with up-to date technology and creating our solid bases of raw materials,thereby building up an all embracing economic system in which every branch is structurally interrelated so as to provide domestically most of the products of heavy and light industry and the agricultural produce needed to make the country wealthy and powerful and to improve the people's living condition"
   Instead of trying to strike free-trade deals with countries such as the US(who will only exploit and plunder the UK through so-called "free trade") and lowering wages in order to be 'competive' the UK could take on board the Juche idea , the line of self-reliance and build an independent national economy  like the DPRK  .
   The example of Juche-based socialism ,which is the fruit of the leadership and teachings of the
great leader President KIM IL SUNG  , is an inspiration to the people of Britain in their fight for socialism .The DPRK has provided people with the right to work, housing is provided at a very low cost or even totally free(one could only sigh when you contrast this to the recent headline about house prices in London going up even faster).Education is also free up to all levels which include university and post graduate study. School clothes and other things for children are either free or sold at 50% of cost price. Mothers with more than 3 children can work a 6 hour day but be paid for 8 hours. The retirement age is 60 for men and 55 for women. Free medical care was introduced in 1953 and buttressed by further legalisation in 1960 and 1980 .All treatment is including medicine is free and the state even pays travelling expenses to the sanatorium! Taxation including local autonomy tax was abolished in 1974.
Such measures have not been taken in all socialist countries nor in rich countries but have been taken in the DPRK because of the profound concern of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG for the people and the belief that the country should shoulder full responsibility for the destiny and well-being of the people. President KIM IL SUNG made sure that improvement of the peoples living standard was enshrined in the principles of both the WPK and DPRK. Juche Korea became the model of socialism for the world including Britain.
   Lastly, President KIM IL SUNG always supported the struggle of the working people of the capitalist countries including the UK for their rights and for socialism  for example in 1983 he expressed"firm solidarity with the working classes and peoples in the capitalist countries battling against oppression and exploitation by capital"
 To conclude the revolutionary activities and teachings of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG are vitally relevant to British people today . The Juche idea authored by the great leader
comrade KIM IL SUNG lights the road of independence for the British people. The life of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG inspires us in  the struggle for a  fairer and more just society !