Monday 14 December 2020

A great leader who held high the Red flag of the Revolution -special article by Dr Dermot Hudson

                                              


 The great leader comrade KIM JONG IL who suddenly passed away on the 17th of December 2011 was an iron-willed leader who always upheld the red flag of revolution despite all the vicious challenges of the imperialists, reactionaries , revisionists and big power chauvinists.

 Comrade KIM JONG IL early on staked out his colours as the true successor to the revolutionary cause of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG . Whilst studying at KIM IL SUNG University , comrade KIM JONG IL pledged to add glory to Korea and to 'bring about the era of communism' in which '' in which ' the red glow of Juche will cover the earth.' This fiery and militant determination pervaded comrade KIM JONG IL's life . In his early days he wrote works blasting modern revisionism which had made its appearance in the international communist movement  in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

  At the end of 1978  comrade KIM JONG IL put forward the great revolutionary slogan ' Lets Us Live Our Own Way '! . This was a critical time when the US-led imperialists had stepped up their anti-socialist moves under the label of 'human rights ' , at the same time revisionism was causing problems within some socialist countries and some big powers were putting pressure on other countries to follow their line . At the time a certain neighbouring country to the DPRK which had been regarded by some in the West as the ultimate model of revolutionary communism suddenly announced it would open up to imperialism causing shock and confusion as well as disillusion . Comrade KIM JONG IL  said that  "It is only when one displays a great revolutionary spirit of self-reliance that one can have faith in one's own strength, exploit the internal resources of one's country to the maximum and conduct the revolution and construction with success. Experience shows that only when one gives full play to the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance can one surmount every manner of difficulty and ordeal.

Even though the anti-Japanese guerrillas received no assistance from a regular army or from a state in the past, they, by displaying to a high degree the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance, overcame manifold difficulties and hardships, defeated the brandish Japanese imperialists and accomplished the noble cause of national liberation. In the period after the Korean War our party members and working people rehabilitated the devastated economy by our efforts and transformed our country into a powerful socialist industrial state in a short span of time.

The situation we are in today demands that we display to a high degree the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance. At present no country is willing to help another nor is any country in a position to help another, even should she want to"

The  slogan ' Let Us Live Our Own Way  ! was a militant declaration by comrade KIM JONG IL that the DPRK would reject outside pressure and interference from whatever quarter and forge ahead along the path of true socialism , Juche socialism and self-reliance .

Nearly one and a half decades later the DPRK faced incredible and unforeseen challenges when the socialist camp disappeared due to the treachery of the Soviet modern revisionists who caused the frustration of socialism in a number of countries . The imperialists were elated and some of the worst reactionaries crawled out of the woodwork to proclaim , the end of socialism  even the end of history . Comrade KIM JONG IL and comrade KIM IL SUNG made sure that the DPRK held high the red flag of socialism . He authored many works explaining the reasons why socialism was frustrated in some countries and spelled out the superiority of socialism . It was comrade KIM JONG IL who was the driving force behind the Pyongyang Declaration  ' Let Us Defend and Advance  the cause of socialism ' which was initiated in April 1992 and was signed by a large number of communist , workers , revolutionary and progressive parties .

  In the 1994 the Korean people suffered their greatest misfortune , the sudden demise of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG .  The imperialists and capitalists hovered like greedy vultures around People's Korea hoping either for the collapse of the DPRK or  the adoption of 'reform' and 'opening up 'which would mean the end of Juche socialism . However comrade KIM JONG IL  firmly declared ' Expect No Change from Me' . These words were sharp enough to pierce the hearts of the greedy imperialists who had hoped to see the end of Juche socialism . It was a rallying call to the Korean people and to the revolutionary peoples of the world . At the same time comrade KIM JONG IL had the song ' Lets Hold the Red Flag "  , a most powerful song reverberating throughout Korea and the world .

  At the time the DPRK faced untold difficulties such as blockade of the imperialists , the disappearance of the world socialist market and repeated natural disasters which affected grain production . The imperialists secretly sent their emissaries to the DPRK to promise huge amounts of aid if the DPRK abandoned socialism and restored capitalism but comrade KIM JONG IL put self-reliance as the answer to the difficulties faced by the Korean people saying that "We should build a great ,prosperous and powerful country under the banner of self-reliance ....We must never be captivated by the "restructuring " and "openness " advertised by the imperialists. "Restructuring " and "openness " are the way to national ruin ". We must not tolerate them to the slightest degree "

At the same time comrade KIM JONG IL pushed with Songun (army first ) politics to defend People's Korea from the aggression and intervention of the US-led imperialists  . Songun politics meant that the fluttering red flag of Juche Korea was defended by the force of arms .

We remember and pay tribute to comrade KIM JONG IL , a revolutionary leader who maintained his principles to the very end .


Dr Dermot Hudson

Chairman British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea 

Chairman UK KFA

President Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK

Chairman British Solidarity Committee for Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula .

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