In a few days time on August 25 it will be the Day of Songun in People’s Korea which is a public holiday which will be celebrated by many colourful events such as mass dances .It is the day when 62 years ago the great leader generalissimo KIM JONG IL began the Songun(army-first ) revolutionary leadership by visiting the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su no 105th Tank Division of the Korean People's Army which is an army unit steeped in revolutionary history : it was the first KPA unit to enter Seoul in June 1950 during the Fatherland Liberation War and was named after the anti-Japanese guerrilla commander comrade Ryu Kyong Su .
August 25th is a day of great significance .
Before going into detail about the Songun revolutionary leadership , I feel it is necessary to clear up misconceptions about Songun . Songun simply means Army -first or military priority politics . However , this does not mean that the DPRK is a military government . The DPRK is a socialist country whereas military regimes such as in Brazil , Greece , Indonesia etc , were in capitalist countries and came about as a result of the contradictions of capitalism and the need of the capitalist ruling to suppress by force resistance to capitalist exploitation .
The Songun idea does not deny the Party’s leadership over the revolutionary armed forces .Within the Workers Party of Korea , there is the Central Military Commission elected by the Congress of the Workers Party of Korea which exercises leadership over the armed forces .As respected Marshal KIM JONG UN said “ Leadership of the Party is the lifeline of the KPA, and its might is inconceivable separated from the leadership of the Party. The general direction ahead of the KPA is one, that is, to advance straight forward with guns levelled in the very direction our Party indicates. Our arms must serve as an ever-lasting cornerstone that ensures a sure guarantee for the Party and its cause” ( Let Us Add Eternal Brilliance to Comrade Kim Jong Il's Great Idea and Achievements of the Songun Revolution" 2013) . When you see DPRK military parades you will notice the DPRK military vehicles not only carry the flag of the DPRK and the Supreme Commander’s flag but also the red flag of the Workers Party of Korea.
It is something new but is really the history of the Korean revolution which began and was advanced by force of arms not by peaceful means.In the early days of anti-Japanese armed struggle President
KIM IL SUNG said ‘Weapons are our life and soul! Oppose armed force with armed force!”―this must become our fighting slogan at present”
The Songun idea is an embodiment of the Juche and moreover guarantees the materialisation of the Juche idea in all fields of life and the independence of the DPRK .
When comrade KIM JONG IL started his Songun revolutionary leadership on the 25th of August 1960 the international situation was very tense and complex indeed . The DPRK is a state that stands in frontal confrontation with US imperialism , it was (and is ) the far eastern outpost of socialism . The US imperialists were stepping up their war provocations intensively , worse still the unity of the international communist movement was being undermined by the emergence of modern revisionism which preached unprincipled compromise and capitulation to imperialism .Later in 1962 the USSR pulled its missiles out of Cuba without consulting the Cuban leadership . This showed that so-called allies could let you down or stab you in the back. The USSR even tried to unilaterally disarm ,melting down tanks and guns and wanted the DPRK to do the same . The Democratic People's Republic of Korea which faced incessant provocations and pressure from the US imperialists could not do such a thing . Instead they followed the road of building up powerful Juche-based ,self-reliant armed forces and made the KPA the main force of the revolution.
The Songun idea is profoundly anti-imperialist and anti-revisionist as it is based on the reality that socialism is built in confrontation with imperialism not in cooperation with it .Songun rejected non class theories of the army under socialism and the de-ideologicalisation of the armed forces . Under the leadership and guidance of generalissimo KIM JONG IL and President KIM IL SUNG and later respected Marshal KIM JONG UN , the Korean People’s Army was built up as an army not only strong in weaponry but also ideology. In some socialist countries revisionist and non class theories undermined the armed forces and they were unable to defend socialism . An example of this was seen in the USSR which experienced a deep crisis due to ‘perestroika ‘ and ‘glasnost ‘ introduced by the counter-revolutionary traitor Gorbachov . When some patriotic members of the USSR leadership formed a State Commission for the State of Emergency and declared a state of emergency in the USSR , the armed forces of the USSR were unable to implement it and the State Committee for the State of Emergency was dissolved after 3 days.
The great leader generalissimo KIM JONG IL carried forward the cause of Juche-army building and Songun revolutionary leadership pioneered by the great leader President KIM IL SUNG .Generalissimo KIM JONG IL continuously gave guidance to army units from the early 1960s until the end of his physical life in 2011 . In the late 1990s he travelled over 10 000 kilometres in 1996, 12 000 kilometres in 1997 and 16 000 kilometres in 1998
During the five decades of Songun revolutionary leadership the heroic Korean People's Army was built up splendidly in all fields not just in terms of weaponry and technique but in terms of ideology and morale. The KPA became the pillar of the Songun revolution.
Under the Songun revolutionary leadership the KPA discharged its role of defender of the gains of socialism with honour. In the confrontation between the DPRK and the US -led imperialist forces after the Fatherland Liberation War, the DPRK won victory; for example in the 1968 ‘Pueblo ‘ incident , the EC121 spy plane shootdown in 1969 ,the Panmunjom incident of 1976 and the confrontations over the the nuclear issue in the 1990s and 2000s, Thanks to the Songun revolutionary leadership , the independence and security of the DPRK was safeguarded and the defence power increased.
Thanks to the Songun revolutionary leadership of the great leader President KIM IL SUNG and eternal Chairman KIM JONG IL , DPRK became a strategic state, a socialist nuclear power of Juche .
Dear respected Marshal KIM JONG UN has continued with the Songun revolutionary leadership . On the 1st of January 2012 , he visited the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su no 105th Tank Division which symbolised his determination to follow the road of Songun . Later he declared that "The permanent strategy of our revolution and its final victory lie in going straight along the road of independence, the road of Songun, the road of socialism". He has given energetic guidance to defence upbuilding and fresh achievements and victories have been scored. Thanks to Songun, peace on the Korean peninsula has been secured.
Led by respected Marshal KIM JONG UN the Korean people will win final victory over the US imperialists under the banner of the Songun -based revolutionary leadership .
Glory to the memory of the great leader comrade KIM JONG IL !
Long live Songun !
Long live People’s Korea !.
Dr Dermot Hudson
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