In today ‘s world many socialist projects are encountering severe difficulties and challenges , some are faltering . However , in one socialist country tall buildings rise one after the other and new factories go into commission , that country is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea -DPRK for short or People’s Korea or Juche Korea . As it will soon be the 114th anniversary of the birth of the founder of Juche Korea , President KIM IL SUNG ,on the 15th of April it is fitting and appropriate that we hold this meeting on the theme of President KIM IL SUNG and the characteristic of Korean style socialism and its success , as it is a good way of combining two subjects . Of course President KIM IL SUNG’s whole life was intimately bound up with the construction of socialism in the DPRK , a socialism of Korean style based on the Juche idea which President KIM IL SUNG himself had authored in the fiery days of the anti-Japanese armed struggle. The foundations of today’s rapid advance in People’s Korea were laid down by the great leader President KIM IL SUNG .
To me, Korean style socialism has four basic characteristics which have contributed to its success ; firstly it is socialism of a Korean style and not a copy or imitation of a foreign country ,secondly , it is independent and self-reliant , thirdly , it is people-centred and fourthly , the DPRK has upheld socialist principles . All this principles are linked to each other .
To start with the first point The DPRK was not a creation of another country or copy of another country but based on independence and it developed its own ideology, the Juche idea . The DPRK is the fruit of the anti-Japanese armed struggle by the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army led by the great leader President KIM IL SUNG , in fact you can say that the DPRK is actually a continuation of the anti-Japanese armed struggle.The anti-Japanese guerillas fought in the spirit of self-reliance for 15 long years before the USSR joined the war against Japan on the 9th of August 1945 . China itself was still under the rule of the reactionary KMT and the People’s Republic of China did not come into being until 1949.
President KIM IL SUNG declared that the new People’s Korea would follow its own road and not be a copy of another country . Some factionalists and sycophants of big powers wanted to either copy the Soviet model or even build American style bourgeois democracy in the liberated Korea ! President KIM IL SUNG said “ The Korean revolution at the present stage is an anti-imperialist, anti-feudal democratic revolution. We must follow the road of progressive democracy which suits the Korean situation—neither Soviet
democracy nor American ‘democracy’. The road of progressive democracy, this is the very line, the right road, for the Korean revolution at present”
In September 1948 a new state was founded in Korea , the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea . The very name Democratic People’s Republic was unique , it reflected the independent and popular nature . Some factionalists tried omit either democratic or people’s from the name of the state but President KIM IL SUNG insisted on the title of Democratic People’s Republic .
The DPRK pursued original lines on collectivisation and socialist transformation of trade and industry . It also put forward the line of building an independent national economy. As early as 1947 President KIM IL SUNG said “ “For complete national independence and sovereignty and for national prosperity and development, one must build an independent national economy and thus firmly ensure economic independence.”
This leads on to the second feature of the characteristics of Korean style socialism which underpin its success namely that the DPRK is independent and self-reliant .This is linked to the first principle and is a concrete expression of the Juche Idea which teaches us that the popular masses are the masters of the revolution and construction and the principles of independence , self-sufficiency and self-defence should be applied in the building of the state.
The DPRK under the leadership of President KIM IL SUNG did not join the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA or COMECON) or the Warsaw Pact .
Once the Soviets told the DPRK they could supply the DPRK with electricity but President KIM IL SUNG told them that “We will not use electricity generated by the power station; if we become dependent on electricity from you and then you fail to supply it, then we would suffer greatly; if we have funds for transmission cables from the power station to our country, it would be more effective for us to use these funds to build another hydroelectric power station in our country.”
Adding 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"
In the early 1960s President KIM IL SUNG declared that “It is not true that we cannot live without aid. We can not only live as well as we wish even without aid, but also build socialism splendidly, and must certainly do so” and also pointed out that it was an “absurd argument of the modern revisionists who claim that socialism cannot be built without outside assistance”
The DPRK put self-reliance into effect in many fields. It achieved self-sufficiency in grain in the early 1960s. The DPRK produced its own "Juche Fibre " Vinalon which was invented by a south Korean scientist Dr Ri . Vinalon is fibre produced from limestone abundant in the DPRK which means that the DPRK does not need to import cotton.
The DPRK also found ways of producing iron without coking coal .During the period of socialist industrialisation , industrial output value grew by an astonishing 19. 1 per cent per annum. Under the leadership of the great leader President KIM IL SUNG the Korean people built a powerful independent national economy that can turn out all sorts of products from energy drinks to Intercontinental ballistic missiles . Today the independent national economy of the DPRK , the legacy bequeathed by President KIM IL SUNG can build its own atomic weapons and launch its own satellites made with domestic technology and resources as well as providing housing,education and healthcare for its people.
Just to briefly focus on the contemporary period. In the spring and early summer of 2022 when a health emergency arose., the DPRK dealt with the situation by its own resources, rejecting the ‘aid ‘ of the US , UN and south Korea. At present the DPRK continues to reject the so-called ‘aid of imperialism .It is able to do so because President KIM IL SUNG and his successor Chairman KIM JONG IL built a strong , invincible and durable socialism.
Korean style socialism is people centred socialism . President KIM IL SUNG said that “I wrote ‘The people are my God’ in my reminiscences and this means that I regard them as Heaven. That ‘The people are my God’ is my constant view and philosophy. Throughout my life, since I embarked on the road of revolution up to now, I have considered the people as Heaven, served them and made the revolution drawing on their strength.”
Just after liberation when new People’s Korea desperately needed steel but when President KIM IL SUNG visited the then Songjin Steel Plant in September 1947 he learned that the electric arc furnace built by the Japanese was unsafe and had caused heavy loss of life , so he gave instructions for it to be blown up even though this resulted in a big economic loss . Similarly when officials wanted build a gold mine on the famed and scenic Mt Myohyang he forbid them from doing so .
Under the leadership of President KIM IL SUNG people-oriented policies were implemented . The DPRK has provided people with the right to work, housing is provided at a very low cost or even totally free. 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.
Lastly , the success of Juche-based , Korean style socialism , is due to the fact that socialist principles have been consistently upheld . The DPRK was among the first countries to oppose modern revisionism which appeared in the socialist camp in the late 1950s.In the early 60s, Comrade KIM IL SUNG made the struggle of the WPK against modern revisionism a major priority in the Party. He attacked modern revisionism at the 4th Congress. At the March 8 1962 3rd plenary meeting of the CC, Comrade KIM IL SUNG defined the strengthening of the struggle against revisionism as a key task in Party work.
In the 1980s an abnormal situation arose in the socialist countries as the Soviet Union under Gorbachov adopted "perestroika " and "glasnost " and many socialist countries went in for reform' and 'restructuring'. This caused confusion, distress and disillusionment amongst communists. Comrade KIM IL SUNG, was one of the first leaders in the socialist world to see through it and attack it. In December 1986, speaking to the Supreme People's Assembly, he stressed:
"The people's government must guard against the poisonous ideas of capitalism and revisionism and resolutely fight against all attempts to infringe upon the socialist system".
In July 1989 President KIM IL SUNG pointed out that “there is no need for us to follow reforms or restructuring in other countries .We have nothing to reform or restructure “ and he warned that “Careless opening may allow mosquitoes and blowflies to fly in and cause damage. We must conduct exchanges and joint ventures with other countries, but we must pitch mosquito nets to prevent those insects from infiltrating”.
When socialism was frustrated in the USSR-it did not collapse - the DPRK upheld the banner of socialism and rejected any attempt to undermine socialism.
To conclude the success of Korean style socialism that was founded by President KIM IL SUNG ,can be attributed to the four characteristics that I have outlined above . Let ‘s us salute the 114th anniversary of the birth of President KIM IL SUNG and increase solidarity with People’s Korea the bastion of socialism.
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