LET US
SHATTER IMPERIALIST MOVES TOWARDS AGGRESSION
AND WAR
AND SAFEGUARD PEACE AND INDEPENDENCE
A
Speech at a Banquet in Honour of Delegates
to the World Conference of Journalists
against
Imperialism
and for Friendship and Peace
July
3, 1983
Esteemed
Delegates,
Comrades
and Friends,
The
World Conference of Journalists against
Imperialism and for Friendship and Peace which
opened amid great expectations and intense
interest from progressive journalists and
people the world over, is
working successfully thanks to the exalted
spirit of cooperation and sincere efforts of
all of you delegates.
Our
people are very happy that here in our capital
city of Pyongyang, where the Anti-US World
Journalists’ Conference was held 14 years ago,
another global meeting of progressive
journalists has convened to oppose
imperialism, safeguard peace and strengthen
friendship and solidarity among peoples.
Allow
me to welcome warmly all of you delegates who
have come from the various continents,
bringing with you the noble ideas of
anti-imperialism, friendship and peace and
warm feelings of friendship for our people.
It is
highly significant that progressive men and
women of the world’s press have gathered
together here to promote fraternity, exchange
experience and discuss their tasks and action
programme.
This
world conference of journalists will mark an
important stage in destroying imperialist manoeuvres aimed
at aggression and war, defending global peace
and security and achieving the people’s cause
of independence.
All you
journalists and people of the press from
various countries attending this World
Conference of Journalists against Imperialism
and for Friendship and Peace, are
the close friends and dependable
comrades-in-arms of our people. Progressive
people of the press throughout the world have
stood in the ranks with our people in the
fight against imperialism and for
independence, and have worked actively in
support of our people’s struggle for the
independent, peaceful reunification of our
country and the building of socialism. During
this Month of Joint Struggle against US
Imperialism, when our people are marking the
30th anniversary of the historic victory in
the Fatherland Liberation War, numerous
foreign journalist delegates and people of the
press have come to our country to condemn US
imperialism and raise the call for justice,
peace and independence. This support brings
tremendous encouragement to our people.
I would
like to express my deep gratitude to the
justice- and peace-loving progressive people
of the world press for their positive support
and encouragement for our people’s
revolutionary cause.
Comrades
and friends,
The
world situation is more complex and tense now
than ever before. Owing to the aggressive
imperialist move to provoke war peace is being
disturbed in many parts of the globe, the
danger of a new war has increased and the
sovereignty of countries and nations is being
violated.
The US
imperialists, who seek world hegemony, are
openly resorting to “power politics”; they are
increasing their armaments and reinforcing
their forces of aggression on a large scale,
while at the same time scheming to strengthen
the aggressive military bloc of NATO, deploy
new types of nuclear weapons in Europe and
expand their aggressive military bases in many
parts of the world, including the Indian
Ocean. The US
and other imperialists are intensifying their
aggressive activities intended to unleash a
new war in various areas of the world. In the
Middle East and Southern Africa the
imperialists are instigating Zionists and
South African racists to increased aggression
and intervention, and in Central
America they are perpetrating
heinous armed interventions and subversive
activities against countries which have
achieved national independence and chosen the
road to independence against imperialism.
The US
imperialists’ moves to provoke a new war are
assuming a very grave and dangerous character
in the Far East,
which includes our country. In accordance with
their aggressive Asian strategy, they are
expanding their military bases in and around south Korea
and shipping in a huge amount of nuclear
weapons and other sophisticated means of war,
while accelerating the formation of a
US-Japan-south Korea
triangular military alliance. The US
imperialists, who have stationed armed forces
of aggression numbering more than 40,000 men
in south Korea and shipped in over 1,000
nuclear weapons and many other weapons of
mass destruction, are now staging one
large-scale war exercise after another
directed against our Republic. Recently they
have even been trying to deploy neutron
weapons in south Korea,
which has provoked the unanimous protest and
denunciation of the peoples of the world. South Korea
has thus now become a most dangerous powder
keg and a US
nuclear war base. In our country an extremely
tense situation has been created which may
spark off a war at any moment.
Because
of the US-led imperialists’ activities, the
world’s people now stand at the crossroads of
war or peace, enslavement or independence.
The most urgent and solemn task now
confronting the progressive people throughout
the world is to oppose aggression and war and
safeguard peace and independence.
It is
the unanimous desire of the world’s people to
live peacefully in a world free from
aggression and war, subjugation and
oppression. Only when peace is secured can the
peoples of all countries successfully apply
their creative labour to
building a new and happy society.
Averting
war and safeguarding peace is a particularly
urgent problem for the peoples of the
newly-emerging countries. The political
independence already achieved by these peoples
is only the first step towards complete
national independence and the building of a
new society. Political independence can be
securely safeguarded and consolidated only
when it is guaranteed by economic
independence. For the newly-emerging peoples
to consolidate their national independence
and build a new and happy society, they
must eliminate the famine and poverty left
behind by the colonialists and build a sound,
independent national economy. The people need
peace, not war, in building a new society.
When a lasting world peace is guaranteed, the
newly-emerging peoples will be successful in
their struggle for the complete independence
of their countries and the building of a new
society.
World
peace can be ensured and safeguarded only
through the struggle against imperialism.
All the
peace-loving people of the world should unite
closely under the banner of independence
against imperialism and wage a resolute
struggle against the aggressive imperialist
moves aimed at war. They should direct a
particularly intense attack against the US
imperialists, that main force of aggression
and war, and heinous strangler of peace and
independence, in order to prevent the US
from recklessly invading other countries and
sparking off wars. The world’s people should
strive to check and frustrate the manoeuvres of the
US
and other imperialists to expand their stocks
of armaments and reinforce their armed forces,
and should compel them to withdraw their
aggressive military bases and armed forces
from the territory of other countries. They
should also strive to break up all military
blocs, to establish and expand nuclear-free
peace zones in many areas of the world, and
achieve general and complete disarmament.domination-ism
The
world’s people should fight vigorously for
freedom and independence, strive
to liquidate all forms of colonialism and
dominationism, achieve the ultimate and
complete liberation of the nations, and cling
fast to independence, thus making the whole
world independent. Not until the independence
of the whole world is established will the
danger of war be completely banished and a
durable peace guaranteed throughout the globe,
and only then will humanity be able to live in
happiness and contentment in a safe and
prosperous world.
The
progressive people of the press are righteous
warriors striving to oppose all social evils
and injustices and to realize the people’s
aspirations and desires. They should fight
determinedly against aggressive imperialist
moves aimed at war and in defence of
peace and independence, in order to fulfil the
lofty mission and role assigned to them by
history and the people at the present time.
In the
hands of progressive people of the press the
pen should be a mighty weapon wielded against
the imperialists, and their writings should
serve as denunciations of the enemies of
peace. Progressive people of the press the
world over should sharply expose imperialists’
activities aimed at expanding armaments and
reinforcing armed forces and should scathingly
condemn the unpardonable crimes of US
imperialists who are bent on driving mankind
into nuclear holocaust. They should expose
the aggressive nature and crafty
neocolonialist methods of imperialism,
forcefully oppose its ideological and cultural
infiltration and all manner of reactionary
propaganda and decisively repel the enemy’s
reactionary ideological offensive with a
revolutionary counteroffensive.
They
should inform the whole world of the just
struggles of the peoples fighting against
imperialism for peace and independence, they
should raise the cry of international
solidarity and make every possible effort to
render positive support and encouragement to
the embattled peoples.
Friendship
and solidarity are the common aspirations of
the peoples who are fighting for peace and
independence, and a sure guarantee of
victory. The progressive people of the world
can fully realize their desires and ideals
only when they firmly unite politically and
develop close economic and technological
cooperation by strengthening their bonds of
friendship under the banner of
anti-imperialism and independence.
Through
their activities, the progressive people of
the press should create favourable
international conditions for the unity and
cooperation of the world’s progressive
peoples and give extensive publicity to the
achievements and experiences of the people in
the anti-imperialist struggle and the
building of a new society.
The
newly-emerging peoples are now achieving great
successes in their endeavours to
build a new society and have acquired a lot of
experience and many techniques which they can
exchange as they cooperate with each other.
The progressive men of the press should give
wide publicity to the experience gained by the
people and their successes in building a new
society, and thus contribute actively to the
development of economic and technological
interchange and cooperation among the
newly-emerging nations and the establishment
of a prosperous new world.
If the
progressive men and women of the press in all
countries are to discharge their noble mission
and responsibility, they should further
increase their unity and cooperation. In line
with their lofty ideas of friendship,
solidarity and cooperation, they should visit
each other, share their experiences,
strengthen their solidarity, cooperate closely
and keep pace with each other in their
professional activities.
It has
been the consistent foreign policy of the
Government of the Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea
to fight against imperialism, safeguard peace
and independence and strengthen the ties of
friendship and solidarity with the peoples of
all countries.
As in
the past, so in the future, the Korean people
will firmly adhere to their steadfast
anti-imperialist stand and fight positively to
oppose aggressive US
imperialist activities aimed at war and to
safeguard world peace and security.
Our
people will actively support and encourage all
the peoples who are fighting for a common goal
on the anti-imperialist front. We strongly
support the peoples of all countries in Asia,
Africa and Latin America, including those in
the Middle East, Southern Africa and Central
America, who are fighting to oppose
imperialism and domination by all forces, to
attain national independence and build a new
society; we proclaim our firm solidarity with
the European peoples in their struggle to ease
tension and strengthen peace and security in
Europe.
The
struggle of the Korean people for the
country’s reunification is a major link in the
chain of the struggle to check and frustrate
aggressive US
imperialist manoeuvres aimed
at war and to safeguard world peace and
security. The withdrawal of US troops from south Korea
and the reunification of Korea is the
only way to eliminate this source of war and
maintain the peace in Korea and the
Far East and,
in addition, bolster global peace and
security.
The
main obstacle to Korea’s
independent, peaceful reunification at present
is the occupation of south Korea
by the US
imperialist army of aggression and
interference by the US
in our internal affairs. If the US
imperialists were to pull out of south Korea
and stop meddling in our affairs, the people
of north and south Korea
would join hands and reunify the country
peacefully through their own efforts. With the
active support and encouragement of the
progressive people of the world, we will drive
the US
imperialist army of aggression out of south Korea
and achieve the independent, peaceful
reunification of the country, thus realizing
our national aspiration and, at the same time,
fulfilling our important duty to the
international cause of independence against
imperialism.
The
DPRK Government and the Korean people will
strive to strengthen their unity with the
peoples of the socialist and nonaligned
countries and other progressive people of the
world and to promote friendly and cooperative
relations with all countries which are
friendly towards our country.
In firm
unity with their progressive foreign
colleagues, the Korean people of the press
will wage a resolute struggle and contribute
actively to humanity’s sacred common cause of
building a new world, free of imperialism,
colonialism, aggression and war.
The
progressive people of the press are the proud
pioneers of our times, brave public and
political figures. The progressive people of
the world press should unite firmly under the
banner of anti-imperialism, friendship and
peace and vigorously pursue their
revolutionary writing activities, so that the
voice of justice may ring out more loudly
throughout the globe.
My
hearty wishes to you delegates and the
progressive men and women of the press
throughout the world for great success in your
work, and here at this gathering overflowing
with revolutionary ardour and
friendship, allow me to propose a toast:
To the
triumph of the cause of independence against
imperialism, To the lasting peace and security
of the world, To the friendship and solidarity
of the world’s peace-lovers, To the health of
you delegates and the world’s progressive
people of the press, and:
To the
health of all comrades and friends present
here.