RESPECTING THE
FORERUNNERS OF THE
REVOLUTION IS A NOBLE MORAL
OBLIGATION
OF REVOLUTIONARIES
Discourse
Published in Rodong
Sinmun,the
Organ of the Central Committee of
the Workers’
Party of Korea
December 25, 1995
Seventy
years has elapsed since the dawn of the
Korean revolution, which has advanced
under the banner of the Juche idea. In
this noble revolution several
generations have shed their precious
sweat and blood for people’s freedom,
national independence and sovereignty
and for the victory of socialism. A
large number of revolutionaries have
performed distinguished services and
made brilliant achievements.
Our
people respect the revolutionaries of
the previous generations as their
revolutionary seniors, set great store
by their spirit and achievements in the
struggle, and are carrying faithfully
forward and developing the revolutionary
cause pioneered by them. This is a noble
morality developed by our people from
generation to generation, as well as a
basic factor that ensures the steady,
triumphant development of our revolution
even in the most complex situations.
The
history of the world socialist movement
provides the serious lesson that a
revolution advances victoriously when
revolutionary forefathers are respected
and their accomplishments are preserved
and developed, and that a revolution is
abandoned and frustrated when
revolutionary predecessors are betrayed
and their accomplishments are negated.
In several countries that had built
socialism in the past, opportunists
occupying the leadership of the parties
and states defamed their revolutionary
predecessors and obliterated their
achievements. In consequence of their
traitorous acts, the reputation of
communists has been damaged, the image
of socialism clouded, and the socialist
system itself has ended in collapse.
Establishing
a correct viewpoint and attitude towards
revolutionary seniors is most important
for the development of the socialist
movement.
Only
when the red flag of the revolution
raised by the revolutionary forerunners
is carried forward down through
generations can the cause of
independence for the popular masses, the
socialist cause, emerge victorious.
1
To
respect its pioneers is the demand of
the revolution and the noble moral
obligation of revolutionaries.
Socialism
advances to consummation as the
successors carry on and develop down
through generations what their
predecessors achieved for the
revolution. Their attitude towards their
revolutionary forefathers means their
attitude towards the revolution. It is
an important matter relating to the
destiny of the revolution.
Holding
revolutionary seniors in esteem means
putting forward in every way the
revolutionaries who devoted everything
to the struggle, championing and
preserving their revolutionary ideas and
achievements and carrying forward and
developing these ideas and achievements.
The predecessors’ noble revolutionary
ideas and the results of their arduous
struggle constitute the gains of the
revolution and precious wealth for
carrying out the revolution. Only when
all succeeding generations champion,
preserve and develop their predecessors’
ideas and accomplishments can the
revolutionary cause continue to advance
to brilliant consummation. Taking a
nihilistic approach to their
predecessors’ struggle and achievements,
or denying them, amounts to retreating
from the road of revolution and
betraying it. Vilifying revolutionary
seniors and defaming their ideas and
accomplishments means disgracing the
revolution and grovelling at the foot of
the enemy of the revolution. The
working-class party must, with unbroken
consistency, unfailing loyalty to the
revolution and unshakable confidence in
this cause, carry forward and develop
the socialism pioneered and advanced by
the revolutionary predecessors. It must
pay close attention to giving prominence
to the revolutionary pioneers and to
educating the people in the ideas and
through the accomplishments of these
pioneers.
The
attitude towards revolutionary
forefathers reflects the attitude of
revolutionaries towards the revolution,
as well as their morality.
Morality
is a basic criterion for defining the
qualities of a revolutionary. A
revolutionary must hold not only
revolutionary ideals as his belief, but
also be equipped with genuine human
qualities supported by noble moral
principles. Conscience and the sense of
obligation are laudable virtues unique
to the human race; these are the source
of the spiritual force that encourages
people to conscientious and noble deeds.
Even a person with advanced ideas cannot
acquire noble human qualities, nor can
he be a true revolutionary, unless he
has a strong conscience and the sense of
moral obligation.
Even
in the old society, conscientious people
valued morality, by which they evaluated
personality and regarded immoral
behaviour as unworthy of human beings.
In an exploitative society, however,
genuine morality cannot thrive or become
dominant. Individualism, which is the
basis of the exploitative society,
cannot be compatible with true morality,
and no relations of moral obligation can
exist between the exploiting and
exploited classes. Moral hypocrisy is
the true nature of the exploiting class,
and moral corruption is an inevitable
product of the bourgeois society.
The
most ennobling human qualities belong to
the communists, who love their fellow
people and fight in the cause of
independence for the popular masses.
Love for and trust in people are the
basis of genuine human relations, the
basis of human morality. Promoting the
benefit of others rather than of oneself
and working with devotion for one’s
society and collective are an expression
of a person’s noble morality. Because
they treasure and love people and place
social and collective interests above
those of an individual, communists
struggle with devotion for the good of
their fellow people, their society and
collective, not for selfish interests or
personal fame. Communist revolutionaries
love their comrades and fellow people
with noble feelings of love for
humanity, and devotedly struggle solely
for the people, for their independence,
with revolutionary conscience and a
lofty sense of moral obligation. A man
who shuts his eyes to the people’s
interests, who is devoid of love for
them and lacks conscience, loyalty and
sympathy, cannot be a communist or a
revolutionary.
Regarding
revolutionary pioneers with respect is
an inviolable revolutionary obligation.
In spite of the difference in seniority
in the relationship between seniors and
juniors in the revolution, their
relations are the comradeship of
revolutionaries who fight in the same
cause. The relationship between parents
and children is kinship resulting mainly
from actual physical birth, whereas the
relationship among revolutionaries is
the comradeship of fighters who share
the same ideas, hardships and successes
on the road of revolution and exalt
their socio-political integrity, which
is more precious to them than their
physical lives. The kinship among
revolutionaries represents a truly
communist human relationship based on
comradely love and revolutionary
obligation. Communist revolutionaries’
outlook on morality and their moral
qualities are characterized by their
regarding it as a noble duty and honour
to love their comrades most ardently and
fulfil their revolutionary obligation to
them. That is why revolutionaries
consider it most shameful and
treacherous to betray their comrades or
to abandon conscience and loyalty in
their mutual relationship.
For
the heirs to the revolution to respect
their revolutionary predecessors--the
forerunners who dedicated their lives to
the revolution and left a great heritage
behind them—can be said to be a noble
expression of revolutionary morality.
Our revolutionary forerunners gave their
lives unhesitatingly in the fight and
made precious achievements for the
country, the people and the happiness of
the coming generations, not for the sake
of personal interest or honour; our
revolutionary forefathers shouted, “Love
the future!” in do-or-die battles, or at
the last moment of their lives on the
gallows, precisely because they loved
the coming generations. By their heroic
struggle, the revolutionary forerunners
paved the road of revolution, brought
about enormous gains for the revolution,
and ensured the flowering of an
independent and creative new life for
people. To respect their revolutionary
predecessors, who fought devotedly for
those who came after, is the next
generations’ natural revolutionary
obligation, its noble moral duty.
The
highest representative of revolutionary
elders is the leader, and loyalty to the
leader is the highest expression of the
sense of revolutionary obligation.
The
leader of the working class is the
guiding intellect and leader of the
revolution. The popular masses make
history, but they can hold the position
of true masters of their destiny as
independent makers of history and fulfil
their role as such only when they
receive the guidance of a pre-eminent
leader. The leader puts forward
scientific revolutionary ideas, strategy
and tactics, inspires the masses with
revolutionary consciousness and
organizes them, guides the revolutionary
struggle to victory, provides people
with noble socio-political integrity and
teaches them to lead honourable lives on
the road of revolution. Under his
leadership tens of thousands of
revolutionaries grow up, and people come
to struggle for the revolution. Under
his leadership the socialist cause is
pioneered and advanced victoriously.
Thanks to his noble ideas and
outstanding leadership, great
revolutionary achievements are made, and
the honour and dignity of the
revolutionary generations are exalted.
Carrying
forward the cause of independence for
the popular masses, the cause of
socialism, means none other than the
continuation of the cause of the leader.
Inheriting the ideas and achievements of
the revolutionary predecessors means
inheriting the leader’s revolutionary
ideas and the achievements made under
his leadership. Respect for
revolutionary predecessors finds typical
expression in loyalty to the leader.
Being unfailingly loyal to the great
leader through all generations is the
duty of revolutionaries and the highest
expression of the sense of revolutionary
obligation. Revolutionaries must
resolutely defend the ideas and exploits
of the leader and loyally carry forward
his revolutionary cause.
Historically,
in opposing socialism, imperialists and
renegades from the revolution have
directed their attacks on the leaders of
the working class and the
revolutionaries of the preceding
generation. This is because socialism
was pioneered and has triumphed thanks
to the guidance of the leader and the
self-sacrificing struggle of the
revolutionaries of the preceding
generations, and because the dignity of
socialism is associated with their
honour. Modern revisionists and
socialist renegades have caused
socialism to degenerate and collapse by
disgracing the leader and their
revolutionary elders and by obliterating
their exploits. The process of the
degeneration and collapse of socialism
began with the emergence of modern
revisionism, which vilified the leader
and revolutionary pioneers and distorted
and debased the revolutionary ideas of
the working class. Because of modern
revisionists, socialism began to go off
the track and crumble from within. Its
collapse was due to the policy of
“reform” and “restructuring”, pursued by
socialist renegades who denied and
obliterated every historical achievement
of socialism. Opportunists and socialist
renegades slandered the leaders of the
working class and debased the sacred
revolutionary struggle and great
revolutionary achievements of their
revolutionary predecessors. They
destroyed socialism and revived
capitalism. This is a most despicable
counterrevolutionary crime that betrayed
the revolution under the pressure of
imperialism, an immoral perfidy that
discarded loyalty to the revolution and
trampled underfoot elementary human
morals. Traitors to the revolution left
no stone unturned in slandering and
defaming their revolutionary
predecessors. Thus they created
ideological vacillation and confusion
among the people and gave the
imperialists and reactionaries the
chance to slander the communists and
socialism even more viciously.
The
traitors gained the leading positions of
the party and state through an intrigue
and tarnished the honour of their
revolutionary forerunners in an attempt
to enhance their popularity and win
support from the people. However, the
top hierarchy of the party and state
does not necessarily mean the leader, or
enjoy the support and respect of the
people. People’s confidence cannot be
earned by means of power or fraud. If
one wants to become a leader and enjoy
people's confidence and support, one
must have the personality and
qualifications that befit a leader and
fulfil the responsibility and role as
such. A leader must, above all, be the
people’s servant who loves and devotes
himself to them. Love for the people and
respect for revolutionary predecessors
are inseparable. A person who loves the
people and is loyal to them is bound to
highly respect his revolutionary
forerunners who struggled
self-sacrificingly for the people.
however, one who despises the people and
lords it over them does not hesitate to
disgrace his revolutionary elders in the
most despicable way. The renegades from
socialism attempted to vilify the
revolutionary leaders and predecessors
in a crafty way in order to enhance
their own prestige. However, they have
revealed their true colours as traitors,
as well as their inhuman qualities.
Those who have deceived their people and
betrayed the revolution will inevitably
be forsaken by the people.
True
revolutionaries who fight for the people
and for the victory of socialism must
not forget their revolutionary
forefathers; instead, they must defend
and develop their achievements. This is
the way to keep their revolutionary
honour and dignity and lead the
revolution to victory.
2
Being
loyal to morality in relation to our
revolutionary pioneers is our
revolutionary tradition and the noble
moral trait of our society.
Our
revolution, which paved an original way
for accomplishing the cause of
independence for the popular masses
under the banner of the Juche idea,
opened up a new path in the building of
communist morality. It set an example of
noble and beautiful morality at its
early stages and went on to develop it.
In our country the tradition of
communist morality was created in the
flames of the anti-Japanese revolution.
It has been carried forward and
splendidly put into effect through our
struggle to build a new society.
Today,
under our socialist system which is
centred on the popular masses, communist
morality is displayed at a high degree.
In our society the leader and his
fighters, the Party and the people, are
united in one mind, and our people love
and help each other life kinsmen,
forming a large, harmonious family. This
shows the brilliant victory of the Juche
idea in the spiritual and moral spheres
and demonstrates the superiority of our
style of socialism.
The
communist morality of our people finds
its highest expression in their
unqualified respect for and absolute
allegiance to the great leader Comrade Kim
Il Sung.
The
respected Comrade Kim Il Sung
was a great leader, acclaimed and
venerated as such by our people for the
first time in Korea’s history of 5,000
years. He was the greatest of great men,
the incarnation of all the best values
and qualifications a great man must
possess.
The
great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung
regarded the people as his god. He
dearly loved the people, firmly believed
in them, and gave his all for their
freedom and happiness, undergoing
hardships and sufferings on their behalf
throughout his life. The glorious
history of our revolution, the dignity
and honour of socialist Korea and the
happiness of our people are associated
with the respected name of the leader,
the brilliant results of his great
leadership. As a veteran of world
statesmanship, the respected Comrade Kim
Il Sung gave strength and
confidence to the world’s progressive
people in their fight for independence,
and made an imperishable contribution to
the cause of human independence.
The
respected leader Comrade Kim Il Sung
was the great teacher and benevolent
father of our people, and all our people
are his soldiers and devoted followers,
the sons and daughters of the paternal
leader. All the generations of our
country, from the first generation of
our revolution up to the present one,
have grown up and led a fruitful life
under the leader’s warm care, developing
their socio-political integrity. For
many years, our people have regarded the
respected Comrade Kim Il Sung as
a legendary hero, the sun of the nation,
a great leader and the nation’s father.
They have considered it their greatest
honour and noblest moral duty to be
single-heartedly loyal and dutiful to
him.
Our
people’s loyalty to the great leader has
been displayed even more strongly since
he passed away. People throughout the
country paid their last respects to the
fatherly leader in bitter tears and
cherished their memory of him in
unabated grief. As time goes by, our
people are yearning for him more and
more, praying for his immortality with
their purest minds. The world is moved
by the infinite loyalty and devotion to
the great leader our people have
displayed before and after his death by
believing in him and regarding him
invariably as their spiritual pillar.
What
was most important to us, gripped by the
pain of great loss after his sudden
death, was to continue to venerate him
as much as when he was alive and to
carry forward his cause with loyalty.
Our Party concentrated all its efforts
on the important work of holding the
great leader in lasting reverence and
carrying forward and developing his
revolutionary ideology and cause, and
roused the whole Party, entire army and
all the people to this end. We have
solemnly rebuilt the Kumsusan Memorial
Palace as the sacred temple of Juche,
reverently laying the respected Comrade
Kim Il Sung in state there, and
have continued to add glory to the great
name of the leader and his immortal
accomplishments. Our Party is organizing
and mobilizing its members and working
people for a vigorous struggle to ensure
an impeccable continuity of the great
leader’s ideology and leadership and
implement his teachings.
The
leadership of our Party, which
invariably and highly respects the great
leader and faithfully carries on his
ideology and cause, has convinced our
people more deeply that the great leader
Comrade Kim Il Sung will always
be with them, and motivated them to
strengthen their indomitable
revolutionary spirit and will to carry
the revolutionary cause of Juche through
to completion, true to the leader’s
teachings. With a full conviction that
as long as our Party exists the great
leader’s revolutionary cause is
ever-victorious, our people are fighting
forcefully, placing unqualified support
and trust in the Party and united firmly
behind it. Our Party is greatly proud of
having such fine people as ours, who
with unshakable outlook on the leader
and a noble sense of moral obligation,
are loyal to their leader throughout the
generations.
Our
Party and people highly respect the
revolutionaries who fought for the
revolutionary cause of Juche under the
leadership of the great leader Comrade Kim
Il Sung.
The
anti-Japanese revolutionary veterans are
the honourable first generation of our
revolution. They took up arms and
started fighting the war, shedding
blood, not for their personal interests
or fame, but solely for the day when
people would live happily on their
liberated fatherland. The anti-Japanese
revolution was unprecedentedly arduous
and beset with trials. Under the most
trying conditions, the anti-Japanese
revolutionary fighters upheld the great
leader Comrade Kim Il Sung as
the centre of their unity, the centre of
leadership, and fought by displaying
unparalleled heroism and sacrifice. As a
result they defeated the Japanese
imperialists, accomplished the historic
cause of national liberation, and made a
brilliant contribution to establishing
the glorious revolutionary traditions of
our Party. Our Party respects them as
the pioneers of our revolution and as
model revolutionaries, and sets great
store by their revolutionary spirit and
exploits. Putting forward the slogan,
“Let us produce, study and live like the
anti-Japanese guerrillas!”, our Party
encourages the entire Party membership
and working people to emulate the
revolutionary spirit and fighting
attitude of the anti-Japanese fighters
in their work and life, and add glory to
their exploits.
The
participants in the Fatherland
Liberation War are the heroic fighters
who defended the people’s fatherland by
inheriting the brilliant traditions of
the anti-Japanese revolution. In the
fierce fighting to decide the destiny of
the country, our People’s Army and
people defeated the US imperialist
invaders and defended the freedom and
independence of the country with honour.
Our Party is very proud of the immortal
achievements of our soldiers and people
during the Fatherland Liberation War,
and educates the younger generation and
other people in their mass heroism and
patriotic spirit.
The
heroes and heroines, labour innovators
and the front rankers during the great
upsurge of the Chollima Movement in the
postwar years belong to the proud
generation that brought about a high
tide of building socialism, surmounting
the obstacles in the way of our
revolution. We give prominence to these
heroes and heroines, innovators and
front-rankers in the Chollima age, as
models of self-reliance who, under the
leadership of the Party in a short
period, built our country into a
socialist state—independent,
self-sufficient and self-reliant in
defence—on the rubble of war in the
spirit of self-reliance and fortitude.
Our
Party continues to glorify the
socio-political integrity of the
revolutionary and patriotic martyrs and
heroic fighters who performed brilliant
feats in the different periods of our
revolution, thus passing their
accomplishments down through history. We
have set up the splendid revolutionary
martyrs cemetery and patriotic martyrs
cemetery in their memory, and have named
their birthplaces, schools, factories,
farms or the units of the People’s Army
where they studied or served after these
heroes. We give wide publicity to their
distinguished services.
Our
country also spares nothing to take
loving care of the children of the
revolutionary and patriotic martyrs and
heroic soldiers. We have set up schools
for the children of revolutionary
martyrs in many parts of the country,
educating them to be stalwart
revolutionaries at state expense; we
assign them to the important posts of
Party, state and army and help them work
well. Our Party and people do this
because they see it as their moral
obligation to the revolutionary martyrs.
In
our country many revolutionary and war
veterans, disabled soldiers, merited
people, renowned intellectuals and other
distinguished people in the cultural
field still continue to work for the
revolution, leading valuable and
worthwhile lives under the warmly loving
care of the Party and enjoying social
concern and respect. To love, respect
and give prominence to the
revolutionaries and merited people who
are loyal to the Party and revolution,
fatherland and people—this is the
politics of our Party and lofty spirit
of our society.
Our
Party and people also appreciate the
people renowned in our nation’s history
and keep their accomplishments alive in
the nation’s memory. We unearthed the
tomb of Tangun, the founder of Korea,
and rebuilt it majestically, and
splendidly reconstructed the tombs of
King Tongmyong, the founder of Koguryo,
a powerful ancient state, and of Wang
Kon, the founder of Koryo. The long
history of our nation has thus acquired
greater brilliance in the era of the
Workers’ Party.
The
cause of independence for the popular
masses, the cause of socialism, is a
national, and at the same time an
international, cause. The Korean
revolutionaries are genuine
internationalists; they respect the
revolutionaries, anti-imperialist
fighters, anti-fascist fighters,
progressive figures and revolutionary
people of all countries, irrespective of
their nationality, and duly appreciate
their achievements.
Our
Party and people respect Marx, Engels,
Lenin and Stalin as the leaders of the
working class and speak highly of their
distinguished services. Reflecting the
demands and aspirations of the working
class, Marx and Engels, the first
leaders of the working class, developed
socialism from a Utopian concept to a
science and started the socialist and
communist movement. Lenin inherited and
developed Marxism to meet the change in
the times and won the victory of the
October Socialist Revolution by
organizing and mobilizing the working
class. Stalin, succeeding to the cause
of Lenin, built the first young
socialist state into a world power and
defended the socialist fatherland from
the fascist invasion, leading the army
and the people. In their days Marx,
Engels, Lenin and Stalin represented the
aspirations and demands of the exploited
working masses, and the cause of
socialism was inseparably linked with
their names. The fact that imperialists
and the traitors to the revolution
viciously defame the leaders of the
working class and abuse their leadership
as “dictatorship” or “infringement on
human rights” only proves that the
leaders of the working class were
zealous champions of the people’s
interests and enjoyed their trust and
support, and that they were steadfast
communist revolutionaries who held fast
to the revolutionary principle without
compromising with the enemies of the
revolution.
Our
Party has always assessed the
ideological and theoretical achievements
of the working-class leaders in an
impartial way. It has defended the
revolutionary principles of
Marxism-Leninism from all manner of
opportunistic distortions and inherited
and developed them to meet the interests
of the revolution and the requirements
of the reality. The revolutionary idea
and theory of the working class must be
applied to meet the historical
circumstances and specific situation of
each country. The conditions and
circumstances of the revolution
ceaselessly change and develop.
Therefore, if we take a dogmatic
approach to the existing theories, we
cannot formulate the line and policies
correctly, and so cannot avoid twists
and turns in the revolution and
construction. While adhering to the
revolutionary principles of
Marxism-Leninism, our Party has
established its own guiding ideology and
theory on the basis of a correct
analysis of the historical limitations
of their doctrines, and used them as a
weapon in advancing the socialist cause.
The
great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung,
in the course of creatively applying
Marxism-Leninism to the Korean
revolution in his early days, authored
the Juche idea and blazed the trail for
the independent development of our
revolution. The Juche idea is an
original idea, which developed the
revolutionary idea of the working class
to meet the new historical circumstances
and the modern-day requirements the
historical limitations of the preceding
theories were overcome by the Juche
idea, and the revolutionary ideology and
theory of the working class developed
onto a higher stage.
The
opportunists and socialist renegades
distorted and defamed Marxism-Leninism
and disgraced its authors. Modern
revisionists emasculated the
revolutionary principles of
Marxism-Leninism to please the
imperialists and thus distorted and
corrupted the revolutionary ideology of
the working class. The socialist
renegades, claiming that the socialist
ideal itself was wrong, denied the
revolutionary idea of the working class
outright. The idea that denies the
working-class revolutionary idea cannot
be anything but bourgeois ideology. The
traitors claimed that they were carrying
out “reform” and “restructuring” for
“democracy” and “economic welfare”,
gainsaying the revolutionary idea of the
working class. However, real life has
clearly shown that their “theory” was
nothing but a reactionary theory for
destroying socialism and reviving
capitalism.
Our
people respect not only the leaders of
the working class but also the
revolutionaries and peoples of all
countries who have fought heroically for
the socialist cause. We remember the
great revolutionary struggles of the
peoples in many countries who have
rendered distinguished services in the
socialist cause. We highly appreciate
their historical achievements. Our Party
and people oppose and denounce all
manner of counterrevolutionary plots and
traitorous acts that defame and debase
the struggles and achievements of
revolutionary forerunners who
contributed to the socialist cause.
Although
the opportunists and the socialist
renegades defaced the honour of the
leaders of the working class and the
revolutionary pioneers, they can never
wipe out their names and their worthy
achievements from history. Just as
socialism is alive in people’s minds and
is opening up the path to a new victory
in spite of temporary twists and turns,
so the honour and accomplishments of the
leaders of the working class and the
revolutionary forefathers be respected
forever by the people as the socialist
movement advances.
Our
Party and people treasure friendship and
solidarity with the peoples of various
countries around the world and have
given active support and encouragement
to people who are fighting for socialism
and for the cause of anti-imperialist
independence. We have invariably been
true to the internationalist principle
and revolutionary obligation both in the
party and state relations with the
socialist countries and in our relations
with all the friendly countries and
friendly people. We invariably respect
the party and state leaders, prominent
figures in the political, public,
academic and press circles and friends
in many countries with whom the great
leader Comrade Kim Il Sung
became intimate during his foreign
activities. We remember our
revolutionary comrades-in-arms and
fraternal people who gave our people
disinterested help in the trying years
of our revolution, and also people of
all countries who support and encourage
the just cause of our people.
The
noble mental and moral qualities of the
people are inconceivable without the
correct leadership of the party and the
leader.
Socialist
society, where comradely unity and
cooperation constitute the basis of
social relations, creates the
socio-economic conditions for the
formation and development of new morals
which conform to its intrinsic nature.
However, people’s mental and moral
qualities do not automatically become
noble with the establishment of the
socialist system. Even in socialist
society, people can acquire noble mental
and moral qualities only when they are
correctly guided by the party and the
leader.
The
mental and moral qualities of the people
take after those of the leader and
follow the party’s politics. A great
leader and a great party produce a great
people.
The
respected Comrade Kim Il Sung
was a great man and the great father of
the people who was endowed with the
loftiest human love as well as with
fervent love for and trust in the
people. Our Party is genuinely a
maternal party. It leads the people and
takes care of them, pursuing the
politics of love and trust—benevolent
politics—true to the noble idea and
virtue of the great leader. The
beautiful mental and moral traits of our
people were formed and have developed
and become ennobled today under the
benevolent care of the paternal leader
and maternal Party. Thanks to the great
personality of the fatherly leader and
to the benevolent politics of the
motherly Party, our people have acquired
a high sense of moral obligation; they
love their comrades, respect their
revolutionary seniors, are loyal to the
Party and the revolution and devote
themselves for the society and the
collective. Consequently, genuinely
communist human relationships based on
comradely unity and cooperation, love
and trust, have come into bloom in our
society.
The
mental and moral traits of our people
clearly show that our socialism, which
is centred on the popular masses, is
superior to the capitalist world
politically, ideologically, mentally and
morally.
3
Establishing
the moral traits of respecting one’s
revolutionary predecessors and
developing sound relations between the
people, based on morality and loyalty,
is an important task in carrying forward
and accomplishing the socialist cause.
As
the revolution advances and society
develops, morality must also develop
steadily towards perfection. The
consummation of socialism presupposes
the perfection of people themselves, the
masters of society, and moral
consummation holds an important place in
the perfection of human qualities. The
highest stage in the development of
human morals is communist morality.
Communist morality is a collectivist
morality, based on comradely love and
revolutionary loyalty; it is the highest
morality, which conforms to man’s
intrinsic requirement. Only through the
process of eliminating the remnants of
outmoded morality still lingering in the
people’s minds in socialist society and
establishing thoroughly communist
morality can people be transformed into
people of the communist type and can
socialism be accomplished.
Defending
and carrying forward the revolutionary
traditions established by revolutionary
predecessors is a revolutionary duty and
noble moral obligation for the
successors to revolution.
The
revolutionary idea and spirit of the
revolutionary predecessors, the valuable
achievements and experience in their
struggle and their revolutionary traits
are the important contents of the
revolutionary traditions which we must
inherit and learn down through the
generations. The revolutionary
traditions are a priceless ideological
and mental wealth that provides the
continuity of revolutionary lifeblood.
Whether the socialist cause advances
victoriously through generations, or is
abandoned as one generation is replaced
by another, can be said to depend on the
attitude towards revolutionary
traditions. Rejecting revolutionary
traditions means renouncing the
revolutionary idea and spirit and giving
up the revolutionary struggle, and in
the long run, leading the revolution to
frustration. The experience and lesson
of the socialist movement show that
neglecting, denying or obliterating the
revolutionary traditions will lead a
working-class party to inevitable
degeneration and destruction, no matter
how it boasts of its long history and
rich experience in the struggle, and
that such a practice will make it
impossible for a country to defend
socialism no matter how long its history
of socialism or how strong its economic
and military power. In order to
strengthen and develop a working-class
party steadily into a revolutionary
party and carry forward and accomplish
the socialist cause successfully through
generations, it is imperative to
preserve and put into effect its
revolutionary traditions correctly in
party building and party activity and in
all fields of the revolution and
construction.
The
revolutionary traditions of our Party
are the revolutionary traditions of
Juche, established by the anti-Japanese
forerunners under the leadership of the
great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung.
The glorious revolutionary traditions of
Juche are the historical root of our
Party and the eternal cornerstone of our
revolution. Defending and carrying
forward the revolutionary traditions
established by the revolutionary
predecessors is the way to strengthen
and develop our Party forever into the
revolutionary party of a Juche type,
defend our socialism and carry forward
and accomplish the revolutionary cause
of Juche without fail. We must inherit
the lofty revolutionary idea and spirit
of the revolutionary predecessors,
staunchly adhere to the revolutionary
principle, the working-class principle,
and advance stoutly along the road of
revolution, no matter what the
circumstances or co0nditions. We must
ensure that the Party members and
working people equip themselves firmly
with the revolutionary traditions of our
Party, put them thoroughly into practice
and always live and work in a
revolutionary manner. We must see that
all the Party members and working
people, following the examples of the
revolutionary predecessors make loyalty
to the Party and the leader their
revolutionary faith and ethics and fight
devotedly for the revolutionary cause of
Juche under the leadership of the Party.
In this way we will bring lasting glory
to the revolutionary traditions of Juche
established by the anti-Japanese
revolutionary forerunners and developed
by our Party, and keep and demonstrate
the honour and dignity of the communist
revolutionaries who highly value
revolutionary principles and loyalty.
We
must intensify moral education among
Party members and other working people
to establish communist moral traits
throughout our society.
Morality
is the social standard of behaviour to
be observed voluntarily, with
conscience. Therefore, it is only when
people acquire noble moral traits with a
clear conscience in and out of work that
they become revolutionaries, genuine
communists truly loyal to the Party and
revolution, the fatherland and people,
and establish communist moral traits
throughout all of society.
We
must always educate and lead the Party
members and other working people to
observe communist moral standards in
good faith in all aspects of social
relations and social life, ranging from
loving their parents, brothers, sisters
and comrades and helping each other with
solicitude, to valuing their communities
and organizations, taking good care of
state and social property and observing
public morals voluntarily.
We
must pay special attention to educating
the younger generation, the successors
to the revolution and the masters of the
future, to be unfailingly loyal to the
Party and the revolution.
The
prosperity of the country and nation and
the destiny of socialism depend on how
we educate and train the younger
generation. The mental and moral
qualities of the younger generation
reflect the future of their country and
nation. It is a historical lesson that
even in a socialist society the younger
generation are unable to grow up into
reliable successors to the revolution,
nor can they defend socialism, unless
they are given proper education. The
youth and children are at the stage of
ideological and mental development and
they have grown up in easy circumstances
without undergoing the trials of
revolutionary struggle. Therefore, if
they are not given proper education,
they may be easily affected with unsound
ideology, morality and modes of life.
The present mental and moral state of
our youth and children is excellent.
However, we must never neglect the
education of the younger generation on
any account.
We
must teach them to be revolutionaries,
communists who follow the Party and the
leader with loyalty, are unfailingly
faithful to the fatherland and people
and equipped with noble, sound mental
and moral traits.
Giving
the younger generation a good education
is an important duty of the elder
generation. The most valuable heritage
that the revolutionary predecessors
should hand down to their successors is
their mental and moral heritage. The
elder generation should bequeath
material wealth for a rich life to their
posterity, but what is more important is
to hand over valuable mental and moral
wealth to them so that they reliably
succeed to the revolution. We must teach
the younger people clearly how the first
and second generations of our revolution
followed the Party and the leader and
how they lived and fought to overcome
the difficult revolutionary situation
during the arduous anti-Japanese
revolutionary struggle, the Fatherland
Liberation War, and in the years of
difficult postwar reconstruction and
socialist construction. In this way, we
sill ensure that all the younger people
zealously emulate the same unfailing
loyalty to the Party and the leader as
was displayed by the first and second
revolutionary generations, as well as
the latter’s devotion to the
revolutionary cause and their
indomitable fighting spirit.
It
is important to enhance the role of
youth organizations in educating the
younger people. The basic task of the
League of Socialist Working Youth is to
give the younger generation sound
education and train them into the kind
of successors to the revolution that are
politically and ideologically steadfast
and possess a noble moral character. The
LSWY organizations must step up
education in keeping with the
characteristics of young people so that
they all grow up to a new revolutionary
generation and reliable masters of the
future.
For
sound education, schools, society and
families must all join their educational
efforts. Schools at all levels, public
educational establishments and families
must all pay close attention to
education so that all young people
receive a good grounding in sound,
revolutionary living any time and
anywhere. Young people are full of
curiosity and responsive, so that
everything they see, hear and feel
exerts a great influence on their
emotions and lives. Therefore, we must
pay close attention to their education
through mass media such as arts,
literature and the press.
Moral
education in socialist society must
conform to the essential characteristics
of communist mortality and the
requirements of developing socialist
society.
First
of all, we must regard moral education
as an important part of ideological
education and conduct it in close
combination with the latter. Ideology
and morality are inseparable, and
morality is inconceivable apart from
ideology. Morality based on the
revolutionary idea of the working class
is a collectivist, communist morality;
morality based on bourgeois reactionary
ideology is an ultra-egoistic morality,
a reactionary bourgeois morality. Only
when a person’s ideology is sound can he
acquire a noble moral quality, and only
when his ideology is reinforced with his
conscience and morality can it be true
and unshakable. We must conduct
communist moral education in breadth and
depth, considering it as an important
part of education in the Juche idea. By
intensifying communist moral education
on the basis of developing in depth
education in the principles of the Juche
idea among the Party members and working
people, we must see to it that they
firmly absorb the Juche-oriented
revolutionary outlook on morality and
acquire the best mental and moral traits
of a communist revolutionary of the
Juche type.
We
must ensure that people cultivate their
communist moral qualities through life
in the revolutionary organizations and
in their revolutionary practice. People
develop their qualities as social beings
through collective life in social
communities, and life in the
revolutionary organizations is the
highest form of social collective life.
Life in a revolutionary organization is
a fine school that trains and educates
people both ideologically and morally to
acquire communist traits. An important
factor that has enabled our people to
acquire sound and revolutionary mental
and moral qualities lies in the fact
that everyone leads his life as part of
a particular political organization. We
must stimulate the activities of people
in a revolutionary organization and
establish more firmly the habit of
leading the organizational life on a
voluntary basis. We must do this to
encourage the people to enhance their
sense of collectivism, reject all manner
of liberalistic and unsound trends and
develop noble moral traits. A person’s
conscience and sense of moral obligation
are expressed and verified in practical
activities. An outmoded moral outlook
and immoral practices are mainly rooted
in obsolete customs. We must see to it
that people remain true to their
conscience and obligation in their daily
work and life and oppose an obsolete
moral outlook and conventions, thereby
setting up a new socialist way and
spirit of life.
It
is most effective to conduct moral
education by the method of educating
people through the influence of positive
examples and social campaigns. This
method is a powerful means, congenial to
the nature of socialist society. Among
our people are numerous commendable
people who unhesitatingly dedicate their
lives for their revolutionary comrades,
unobtrusively do good things for the
Party, the revolution, the society and
the collective, and live conscientiously
with a loyal and dutiful attitude
throughout their lives. They are the
incarnation of a clean conscience and
noble morality, are the models for the
people of our era. We must pay a high
tribute to the communist traits
manifested among these people, give wide
publicity to them, and launch a powerful
society-wide movement to follow their
example.
We
must fight against obsolete, reactionary
morality and any trend of life that runs
counter to communist morality and must
prevent their penetration into our
ranks.
The
work of establishing a new communist
morality is carried on in the fight
against obsolete, reactionary morals and
all sorts of immorality and depravity.
Bourgeois morality leads people to
follow the law of the jungle and
degrades them into slaves of money who
discard the most elementary human
conscience and duty for the sake of
cash. In capitalist society, where
bourgeois morality rules, every manner
of social evil is rampant, and a corrupt
and degraded mode of life prevails. The
situation is further aggravated by the
reactionary ruling circles. The
imperialists are extensively spreading
their corrupt bourgeois morality and way
of life both at home and abroad. We must
heighten our vigilance against the
ideological and cultural infiltration of
the imperialists and completely foil it.
We must also have a clear knowledge of
the reactionary nature and harmfulness
of the treacherous acts of the
opportunists who slandered the pioneers
of the revolution and abused communist
morality, and must staunchly oppose and
reject them. The more the imperialists
and the renegades from the revolution
scheme to slander the communists and
abuse communist morality, the higher we
must display our revolutionary mettle
and the noble moral traits as communist
revolutionaries.
The
history of our revolution, which has
advanced under the banner of the Juche
idea led by the great leader Comrade Kim
Il Sung, is a glorious one. It has
been embroidered with revolutionary
comradeship and noble moral fidelity and
has paved the road of victory in our
revolution on the strength of
single-hearted unity among the
revolutionary ranks. Our Party and
people will defend the glorious history
and traditions of our revolution and
develop them for ever.
