KIM IL SUNG
THE PATH OF
THE KOREAN REVOLUTION
Report to the Meeting of Leading Personnel of
the Young Communist
League and the Anti-Imperialist Youth League Held at Kalun
League and the Anti-Imperialist Youth League Held at Kalun
June 30, 1930
Comrades,
We young communists are now faced with the important task
of leading the Korean revolution along the right path to meet the prevailing
situation.
The current internal and external situation is very
complicated and tense.
Fearing the growing might of the Soviet Union and the ever-increasing revolutionary struggle of the
oppressed peoples, the imperialists are frantically manoeuvring to stamp it out.
Moreover, finding themselves in the vortex of a worldwide crisis, they are faced
with severe political and economic difficulties, and in order to overcome them
they are strengthening their aggressive and predatory policy with regard to
other countries.
The Japanese imperialists caught up in the worldwide
economic crisis at present are trying to find a way out by accelerating war
preparations to invade the Asian Continent and, at the same time, by further
intensifying the colonial repression and plunder of Korea.
In order to quench the Korean people’s anti-Japanese
spirit and crush their desire for independence once and for all, the Japanese
imperialists are covering the whole of Korea with military, gendarme, police,
intelligence networks, and are enacting various evil laws to arrest, imprison
and slaughter Koreans at will. Our fellow countrymen thrown behind prison bars
by the Japanese imperialists number tens of
thousands.
More than ever before the Japanese imperialist marauders
are intensifying economic plunder as well as political repression in
Korea.
By seizing Korea’s key industries, the Japanese imperialists are putting
a brake on the development of the national industry and are robbing our rich
resources including gold, silver, coal and iron ore without restraint. In
particular, these aggressors are making desperate efforts to ruthlessly exploit
the cheap labour in Korea. As a consequence, the Korean workers are leading a
wretched life as wage slaves, as colonial slaves.
The Japanese imperialists are exploiting the countryside
even more ruthlessly while maintaining the feudal landownership in
Korea. They not only seized vast tracts of land by force, but
shipped off as much as seven million sok of rice last
year alone, while pursuing a coercive, predatory policy to obtain grain in the
name of the “increased rice production plan”. Owing to the cruel expropriation
of the Japanese imperialists and feudal landlords, our peasants are barely
subsisting on grassroots and tree-bark.
The Korean nation is facing a question of life or death
today—it either perishes for ever under the colonial yoke of the Japanese
imperialists or rises up in a fight to survive. If it merely laments over its
ruined land and tolerates the unheard-of Japanese tyranny, our nation will fall
never to rise again, but if the whole nation rises up and fights defying death,
it will greet the dawn of liberation.
The Korean people who are at a dead end because of the
harsh colonial rule of the Japanese imperialists, are now waging a vigorous mass
struggle against them across the country.
Following the general strike of dockers in
Wonsan last year, the workers of the Pusan Textile Mill went on
strike this year, and there were solid May Day strikes by workers in
Seoul, Pyongyang, Taegu, Inchon, Hungnam, Chongjin and all other parts of the country. More recently the
workers of the Sinhung Coal Mine came out on strike in
force.
Together with the struggle of the workers, the struggle
of the peasants is growing in intensity. Last year alone there were scores of
tenant disputes and the peasants fought against the Japanese imperialists and
pro-Japanese landlords in various places.
The students in Kwangju and youth and students throughout the country are also
fighting resolutely against the Japanese imperialists’ policy of colonial slave
education, their policy of obliterating national culture and their policy of
obscuration and assimilation.
As mentioned above, the mass struggles of workers,
peasants and youth and students against the Japanese imperialists and their
lackeys take the form of uprisings everywhere. But they meet one setback after
another in the face of the brutal armed repression of the Japanese imperialists,
due to the lack of leadership based on the correct line and
policy.
After the Korean Communist Party was dissolved in 1928,
most of the factionalists—the self-styled “leaders” of the Korean
revolution—gave up the revolutionary movement and turned philistines for their
own comfort. On the other hand, some factionalists prompted by political
ambitions and a desire for higher positions drove the people into a reckless
uprising only to shed blood in vain. A typical example is the recent May 30
Uprising in east Manchuria. Without correctly analysing and assessing the
revolutionary situation, the factionalists forced the peasants to join the
reckless uprising. And so the barehanded rebels were brutally mown down by the
bayonets of the Japanese imperialist army and police and the reactionary
warlords, with the result that the revolutionary forces suffered tremendous
losses and the revolution faced overwhelming difficulties. The uprising exposed
and destroyed many revolutionary organizations, the revolutionary spirit of the
anti-Japanese masses was lowered, and we had to experience bitter trials in our
revolutionary struggle. All this was due to the lack of correct leadership in
our revolution.
Comrades.
The situation thus created urgently demands that our
revolution be led along the road to victory on the basis of a correct
revolutionary line, strategy and tactics.
We are young communists who have set out on the road of
sacred struggle with a single purpose in mind to save the country and people, so
we should solve this pressing demand of the times.
In order to lead the Korean revolution to certain
victory, we must learn serious lessons from the stern reality that our people’s
mass struggle against the Japanese fails time after time and our revolution
undergoes ordeals.
Those who professed themselves to “guide” our people’s
anti-Japanese national-liberation movement were divorced from the masses; they
gathered together a few high-ranking officials solely to indulge in empty talk
and quarrel, instead of mobilizing the masses of people for the revolutionary
movement.
It is true that large numbers of people have taken part
so far in various anti-Japanese movements. But they were scattered and
unorganized.
The masters of the revolutionary struggle are the masses
of people, and only when they are organized and mobilized can they win the
revolutionary struggle. Therefore, the leaders of the movement must go among the
masses and awaken them so that they themselves wage the revolutionary struggle
as masters. But the self-styled leaders of the communist movement merely
indulged in a war of words harmful to the revolution, and gave no thought to
awakening the masses and mobilizing them for the revolutionary struggle. Without
organizing the masses for revolutionary struggle, is it possible to achieve the
sacred cause of liberating the country from the vicious Japanese imperialist
colonial yoke?
The so-called “leaders” of our people’s anti-Japanese
national-liberation movement not only failed to mobilize the masses for
revolutionary struggle but, being infected with flunkeyism towards great powers,
brought serious harm to our revolution.
Since our aim is to carry through none other than the
Korean revolution, we should solve all problems arising in the course of that
revolution by our own efforts, proceeding from the specific conditions in our
country.
But the factionalists who have infiltrated into the ranks
of the communist movement are so imbued with flunkeyism that they have solved
none of the problems facing our revolution but, rather, put obstacles in its
way.
Let us see how the factionalists acted in connection with
the problem of party building in our country. This problem concerns the correct
fulfilment of the Korean revolution, so Korean communists have to solve it by
themselves to suit their actual conditions. We need not get someone else’s
approval to our revolutionary movement. Whether anyone approves or not, we will
succeed if we conduct our revolution properly. Nevertheless, the M-L group, the
Tuesday group, the North Wind Association group and other factions, each
insisting that it is the only “orthodox” and genuine “Marxist” group, approached
the Comintern for approval, instead of building up the Party. Thus the Korean
Communist Party did not set down roots among the masses deeply enough to
overcome Japanese imperialist oppression and, in the long run, was expelled from
the Comintern.
After the Korean Communist Party was dissolved, the
factionalists put up the signboard of “Party reconstruction’” and were engrossed
solely in expanding their own factions and in the scramble for leadership. Then
each of them without any foundation fabricated the “Party centre” and again
tried to get approval from the Comintern. This clearly shows how completely
saturated the factionalists were with flunkeyism.
The losses flunkeyism inflicted on our revolution were
indeed serious. As already mentioned above, the May 30 Uprising was merely the
brain child of the factionalists to satisfy their political ambitions, and from
beginning to end took an ultra-”Left” direction under the instigation of the
“Left” adventurists. This put up big obstacles in the path of our
revolution.
Experience shows that in order to lead the revolution to
victory, one must go among the masses of people and organize them, and solve all
problems arising in the course of the revolution independently on one’s own
responsibility in accord with the actual conditions, instead of relying on
others.
Drawing on this lesson we regard it as most important to
take the firm standpoint that the masters of the Korean revolution are the
Korean people and that the Korean revolution should by all means be carried out
by the Korean people themselves in a way suited to the actual conditions of
their country.
Only when we adopt this standpoint towards the revolution
can we map out a correct line and policy and achieve the sacred cause of
national liberation.
In order to guide the Korean revolution correctly, we
must know clearly what the character and tasks of the Korean revolution are at
present.
How, then, can we define the character of the Korean
revolution at the present stage? This question should likewise be solved on the
basis of our specific situation.
Korea today is a colonial semi-feudal society occupied by the
Japanese imperialists, a society where the normal development of capitalism is
retarded and feudal relations are predominant. The Korean people are not only
subjected to all sorts of national contempt, exploitation and oppression as
Japanese colonial slaves but also suffer untold hardships in the shackles of
feudal relations maintained by the power of the Japanese
imperialists.
Unless we overthrow the foreign aggressors, the Japanese
imperialists, we can neither free our nation from the yoke of colonial slavery
nor abolish feudal relations. For this reason our people’s first and foremost
task is to fight against the Japanese imperialists. The problem of launching an
anti-Japanese struggle was already advanced by us as the immediate task when
forming the Down-with-Imperialism Union.
While combatting the Japanese imperialists, we must
struggle to abolish feudal relations. Only then can we free the peasants from
the chains of feudalism and succeed in undermining the foundation of Japanese
imperialist colonial rule.
Our people’s urgent demand is to carry out the tasks of
the anti-imperialist revolution and of the anti-feudal revolution, the former
being to fight against the Japanese imperialists and the latter against their
accomplices, the feudal landlords. These two revolutionary tasks are closely
connected with each other. The main task of the Korean revolution, therefore, is
to overthrow the Japanese imperialists and win independence for
Korea and, at the same time, to liquidate feudal relations and
introduce democracy.
In view of the main task of the Korean revolution, its
character at the present stage is anti-imperialist, anti-feudal
democratic.
Broad sections of the anti-imperialist forces such as
workers, peasants, youth and students, intellectuals, petty bourgeoisie,
conscientious non-comprador capitalists and religious communities can
participate in this revolution. By mobilizing all the anti-Japanese patriotic
forces, we must strike down the Japanese imperialists and their
accomplices—landlords, capitalists, pro-Japanese and traitors to the nation—and
win national liberation and independence.
After defeating the Japanese imperialists, we must
establish a government that will protect the interests of the workers, peasants
and other broad masses of people. Only when we set up a people’s government, can
we liquidate completely the remnant forces of imperialism and all the other
reactionary forces, and successfully carry out the tasks of the anti-feudal
democratic revolution.
We must not mark time after carrying out the
anti-imperialist, anti-feudal democratic revolution, but press on with the
revolution to build a socialist and communist society and, further, carry
through world revolution, too. To complete the Korean revolution in a
responsible manner is tantamount to being faithful to world revolution and to
accelerating it.
In order to guarantee success in the Korean revolution,
we must, first of all, organize and wage an armed struggle against the Japanese
imperialists.
As the historical experience and lessons of the
anti-Japanese struggle show, no one can bring us independence on a tray; we can
never vanquish the Japanese imperialists and win national independence by
peaceful means.
Moreover, the present situation urgently demands that we
wage an organized armed struggle against the Japanese imperialists. Since the
Japanese imperialists are intensifying their suppression without precedent and
we are dealing with an enemy armed to the teeth, we must gradually build up the
violent mass struggle into an organized armed
struggle.
In colonies an armed struggle against imperialism is the
law of the development of the national-liberation movement. Owing to its
intrinsic aggressive and predatory nature, imperialism will never withdraw from
the colonies of its own accord, and will always resort to brutal violence to
maintain its colonial rule. So the imperialist forces of aggression must be
smashed by revolutionary armed forces.
We must overthrow the Japanese imperialist aggressors and
achieve national liberation and independence by our own efforts. Therefore, we
must rapidly build up our strength by making good preparations for organizing
and waging an anti-Japanese armed struggle.
To prepare ourselves well for an armed struggle, we must
first organize a Korean Revolutionary Army.
We must form the Korean Revolutionary Army, a
revolutionary armed organization, out of young communists educated and trained
in revolutionary organizations
including the Young Communist League and the
Anti-Imperialist Youth League. We must thus accumulate the necessary all-round
experience for armed struggle.
In order to make the Korean revolution a success, we must
also arouse and unite all the anti-Japanese patriotic forces and marshal them
for the sacred struggle against the Japanese.
In essence, revolution is a struggle to liberate the
masses of people, so it cannot triumph without the participation of the broad
masses. Moreover, since we intend to defeat the Japanese imperialists and free
the whole nation by relying on the efforts of the Koreans themselves, we must
unite as one all the forces opposed to the Japanese
imperialists.
That is why we must rally under the anti-Japanese banner
all the forces with anti-Japanese tendencies, including men of religion and
conscientious non-comprador capitalists, to say nothing of the workers and
peasants.
Next, in order to guarantee success in the Korean
revolution, we must step up the work of founding a
party.
For the Korean revolution to be victorious there must be
a Marxist-Leninist party, the General Staff of the revolution. Only a
revolutionary party can formulate a correct line, strategy and tactics, mobilize
the broad masses for a struggle against the Japanese imperialists, and build a
socialist and communist society.
We must derive serious lessons from the dissolution of
the Korean Communist Party and make an effort to found a party on a sound basis.
To do this, we must not try to proclaim the founding of a party right away
without any preparation or to gain the approval of the Comintern, as the
factionalists did. We cannot by any means build a revolutionary party in the way
the factionalists do; even if we formed a party it could not discharge its
mission properly nor could it continue to exist in the face of a
counter-revolutionary offensive.
We must not fail to found a new revolutionary party for
ourselves. We must make ample preparations for the purpose. If thorough
preparations are made, the approval of the Comintern is a foregone
conclusion.
In going ahead with the formation of a party, we must,
for a start, set up basic party organizations. This is of great significance not
only in making general preparations for party building more substantial, but in
striking deep roots among the broad masses as soon as the party comes into
existence. We must form the party not by proclaiming the party center first but
by setting up fully prepared basic party organizations and steadily expanding
them.
We must closely link preparations for forming a party
with the struggle against the Japanese imperialists. Only when we combine
preparations for party founding with revolutionary practice, can we rear fine
communists tried and tempered in struggle and carry out the Korean revolution
successfully.
Comrades,
Whether we lead the Korean revolution to victory along
the right path or not depends on how we implement the revolutionary tasks before
us.
Since we are having to deal with difficult revolutionary
tasks never tackled by anyone before, we must be ready to encounter numerous
obstacles and hardships and, whenever they stand in the way, we will have to
surmount them for ourselves as the masters of the Korean
revolution.
Let us all fight stubbornly to hew the path of the Korean
revolution.