LET US CARRY OUT THE GREAT LEADER COMRADE KIM IL SUNG'S INSTRUCTIONS FOR NATIONAL REUNIFICATION

KIM JONG IL

LET US CARRY OUT THE GREAT LEADER COMRADE KIM IL SUNG'S

INSTRUCTIONS FOR NATIONAL REUNIFICATION

August 4, 1997

 

Our people will soon greet the 52nd anniversary of the liberation of our country, the historic event of the beginning of a new life the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung brought to our nation. On this occasion our people look back with warm hearts upon the tireless efforts and the great achievements the respected leader made for the reunification of our country for half a century ever since the day of national liberation. 

The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung strongly desired and worked hard all his life for the reunification of our country. He was unhappy more about the national sufferings caused by national division than about anything else, and took all the pains and put his heart and soul into the cause for national reunification till the last moment of his life in order to hand down a reunified country to posterity. 

To reunify the country in accordance with the noble idea of respected Comrade Kim Il Sung is the revolutionary duty and moral obligation of our party and our people. It is a sacred national task devolving upon our generation. No matter what kind of difficulties and obstacles may stand in the way of national reunification, we must carry out the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung's instructions for national reunification and fulfil the responsibility and duty our generation has assumed before the country and nation. 

1

The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung is the sun of our nation and the lodestar of national reunification. He devoted all his life to the country and nation and made imperishable achievements in the cause of national reunification. By his preeminent ideas and leadership he pioneered the cause of national reunification, guided it victoriously, laid solid foundations to realize it, and opened the bright prospects for the reunification of the country. 

The question of national reunification arose as a result of the division of the country by foreign forces at the end of the Second World War. The history of half a century since the division of the country into north and south is a history of an acute struggle between the two conflicting lines of reunification and division, patriotism and treachery, and a history of the victory of patriotic forces that aspire after national reunification. 

Ever since the division of the country, the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung regarded national reunification as the supreme task of our nation, consistently maintained the line of one Korea, the line of reunification, wisely led the struggle to reunify the country and strengthened and developed the reunification movement into a nationwide movement. 

The line of national reunification proposed and invariably maintained by the great leader is a line of thorough national independence for the complete sovereignty and independence of the country and nation and a truly patriotic line for the development of the country to be reunified and for national prosperity. 

The question of the reunification of our country is a question of putting an end to the foreign domination and intervention of south Korea, establishing national sovereignty throughout the country, linking again the blood ties of the divided nation, and realizing unity as one nation. If our nation, which has lived as a homogeneous nation in the same land for thousands of years, remains divided by foreign forces, it will be impossible to avoid national misfortune and calamities and free itself from foreign domination and subjugation. 

Reunification is the only correct way to establish the complete sovereignty of the country and nation, brighten the nation's dignity and honor, and achieve the prosperity of the country and nation. The line of reunification enjoys unreserved support from all the Korean people because it reflects the fundamental interests and demand and unanimous wish and aspiration of our nation. 

In the complex and difficult situation in which the U.S. imperialists' occupation of south Korea and the maneuvers of divisive forces at home and abroad against reunification were continuing, respected Comrade Kim Il Sung maintained the line of reunification firmly and consistently and led the reunification movement on his initiative. 

While strengthening the northern half of Korea into a bulwark for national reunification, the great leader ensured that the people in the northern half gave active support and encouragement to the south Korean people in their patriotic struggle for independence, democracy and national reunification without forgetting them even for a moment. 

He thwarted the challenge and the maneuvers of the divisive forces at home and abroad against reunification at every step and developed the reunification movement steadily. It was our leader who developed the nationwide struggle to frustrate the maneuvers of the flunkeyist and treacherous forces to keep the country divided by convening the historic joint conference of the representatives of political parties and public organizations from north and south Korea in the grim days when "separate elections and a separate government" were being cooked up in the name of the UN in south Korea immediately after liberation; it was our leader who roused all the Korean people to the struggle to check and thwart the maneuvers of the divisive elements for "two Koreas" at a time when a sharp antagonism and struggle were going on between two lines, one for one Korea and the other for "two Koreas", in our country; it was also our leader who opened the way to dialogue and negotiations between the north and south which were in a frozen state, ensured success in adopting the north-south joint statement and agreements and opened a new phase in the movement to reunify the country. 

The great leader, who had immeasurably noble love for the country and nation, passed not a day without being concerned over the question of national reunification, nor did he take a single day's rest in peace. Comrade Kim Il Sung worked energetically to strengthen international support for and solidarity with the movement for national reunification. 

Thanks to his strenuous external activities, the validity of our party's line of national reunification was widely known to political, public and press circles in various countries, international concern for the question of Korea's reunification increased, and the world progressive people's support for and solidarity with the movement for our country's reunification grew stronger. Thanks to the great meritorious service rendered by the respected leader Comrade Kim Il Sung who adhered to the line of national reunification and devoted all his efforts to the reunification of the country, the reunification movement continued to develop, sweeping away the obstructive moves of the divisive forces, and became an indestructible force. The ardent desire of the nation for the reunification of the country is growing higher with each passing day, and all the Koreans in the north, south and abroad have turned out for the movement to reunify the country. The development of the reunification movement into a powerful nationwide movement as we see today and its advance in the midst of worldwide interest and support and encouragement from the progressive people prove a brilliant victory of the line of reunification over the line of division. 

The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung set forth the three charters for national reunification which clarified the fundamental principles and methods of national reunification, and provided the guideline that must be maintained in accomplishing the cause of national reunification. 

The three principles of independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity are the cornerstones for national reunification which manifested the fundamental standpoint and fundamental way of solving the problem of national reunification by the efforts of the nation and in keeping with its will and interests. 

The three principles of national reunification are the great common program of the nation which the north and south confirmed in their July 4 Joint Statement and proclaimed solemnly to the public at home and abroad.

The ten-point program of the great unity of the whole nation for the reunification of the country is a political program to strengthen the motive force of national reunification by achieving the unity of the entire nation. This program clearly shows the objective and the ideological basis of great national unity and its principles and methods in an all-round way. 

The plan of establishing the Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo is a blueprint that shows the full picture of the state to be reunified and the method of its realization. It indicates the basic method of reunifying the country most reasonably and smoothly on the basis of tolerating the ideas and systems of the north and the south. The three principles of national reunification, the ten-point program of the great unity of the whole nation and the plan of establishing the DFRK constitute the three charters for national reunification by which Comrade Kim Il Sung elaborated the basic principles and methods of national reunification into an integral system on the basis of his great Juche idea and his valuable experience of the struggle to reunify the country.

The three charters of national reunification are permeated with the spirit of national independence regarding national sovereignty and dignity as lifeblood and embody his noble love for the country and nation and for reunifying the country peacefully by achieving north-south reconciliation and the great unity of the entire nation. The three charters clarify the fairest and most reasonable and rational way of reunifying the country at the earliest date in keeping with the real conditions in our country where different ideas and systems exist in its north and south for a long time and in accordance with the entire nation's aspirations to reunification. Because the great leader provided the three charters of national reunification, our nation is in a position to develop the struggle for national reunification with the clear objective, direction, confidence and courage and to realize its cherished desire for its reunification successfully by its united effort. The three charters of national reunification are, indeed, the banner of national reunification as well as the justest and most realistic fighting program for reunifying the country independently and peacefully.

The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung rallied the entire nation under the banner of great national unity, prepared the driving force of national reunification and strengthened it further. Our nation is the motive force of reunifying the country, and its strength lies in great national unity. When our own force of reunification is prepared, the victory of the cause of national reunification is assured. 

Regarding patriotism and the spirit of national independence as the basis of national unity, Comrade Kim Il Sung made it the principle of great national unity to subordinate everything to the cause of national reunification, transcending the differences in thoughts, ideas, political views and religion, and led all the people aspiring after reunification, regardless of their past records, to the way for reunification and patriotism with great generosity and magnanimity. 

He put forward the slogan for national unity, "Those with strength, devote their strength; those with knowledge, offer their knowledge; and those with money, contribute their money!" and encouraged the Korean people from all walks of life to help towards the cause of national reunification, with the mind of loving the country and the nation. His thoughts and ideas of great national unity and his noble love for humanity and the nation were the source of strength that encouraged the Korean compatriots from all sections to set out courageously on the road of national unity and national reunification. Comrade Kim Il Sung attached great importance to forming the all-nation united front and energetically led the work of uniting the reunification forces in the north, south and abroad. 

Basing himself on the experience of the anti-Japanese national united front during the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle, he put forward the policy of forming the great national united front for the country's reunification and wisely guided the struggle to implement it. As a result, a great advance was made in the work for organizing the compatriots in the north, south and abroad under the banner of national reunification. 

When the movement for the reunification of the country developed into a movement involving all the nation and their ardent desire for national reunification soared as never before, a Pan-National Rally representing the Koreans in the north, south and abroad was held and the National Alliance for the Country's Reunification representing the reunification will of the entire nation was born. 

The formation of the National Alliance for the Country's Reunification is an important success achieved in strengthening the motive force of the country's reunification and developing the reunification movement onto a higher stage. 

Today the motive force of reunification and patriotism is expanded and strengthened on a national scale involving the north, south and abroad and cemented more firmly; it is advancing vigorously towards the independent and peaceful reunification of the country, overwhelming the flunkeyist, treacherous, divisive forces. 

The exploits which the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung accomplished on the road of the country's reunification is the priceless heritage for our people and nation and a solid foundation on which to reunify the country. His life-long efforts dedicated to the country and nation and his great services to the noble cause of national reunification and independence will shine for ever in the history of our country. 

Songun-Tag 25.8. - Befreiungstag 15.8.: wichtige Jubiläen Koreas im August

Im August feiert das koreanische Volk zwei wichtige Jubiläen seiner revolutionären Geschichte: den Songun-Tag (25. August) und den Befreiungstag (15. August).

** Der Songun-Tag bezieht sich auf den 25. August Juche 49 (1960), als der Führer Kim Jong Il seine revolutionäre Songun-Führung begann. An diesem historischen Tag besuchte er zusammen mit dem Präsidenten Kim Il Sung die 105. Garde-Panzerdivision Seoul Ryu Kyong Su der Koreanischen Volksarmee (KVA).
Diese Division wurde im August Juche 37 (1948) auf Initiative des Präsidenten Kim Il Sung gegründet. Sie spielte im Vaterländischen Befreiungskrieg (1950-1953) eine heldenhafte Vorhutrolle, denn sie bildete die Spitze der Panzerverbände der KVA, die am 28. Juni Juche 39 (1950) Seoul befreiten.
Songun-Führung heisst: den militärischen Angelegenheiten beim Aufbau und der Verteidigung des Sozialismus den Vorrang einzuräumen und die KVA dabei als Avantgarde zu betrachten.
Von jenen August-Tagen vor 54 Jahren bis an sein Lebensende besuchte der Führer Kim Jong Il regelmässig Armeeeinheiten in allen Teilen des Landes und legte damit den Grundstein der Songun-Politik als der eigenständigen Politikmethode im sozialistischen Korea.
Dank der revolutionären Songun-Führung des Generalissimus Kim Jong Il entwickelte sich die Demokratische Volksrepublik Korea (DVRK) zu einer starken und unbesiegbaren politisch-ideologischen, militärischen und ökonomischen sozialistischen Grossmacht, die alle Kriegsprovokationen der USA-Imperialisten siegreich zerschlug und damit den Frieden auf der koreanischen Halbinsel zuverlässig schützte und verteidigte.
Seit dem Ableben des Führers Kim Jong Il setzt Marschall Kim Jong Un die revolutionäre Songun-Führung fort. Am Neujahrstag Juche 101 (2012) besuchte er ebenfalls die ruhmreiche 105. Garde-Panzerdivision Seoul Ryu Kyong Su der KVA.
Unter seiner Führung wurde der 25. August zum Songun-Tag erklärt und als Feiertag institutionalisiert, der in jedem Jahr gefeiert wird.

** Der andere grosse Festtag im August ist der Befreiungstag am 15. August. An diesem historischen Datum feiert das koreanische Volk in jedem Jahr den Jahrestag der Befreiung Koreas von der brutalen Kolonialherrschaft des japanischen Imperialismus und die Wiedergeburt des Vaterlandes am 15. August Juche 34 (1945).
An diesem Tag vollendete die Koreanische Revolutionäre Volksarmee (KRVA) - die heutige KVA - unter dem Oberkommando von Generalissimus Kim Il Sung die nationale Befreiung.
Unterstützt von bewaffneten Volksaufständen und Partisanenaktionen gegen die japanischen Imperialisten, befreite die KRVA in nur einer Woche die ganze nördliche Hälfte Koreas bis zum 38. Breitengrad.
Das koreanische Volk bejubelte seinen grossen Führer Kim Il Sung als den vom Himmel gesandten grössten Befreier und Nationalhelden.
Die Befreiung Koreas war für alle damals noch immer vom Kolonialismus imperialistischer Mächte unterdrückten Völker Asiens - so etwa für die Vietnamesen, Laoten und Kambodschaner, die Inder, die Burmesen, die Indonesier und die Malaien - das leuchtende Fanal für ihre eigene Befreiung.
Präsident Kim Il Sung wird seither als der grosse Vorkämpfer und Pionier der globalen Unabhängigkeit verehrt. Die von ihm begründeten revolutionären Ideen - die Juche-Ideologie und die Songun-Idee - verbreiteten sich darauf in Windeseile in ganz Asien, Afrika und Lateinamerika und gewannen bald auch Anhänger auf der ganzen Welt.
Die beiden August-Jubiläen mobilisieren das koreanische Volk zur Verstärkung seines gerechten Kampfes für die nationale Wiedervereinigung.

LET US ACHIEVE THE GREAT UNITY OF OUR NATION

KIM IL SUNG

LET US ACHIEVE THE GREAT UNITY OF OUR NATION

Talk to the Senior Officials of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland and

the Members of the North Side’s Headquarters of the Pan-National Alliance for the Country’s Reunification

August 1, 1991

The Pan-National Rally for the Peace and Reunification of the Fatherland was held last year on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of national liberation, and this year the second Pan-National Rally is to be held on August 15, too. I think it is a good thing that the Pan-National Rally and the various joint national festivals for reunifica­tion are held on the memorable occasion of the anniversary of national liberation. We must work hard to make the forthcoming events a success and a major occasion for achieving great national unity and hastening the reunification of the country.

Achieving the reunification of our country means linking the nation’s severed blood vessels, bringing about national harmony and gaining national independence across the country. In other words, it concerns the fate of our fellow-countrymen; it is a matter vital to our nation.

As is well known, our country was divided not because of contra­dictions within our nation; its division was imposed upon it exclu­sively by foreign forces. After the end of the Second World War the Korean question was dealt with to suit the interests of the great pow­ers, contrary to our nation’s desire and will to be independent, and the United States occupied south Korea. As a result, Korea was divided into north and south. It is because of continued interference and obstruction by foreign forces that Korea has not yet achieved her reunification.

In the half a century since our country was divided not a day has passed without our nation’s misfortunes and sufferings weighing on my mind, and without my thinking how the country can be reunified. We must not leave the task of national reunification to the younger generation. We must reunify the country in our lifetime. National reunification is the supreme desire of the Korean people and there is no more pressing task for them than to reunify their country.

The reunification of our country must be achieved independently and in a peaceful way, and this calls on us to achieve the great unity of the whole nation. The realization of the independent and peaceful reunification of the country is inconceivable without great national unity. Great national unity is a fundamental precondition for the achievement of the independent and peaceful reunification of our country, as well as the most essential aspect of it. The first and fore­most task in achieving national reunification is to achieve the great unity of our nation.

Whatever movement we may join, we can emerge victorious only when we strengthen the driving force and increase its role. This is an essential revolutionary truth which has been our philosophy and faith throughout the long revolutionary struggle.

The driving force for national reunification is the entire Korean nation. The reunification of the country is our nation’s cause of inde­pendence, and it can be achieved by the efforts of our nation alone. Every Korean person is responsible for national reunification and must bear his or her responsibility and play his or her allotted role in the struggle to reunify the country. If our nation, as the driving force for national reunification, is to fulfil its responsibility and role, it must be united firmly as one. The strength of the driving force is precisely the strength of its unity. The decisive guarantee for the independent and peaceful reunification of the country lies in the achievement of the unity of the whole nation and in strengthening the driving force for reunification.

All the Korean people must unite closely under the banner of great national unity, in the spirit of patriotism and national indepen­dence.

A nation is a solid community which has been formed and devel­oped historically, and it is a unit of social life. Historically, people have lived with their country and nation as a unit and have shaped their destiny through a combined effort. The question of a nation essentially means the question of achieving and defending its inde­pendence. Independence is the lifeblood of the people as well as of their country and nation. If a man is deprived of his independence, he is as good as dead; likewise, if a nation is deprived of its indepen­dence, its existence and development is inconceivable.

It is only when the independence of a country and a nation is achieved that the independence of individuals can be realized; no one can escape the fate of slavery if his country and nation is enslaved, for the life of an individual as a member of the nation exists in the life of his or her country and nation. It is precisely for this reason that, although a nation consists of different classes and strata, people love their country, value their nation’s independence and fight in unity for the independence of their country and nation. People love their fatherland and value the independence of their nation. These feelings are common to every member of a nation.

Originally, nationalism came about as a progressive idea promot­ing national interests. Under the banner of nationalism, the newly-emergent bourgeoisie took the lead in the nationalist movement, yet nationalism could not be regarded as an ideology of the capitalist class from the outset. During the period of the bourgeois nationalist movement against feudalism the interests of the popular masses were basically identical with those of the newly-emergent bour­geoisie and, accordingly, nationalism reflected the common interests of the nation. Subsequently, as capitalism developed and the bour­geoisie became the reactionary ruling class, nationalism was reduced to the ideological means for the capitalist class to defend its inter­ests. Bourgeois nationalism conflicts with genuine nationalism which truly promotes the interests of the nation. For idlers, who may be called the parasites of the nation, to pose as nationalists is nothing but a deception. Only he who does some work, mental or physical, which is beneficial to the nation, can be a genuine nationalist.

In our country, the land of a homogeneous nation, genuine nationalism means precisely patriotism. Our nation, which has inher­ited the same blood generation after generation and built up a bril­liant national culture with the same language on the same territory, is a nation with a strong spirit of patriotism and independence. Our people have always loved their fatherland ardently and fought strongly to defend the independence of their country and nation. This is a proud tradition of our nation.

My father put forward the idea of Jiwon (aim high—Tr.) and educated me in patriotism and in the spirit of national independence. So I set out on the road of struggle with a resolution to dedicate my whole life to saving the country and nation. My revolutionary activi­ties began with the struggle for national liberation and in the course of the struggle to establish the identity of the nation, the identity of the revolution, I have evolved the Juche idea, the guiding idea of our revolution. I have been fighting all my life for the independence, sovereignty and prosperity of our nation, for the independence of the masses of the people. I am fighting for the independence not only of our people but also of people throughout the world, and for the abo­lition of exploitation and oppression of man by man not only in our country but also throughout the world. Just as it is inconceivable for a person who does not love his parents and brothers to love his coun­try and nation, so it is unthinkable for a person who is indifferent to the destiny of his nation to be loyal to the world revolution. As I always say, only a genuine patriot can be a true internationalist who is loyal to the world revolution. I can say that, in this sense, I am a communist and patriot as well as an internationalist.

At the present stage of historical development, when the destiny of the popular masses is being shaped with the country and nation as the basic unit, the whole nation must firmly establish the identity of the nation and fight in unity for its common interests and prosperity. We must not only achieve national reunification on the basis of great national unity but also, after the country is reunified, build an ideal society by relying on the united efforts of the entire nation so that all the people enjoy equally unbounded happiness on this land.

A nation must regard its independence as its lifeblood, advocate and realize its independence by united effort and achieve its com­mon prosperity. I can say that this is our Juche view on the nation.

We have firmly adhered to the principle of always believing in and relying on the combined strength of the people both in the strug­gle against imperialism and in the struggle for the building of social­ism. We have always given top priority to national interests and relied on the combined strength of the people in the struggle. We can say that this is the secret of the victory we have achieved in the revo­lution and construction.

We emerged victorious from the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle for national liberation because the guerrillas and the people forged ties of kinship and all the anti-Japanese patriotic forces fought in close unity. During the anti-Japanese revolutionary strug­gle we brought together patriotic people from all walks of life into the anti-Japanese national united front and fought Japanese imperial­ism with the united strength of the nation. The Association for the Restoration of the Fatherland, formed in 1936, was an anti-Japanese national united front comprising broad sections of patriotic people who opposed Japanese imperialism and aspired to national indepen­dence. This association united all the anti-Japanese patriotic forces from all walks of life including communists, nationalists, workers, peasants, intellectuals, young people and students, as well as consci­entious national capitalists and religious men. We established the tradition of national unity in the course of waging the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle, relying on the broad-based anti-Japanese national united front.

In the struggle to build a new society after national liberation, too, we channelled our efforts firstly into achieving great national unity. In the speech I addressed to the people after national libera­tion, I called upon all the people who loved their country and nation and democracy to unite as one and make a positive contribution to nation-building, those with strength giving their strength, those with knowledge contributing their knowledge and those with money offering their money. We have pushed forward dynamically with the building of a democratic new state and with socialist construction, relying on the combined strength of all the people. Our socialist con­struction aims at enabling all our people to lead happy and worth­while lives in a society free from exploitation and oppression. The socialist society we are building is socialism centred on the popular masses. Socialism centred on the popular masses means a genuine society for the people where all the people are the masters of the country and everything in society serves the popular masses. We need not build socialism which does not serve the popular masses, and we cannot build socialism centred on the popular masses with­out uniting the popular masses.

The aim of the reunification of our nation is to realize the inde­pendence of our nation, to achieve the common development and prosperity of the nation and to ensure that all the Korean people lead happy and worthy lives in one reunified land. It is natural, therefore, that all the people should combine their will and rally as one in the struggle for national reunification, and this is fully possible.

The Joint Conference of the Representatives of Political Parties and Social Organizations of North and South Korea was held in Pyongyang in 1948. We called this conference to discuss the pressing save-the-nation measures and national reunification. The conference was attended by representatives of almost all the political parties and social organizations of south Korea, except Syngman Rhee’s party. Kim Ku, the leader of the “Korean Independence Party”, too, attended the conference. In pre-liberation years when he was in the “Provi­sional Government in Shanghai” Kim Ku had regarded communists as his enemies. But he attended the conference having accepted our just proposal to meet and have a heart-to-heart discussion on impor­tant questions concerning the destiny of the nation as members of the same nation, and he eventually took the road of alliance and coalition with us communists. He had no clear idea of what a gen­uine communist was, but he was a patriot. He made a fine speech at the north-south joint conference and after his return to south Korea he fought for national unity and reunification before being assassi­nated by the Yankees and their stooges. The historic April north-south joint conference served as clear proof that despite differences in ideologies and ideals, political views and religious beliefs all peo­ple can unite in the struggle for the common cause of the nation.

If the whole nation fights in concert, drawing on the traditions and experience of national unity built up in the course of the struggle to realize our nation’s independence, we shall not fail to achieve national reunification, the supreme task of the nation.

The concert and unity of the whole nation means the national reunification we desire. What is most important in national reunifi­cation is not the procedures or methods but the achievement of the genuine harmony and unity of the whole nation. If all Korean people in the north, south and overseas unite their minds and, on this basis, attain great national unity the most important problem in achieving national reunification will have been solved and then other problems can be resolved easily.

In recent years signal progress has been made in our efforts to bring about national unity. Last year, after the August 15 Pan-National Rally, the Pan-National Reunification Concert was held; also the north-south reunification football matches and art festival took place. This year the north and the south formed unified teams and participated jointly in the World Table Tennis Championships and the World Youth Football Championship. This was a result of our people’s desire for reunification that was stronger than ever before and the intensified trend towards national concert and unity. This delighted all the brethren in the north, south and abroad and led them to gain national pride and confidence. If the minds of all our compatriots are united as one, the great unity of the whole nation will be achieved and the country reunified. It is in this sense, I think, that the Rev. Mun Ik Hwan in south Korea said that our nation had been reunified now, that the reunification was in the perfect tense.

It is also for the sake of genuine national concert and reunifica­tion that we have advanced proposals on national reunification through confederation based on one nation, one state, two systems and two governments. Since there exist two different ideologies and systems in the north and south of our country, the confederation for­mula is the only way to achieve national harmony and reunification. In the light of the situation prevailing in our country it is wrong for either side to attempt to attain reunification by conquering the other. An ideology and system should be chosen by the people themselves of their own accord, not through coercion from outsiders. If one side were to try to impose its ideology and system on the other, it would be impossible to realize national reunification; it would rather aggra­vate the confrontation within our nation and cause further national calamity. The ideological and institutional differences within our nation should be gradually overcome not by coercive methods but by strengthening national unity based on the common interests of the nation. The most essential interests of our nation lie in the nation’s reunification free from any foreign domination and interference. In spite of the ideological and institutional differences within our nation we, as a single people, can bring about reunification and work together for the common prosperity of the nation.

Whether they are in the north, south or abroad, whether they are workers, farmers, intellectuals, young people, students, politicians, businessmen, religious men, or soldiers, Koreans must all unite and strive to achieve the reunification of their country, the common cause of the nation. Just as our people did in the days of building a new country, compatriots from all strata in the north, south and abroad must join hands in the cause of national reunification; those who have strength should contribute their strength, those who have knowledge their knowledge and those who have money their money.

The workers, farmers and intellectuals form the major force of the nation. If they cooperate and unite, while maintaining their own characteristics, they can form a mighty, independent driving force of the nation and achieve reunification. Workers and farmers should join hands with intellectuals, while intellectuals should cast in their lot with workers and farmers and thereby fulfil their role as the motive force in the struggle for the country’s reunification. It is unfair to underestimate the role of intellectuals or to adopt a narrow-minded attitude towards them. When founding the Party, we defined intellectuals, along with workers and farmers, as one of its compo­nents. Our Party’s emblem consists of a hammer, a sickle and a writ­ing brush. These symbolize the workers, farmers, and intellectuals who make up our Party. When we began to build a new society immediately after liberation, we did not leave out the intellectuals, arguing that they had served Japanese imperialism. We believed in their patriotism and spirit of national independence and generously brought them to our side. We regarded the intellectuals scattered across the country as the nation’s treasure and searched for them one by one. We positively encouraged them to play an important role in the building of a new country. Our intellectuals trusted and followed our Party and have thrown in their lot with it. They dedicated all their efforts and talents to the building of the new democratic Korea. They also fought courageously in the Fatherland Liberation War against US imperialist aggression, and after the war they worked for socialist revolution and construction.

Today the south Korean intellectuals, too, are fighting well for the reunification of the country. The young people and students of south Korea are ardently patriotic and have a strong spirit of inde­pendence against the US. They are playing a central, leading role in the struggle to make south Korean society independent and demo­cratic and to reunify the nation. The south Korean young people and students who are struggling heroically, dedicating their precious youth without hesitation for independence, democracy and national reunification are the pride of our nation.

In addition to the workers, peasants and intellectuals, there are many people in south Korea from different backgrounds who live in different conditions. We must not neglect them. We must achieve national unity on the principle of welcoming everyone without hesi­tation, who is not a traitor to the nation.

It is very important to have a correct understanding of religions and to work properly with religious believers. People believe in a religion because they take their sufferings and misfortunes in this world as predestined, and they yearn for happiness in the next world. Therefore, we cannot call them bad. What is bad is the anti-popular politics that misleads people about the situation and reactionary rulers who misuse religions, making them an instrument for paralysing the people’s consciousness of independence and ensuring that the people obey their rule. Progressive religious believers wish the people to love one another and live in harmony. The south Kore­an men of religion are opposed to the foreign invaders who keep our nation artificially divided and who suppress the champions of reuni­fication at the point of the bayonet. We must be highly appreciative of the devoted struggle of the south Korean men of religion for national reunification and unite with them.

It is mortifying that in south Korea young people, the sons and daughters of the nation, serve in the “ROK army” under the com­mand of Americans who use it as a tool for their neo-colonialist domination and for the implementation of their policy of keeping our nation divided. We must awaken the officers and men of the “ROK army” to the anti-national and anti-popular nature of the imperialists and their minions so that they stand firmly by their own nation and people and cooperate with their parents and brothers in the struggle for independence, democracy and national reunification.

As I always say, reunification means patriotism and division means treason. Those Koreans who desire national reunification and strive for it are patriots, whereas those who are opposed to reunifica­tion and accept division in league with foreign forces are traitors. By this criterion we must unite with all those who support reunification and advance with them in the same ranks. Even one who may have once been opposed to reunification and have committed crimes against the country and the nation, if he repents of his mistake and takes part in the struggle for patriotism and reunification, must be allowed to start with a clean slate and join hands with us.

There are many people who once led a dishonourable life in the eyes of the nation but have broken with their past and taken the patriotic road of national unity and national reunification. Mr. Choe Tok Sin was one of them. As you all know, he served as a corps commander of the “ROK army” and “foreign minister” in south Korea. While he was pursuing the road of pro-US, anti-communism at important military and political posts, he gradually began to feel disillusioned about the traitorous and anti-reunification acts of the ruling authorities and took refuge in a foreign country with the aim of living an honest life for the nation. While in exile he engaged in patriotic activities for bringing about the independence and democ­racy of south Korean society and reunifying the country. He became clearly aware of which was the patriotic way to follow during many visits to the homeland. He was moved by the fact that our Republic, which is independent, self-sufficient and self-reliant in defence, is displaying the pride and dignity of the Korean nation. He also sym­pathized with our consistent, just policy of embracing and joining hands with all those who love their country and nation, regardless of differences in political views, ideas and religions without asking about their past, and the policy of great national unity. He said he had found a paradise on Earth in the homeland, the land of bliss which he, as a nationalist and Chondoist, had aspired to and sought all his life. With a determination to dedicate the rest of his life to the just cause of the country and the nation, he applied for permanent residence in the homeland. Although he had opposed us in the past, we positively supported his decision and agreed to join hands with him for the sake of great national unity and the reunification of the country since he was resolved to break with the past and make a fresh start for the sake of the country and the nation. After being taken into the embrace of the homeland, he worked with devotion to the last moment of his life as the Chairman of the Central Commit­tee of the Chondoist Chongu Party and the Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland; he did so for the prosperity and development of the country, for great national unity and for the country’s reunification. He passed away, failing to see the day of national reunification to which he had looked forward. But in his last years he joined the ranks of the national reunification movement and marched forward with his fel­low countrymen. As a result, he came to enjoy immortality as a patriotic martyr who is held in affection by the people, and who helped his compatriots at home and abroad to understand the real meaning of national concert and great unity.

For the realization of great national unity compatriots from all social strata in the north, south and abroad must place their common national interests above all else and subordinate everything to national reunification, transcending differences in ideas, social sys­tems and religious beliefs. We must regard this as a fundamental principle in achieving great national unity and firmly adhere to this principle.

Our national community which has been formed and consolidat­ed over a history of five thousand years is greater than transient dif­ferences in social systems, ideals and ideologies which have come about owing to national division; the common national desire to achieve reunification as a homogeneous nation is incomparably more important than the interests of individual social classes and social strata. Although the defence of the ideals and ideologies of individual classes and strata and the realization of their interests are important, it is even more important to realize the common cause of the nation. Classes and strata form part of the nation. Therefore, no class and no stratum can realize its own interests apart from the common national interests. Only when there is a nation can there be classes, and only when national interests are guaranteed can the interests of the classes be ensured.

Today when the independence of our nation is being trampled upon by foreign forces, no class or stratum, if it belongs to the Korean nation, should hamper the achievement of national reunifi­cation, the common cause of our nation, by putting its interests to the fore. There should be no practice of placing class interests ahead of national interests, or of setting the struggle to satisfy class demands against the struggle for national reunification, swayed by minor interests and prejudices. Moreover, for fellow countrymen to reject or repress one another on the strength of government authority because of differences in political views, isms and assertions or for them to be hostile to one another because of differences in ideas and social systems—these are fun­damentally contrary to the principle of great national unity jointly agreed upon between north and south, and such acts are intolera­ble for the nation. Our people will never be able to achieve their reunification if the two sides reject and are hostile towards each other, putting differences to the fore instead of uniting on their common ground as a single nation.

If the great unity of the nation is to be achieved, contacts and vis­its should be widely encouraged among the fellow countrymen in the north, south and abroad and dialogue be promoted actively among them.

If the whole nation is to act in concert and pool its strength for the common purpose, an atmosphere of understanding and confi­dence should be created within the nation. Because our country has been divided and the north and the south have been alienated from each other for a long time, some people misunderstand their fellow countrymen, believing them to be their enemy, and some people hes­itate to go hand in hand with their fellow countrymen because of a lack of confidence, although they wish to see national unity. In order to remove such misunderstanding and distrust within the nation and realize national concert and unity, it is necessary to encourage free visits, contacts and talks.

What is important in realizing free travel and contact and wide-ranging dialogue is to pull down the barrier of division and remove all political and legal obstacles to it. We have already made propos­als for removing the barrier of division, ensuring free travel and opening all doors between north and south and have been making untiring efforts to realize them. The point in question is that the south Korean authorities should pull down the barrier of division and remove all obstacles that hamper free travel, contact and dia­logue among the fellow countrymen in the north, south and abroad. Today the “National Security Law” of south Korea is a major obsta­cle to free travel, contact and dialogue between north and south. In south Korea those who have been to the north or who have discussed reunification in foreign lands with people from the north are pun­ished under the “National Security Law”. The Rev. Mun Ik Hwan, who is over 70, a young girl student Rim Su Gyong and other visi­tors to the north, as well as a large number of those working for reunification, are currently imprisoned under this law. If this wicked law is not repealed, there can be neither free travel and contact nor free dialogue between north and south. That is why the “National Security Law” must be abolished as soon as possible.

In order to achieve great national unity we must strengthen nationwide solidarity in the struggle for national reunification.

Great national unity cannot be achieved only by words. It can be achieved and consolidated in the course of developing joint action by uniting minds and efforts in the struggle to reunify the country. All political parties, organizations and compatriots from all walks of life in the north, south and abroad must support one another and take concerted action in the struggle for the country’s reunification.

The cardinal task here is to check and frustrate the schemes of the forces which are opposed to reunification and working to keep the nation divided for ever and provoke another war. In order to isolate and weaken these forces and defeat their divisive moves, the compatriots in the north, south and abroad must develop an active joint struggle in various forms. The tens of thousands of US troops and more than 1,000 nuclear weapons of various types deployed in south Korea are the root cause of tension on the Korean peninsula and pose the threat of a nuclear war. We must have the US troops and nuclear weapons withdrawn from south Korea as soon as possible and thus remove the danger of a nuclear war that threatens the exis­tence of our nation; thus we shall provide a firm guarantee for peace on the Korean peninsula. All our compatriots in the north, south and abroad must launch a nationwide struggle to compel the US to with­draw its troops and nuclear weapons from south Korea and make the Korean peninsula a nuclear-free, peace zone.

In order to achieve great national unity all the political parties, organizations and compatriots of all strata in the north, south and abroad that are struggling for the reunification of the country must ally themselves with one another organizationally.

It is only when all our compatriots who adhere to the patriotic cause of reunification are organized into an allied force that solid national unity can be achieved and unity of action and unanimity ensured in the struggle for the country’s reunification.

For the organized unity of the whole nation, there must be an organization that can ensure the voluntary association of our compa­triots of all strata in the north, south and abroad. I believe that the Pan-National Alliance for the Country’s Reunification which was inaugurated in accordance with the decision of the Pan-National Rally last year can be such an organization. The Pan-National Alliance for the Country’s Reunification was formed through the joint efforts of the patriotic organizations and public figures of all strata in the north, south and abroad that aspire to the independent and peaceful reunification of the country. It is a patriotic organiza­tion for reunification, whose mission is to reunify the country on the three principles of independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity, and which represents the common will of Kore­ans in the north, south and overseas. It has the important duty and responsibility of achieving great national unity and hastening the reunification of the country. It will have to work hard, conducting a variety of activities, to expand and strengthen its ranks steadily among our compatriots and to hasten national reunification.

Many obstacles and difficulties still lie in the way of the reunifi­cation of our country, but we are looking forward with confidence to the bright future of national reunification.

Our nation’s move towards reunification is now stronger than ever before. Our compatriots in the north, south and abroad are working hard with a firm determination to reunify the country with­out fail in the 1990s. Nobody can break our people’s will to reunify their country, and no force can ever check our nation’s strong move towards national reunification. Through the united efforts of the whole nation, our people will overcome the obstacles and difficulties in their way to national reunification and reunify their country, come what may.

Once the country is reunified, our nation will be a dignified and strong nation and our country will emerge on the world stage as an independent and sovereign country with more than seventy million people, a brilliant national culture and a powerful economy. Our nation is industrious and resourceful, and our country is a beautiful land of three thousand ri in which it is good to live. When the whole nation is united as one, and when the country is reunified, there will be nothing for us to fear or envy. Our people will proudly display the resourcefulness and greatness of the Korean nation and nobody will dare to encroach upon our sovereignty. If the whole nation com­bines its efforts and talents and develops the economy and culture after the country’s reunification, our country will be more prosper­ous and civilized, and it will make a more effective contribution to the common cause of the people in Asia and the rest of the world for peace and prosperity.

For the Korean people to devote themselves to national reunifica­tion is most honourable and worthwhile. Those who have contribut­ed to the noble cause of national reunification will be held in love and respect by the nation and will be highly appreciated by the reunified nation.

I believe that you comrades, who are at the forefront of the strug­gle for national reunification, will carry out the honourable duty entrusted to you by the country and the nation.

Vor 40 Jahren: KIM JONG ILs Werk über den Kimilsungismus

Der Führer Kim Jong Il publizierte vor genau 40 Jahren, am 2. August Juche 63 (1974), sein klassisches Werk Lasst uns die Umgestaltung der ganzen Gesellschaft getreu dem Kimilsungismus durch die grundlegende Verbesserung der Parteiarbeit beschleunigen.
In diesem Werk nannte er die Umgestaltung der Partei der Arbeit Koreas (PdAK) getreu dem Kimilsungismus als Voraussetzung für die Umgestaltung der ganzen Gesellschaft getreu dem Kimilsungismus.
Genosse Kim Jong Il definierte die Umgestaltung der Partei getreu dem Kimilsungismus als ein grosses und wichtiges Programm für den Parteiaufbau und als Kern des monolithischen ideologischen Systems und des einheitlichen Führungssystems in der Partei.
In diesem Werk formulierte Genosse Kim Jong Il die Songun-Politik als die Politikmethode der PdAK. Er entwickelte die PdAK endgültig zur Juche-Partei und zur Partei Kim Il Sungs, die den Aufbau einer starken sozialistischen Nation garantiert und anleitet.
Marschall Kim Jong Un proklamierte das ganze revolutionäre Lebenswerk, die Ideen und das Führungssystem des Präsidenten Kim Il Sung und des Führers Kim Jong Il zum Kimilsungismus-Kimjongilismus und verkündete die Umgestaltung der ganzen Gesellschaft getreu dessen Prinzipien.
Die gegenwärtige Realität, in welcher der Parteiaufbau unter der Führung des Ersten Sekretärs Kim Jong Un eine höhere Stufe erreicht hat, beweist, dass die Ideen des Führers Kim Jong Il, die im genannten Werk formuliert wurden, die Lebenslinie für den erfolgreichen Juche-orientierten Parteiaufbau der PdAK bilden und dass die Partei immer siegreich bleiben wird, wenn sie diesen Prinzipien folgt.