Great Statesman Committed to Independence

By Choi U Gyun
Editor-in-Chief

Human history is going to move into the 21st century in three years. The closing 20th century has been marked by a great number of really significant changes. This historic 100 years saw the establishment of socialism for the first time in world history, which was frustrated in some countries before its completion. Capitalism has been restored in those countries.

The same century witnessed Korea take back its national sovereignty and independence, once lost at its outset. Korea is firmly advancing along a brightly-lit path of independence as a totally independent and sovereign nation of the type unprecedented among nations of the world, past and present.

We wonder how Korea alone has achieved that degree of independence and sovereignty that has won worldwide admiration and set a prime example to be emulated by the rest of the world.

President Kim Il Sung observed: "In other words, the thought of Juche whose seeds I sowed in the soil of our people and fostered has been cultivated into a luxuriant grove, bearing abundant fruits."

The Juche idea was fathered by the founding father as early as the 1920s, who embarked on the anti-Japanese independence movement.

After restoring national liberation, he successfully conducted first the anti-imperialist democratic revolution and then the socialist revolution, laying groundwork for the flowering of Juche.

Secretary Kim Jong Il faithfully inherited the lofty patriotic values of the deceased President and heralded in the glorious age of independent-oriented government in Korea.

The son of Mt Paekdu, observing the requirements of history and people, defined the Juche thought as a monolithic system of idea, theory, and method on Feb. 19, 1974 at a national meeting of party public information workers held in Pyongyang. On the occasion he took the step of announcing the program of inspiring the whole of society with Juche.

This program provided progressive people the world over with a clear picture of what ideal society, communist society is like, the idea of which had long remained fuzzy, a matter of speculation.

One pillar of the famous ancient Greek shrine dedicated to Apollo in Delphi is said to bear an inscription "Man, Know Yourself." For thousands of years have passed since the inscription was made, people discussed, "What is man for?" The question remained a permanent riddle.

It remained for the Korean leader, Marshal Kim Jong Il, to provide a complete and total answer to the question. He puts masses of people on the central stage of social history and views evolution of society as a process of their independent-minded and creative activity. Masses of people, he claims, have the key to their own destiny.

The thought of Juche was thus enriched with new principles, theses and contents and elevated into the status of the great landing idea to be upheld for the era of independence.

Government by the great statesman of Juche is one fearuing a most thorough faith as well as independence.

Without a diehard faith and a firm will, any leader of a country and nation is unequal to the task of intervention and pressure mounted by outside forces and will end up in allowing the national interests of the country to be infringed, with national sovereignty flagrantly violated.

We recall the time of great grief when our legendary hero President Kim Il Sung passed away unexpectedly.

At that time, the world was deeply concerned about the fate of Korea, the fate of socialism. Imperialists and traitors to socialism wildly speculated that a major change would come to the independent line of socialist Korea and further increased political and military pressure on Pyongyang.

However, they were greatly disappointed when Marshal Kim Jong Il served a stern notice on them that no change would be likely. He came up with a series of important writings, including "Socialism is a science." These writings clearly indicate what course of action progressive mankind should follow in the cause of independence.

In a bid to make the country richer and stronger at the late President's behest, the Paekdu leader made a total of 25,000 ri to give on-the-spot guidance to various sectors of the country last year, infusing the conviction of certain victory into people and servicemen.

Independent government by Marshal Kim Jong Il is one of most ardent patriotism.

At the end of the 1960s when an armed American spy ship Pueblo was captured redhanded in intruding into the territorial waters of the DPRK, the Americans threatened to bombard Wonsan and undertook a political and diplomatic offensive on the DPRK by recruting the then Soviet Union.

Then the young Marshal Kim Jong Il arranged for an ultimatum to be served that crew members of the Pueblo would be put to military tribunal, unless the Americans apologized, whether they tried to blackmail the north Koreans with an aircraft carrier task force or bombers.

This landed the United States in a cul-de-sac, from which the Americans were allowed to escape only by issuing an official apology in the name of the government of the U.S.

Let us look back upon the nuclear standoff in 1993.

Our Marshal responded to the military pressure from the imperialist forces by putting the whole country, the whole people and the whole army on a semi-war footing. when special inspections were demanded, he ordered the country's withdrawal from the non-nuclear proliferation treaty and made it clear that the DPRK would meet dialogue with dialogue and war with war.

This uncompromising and adamant policy of the DPRK forced the Americans to halt their pressure policy and send a personal assurance to Marshal Kim Jong Il that the promised lightwater nuclear reactors would be delivered to the DPRK without fail, referring to him as "supreme leader."

Former American President Jimmy Carter who visited Pyongyang said at his press conference: North Korea is a highly unique society, one that believes in the philosophy of independence as a faith. Imposing sanctions on such north Korea is a very unproductive method.

Cater is right. Seventy million Koreans, north, south and abroad, will remain firmly united around Marshal Kim Jong Il and will achieve the long-elusive goal of having their homeland reunified independently and peacefully.