Juche

Talk to the Senior Officials of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea

    April 17, 1992

    We celebrated the 80^th birthday of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung with great national pride and confidence. Not only the people in the northern half of Korea but also our fellow countrymen in the south and all our compatriots abroad celebrated it as a most auspicious event for the nation.

    The celebrations were an unprecedented grand international political festival held amidst the boundless good wishes of the revolutionary people across the world. Present at the celebrations held in Pyongyang, capital of the revolution, were more than 420 delegations from some 130 countries, including those led by heads of state and party, that came to extend warm congratulations to the leader. Colourful celebrations were also organized in many countries of the world. History would never have witnessed such a grand political event as our leader’s 80^th birth anniversary, celebrated as a common festival of mankind.

    It was indeed significant to celebrate the birth anniversary of the leader as a great event in human history at a time when the imperialists and reactionaries are resorting to anti-socialist and anti-DPRK schemes. The celebrations demonstrated the greatness of our leader and the superiority of our unique style of people-centred socialism built by the leader. The grand political festival was a historic event, in that it instilled in our people a sense of glory and joy in having the great leader, and gave revolutionary people all over the world confidence in the victory of socialism.

    The greatest fortune for a nation is to have a wise leader. The foreign friends from many countries who participated in the celebrations for the leader’s 80^th birth anniversary unanimously said that it is the greatest fortune for the Korean people to have the great Comrade Kim Il Sung as their leader.

    The masses of the people are the masters of their own destiny who shape their destiny by their own efforts, and they are also the makers of history. Nevertheless, it is only when they are led by a wise leader that they can be masters of their destiny and makers of history and play their role as such. In the past, the masses of the people could not become masters of their own destiny because they were not aware of either their demand for independence or their strength, were not rallied into a political force and were not provided with proper leadership. With the appearance of the working class in the arena of history, the masses of the people finally had the leading class that would lead their struggle for independence. But even the working class cannot perform its role as the leading class if it does not have the proper leadership of a political leader. The establishment of the socialist system creates the socio-economic conditions for the masses to occupy their position as masters in society and play their role as such, but it does not mean that they are in a position to shape their destiny for themselves. Even in a socialist society, the masses cannot maintain their position as masters if they are not provided with proper leadership.

    That the masses can shape their destiny successfully only if they are led by a wise leader is clearly illustrated by the history of our people’s struggle. Ours is a resourceful and courageous nation. We are a homogeneous nation, who have always lived on the same land, creating a shining culture. Nevertheless, when our nation did not have a leader who was capable of leading the country, the people were reduced to colonial slavery, suffering contempt and maltreatment of every description and failing to add any lustre to the excellent features of their great nation. Since having Comrade Kim Il Sung in the vanguard of the revolution, our people have become a great people who have taken control of their own destiny and exalted the resourcefulness of their nation. The greatness of a people is, in other words, the greatness of their leader. The greatness of a people is not decided by the size of their national territory or population, but by the leader who leads them. The leader is born of the people, but it is not the case that only a strong people produce a great leader. Even a small and weak nation that is exploited and oppressed can produce a great leader. Nevertheless, without a great leader there cannot be a great people. The people can become great only when they have a great leader. The greatness of a people can be exalted throughout the generations only when the leadership of their great leader is inherited throughout the generations.

    History records many renowned leaders, but it knows no one as great as Comrade Kim Il Sung. We communists do not believe in God, but we cannot help saying that our leader is a heaven-sent great man. A foreigner once stated that he had never believed in God, but he believed in President Kim Il Sung as he would in God. Our leader is endowed with outstanding qualities. There is no one who can rival his ideo-theoretical intelligence, leadership and virtue. History records many men who are well-known for their outstanding qualities and accomplishments, but none of them has personified such distinguished qualities and accomplishments as our leader has. The respected Comrade Kim Il Sung is a distinguished great man who embodies all the qualities and accomplishments associated with the most elevated of great men. This is why people all over the world praise him highly, calling him the greatest of great men of humanity.

    Our leader is a great thinker and theoretician with remarkable ideological and theoretical insight. The history of human thought has never known a great thinker and theoretician like him.

    He has shed light on the theoretical and practical problems that arise in all fields of the revolution and construction. His thoughts and theories are literally encyclopaedic. Recently, Kim Il Sung Encyclopaedia was published in India, and his works and other books explaining his encyclopaedic thoughts and theories published in many of the world’s countries. Our leader gives a clear-cut ideological and theoretical answer to every problem arising in the revolution and construction. Our officials, whenever they hear what he has to say, cannot but admire his remarkable insight, comprehensive understanding, and profound knowledge. Foreigners who meet him, be they statesmen or scholars, are unstinting in their praise of his outstanding wisdom and extensive knowledge.

    The thoughts and theories of our leader are not only encyclopaedic but also completely original. He has developed all his thoughts and theories in a creative way. Ever since the early days of his revolutionary struggle, he has rejected dogmatism in the study of ideology and theory and elucidated all thoughts and theories in a new and original light, in keeping with the requirements of the era of independence.

    The richness, profundity and originality of his thoughts and theories are inconceivable apart from his distinguished wisdom, unique faculty for inquiry, and great revolutionary practice. He is outstanding not only in his insight and analytical ability, but also in his power of memory. Everyone admires him for his capacity to remember in detail all the events in his lifetime–from his childhood and the early period of his revolutionary activities up to the present when he is 80 years old. His faculty for inquiry is also extraordinary. He never ceases his thinking and inquiry. Though old, he still reads materials on the political situation in various countries of the world, data on science and technology, and even full-length novels our writers have produced. To reduce the burden of reading, I have the full-length novels recorded for him. He reads a lot of data and books, but that does not mean that his thoughts and theories are created in his study. He says that it is useless to inquire into a theory for the sake of learning, divorced from practice. A theory must serve practice, be created in practice and be examined by practice–this is the principle he maintains. The practice of the uniquely comprehensive, great revolution the leader has conducted throughout his life is the source of his original and profound thoughts and theories. In the course of leading the revolution and construction for some 70 years, he has accumulated the most profound and rich experience and achievements, and by generalizing them, he has formulated the comprehensive system of the thought, theory and method of Juche.

    His ideo-theoretical activities are entirely people-oriented. A most important duty of a leader of the revolution is to reflect the demands for independence and interests of the masses accurately, and indicate the correct orientation and means of the struggle. The masses have inexhaustible intelligence, but their demands and interests may develop into a thought or a theory representing their era only when they are analyzed, generalized and systematized. The work of putting forward a scientific thought or theory that can serve as a guideline in the revolution and construction by analyzing the demands and interests of the masses and generalizing the experiences they have accumulated in their struggle, is undertaken by an outstanding leader. Our leader has always conducted his ideological and theoretical activities among the masses. Regarding them as his teacher, he has put forward ideas and theories by reflecting their aspirations and wishes and analyzing and generalizing their experiences in the struggle. His ideas and theories are literally the aspirations and opinions of the masses. As they truly reflect the masses’ aspirations and opinions, his thoughts and theories are profound and yet easily comprehensible. People accept them as their own conviction and will. These days our people are living with a firm conviction in his revolutionary ideas alone, and the progressive people of the world are learning from his revolutionary ideas, simply because his ideas and theories most accurately reflect the aspirations and demands of the masses.

    Our leader is a great man with outstanding leadership ability.

    His is the wisest and most scientific leadership. Looking back through history, it is impossible to find a leader who committed no error in his political career; even leaders who claimed to govern their countries for the people, to say nothing of the anti-popular rulers, made mistakes. However, our leader has led the revolution and construction along a straight course to victory for nearly 70 years without the slightest error or deviation in his policies. His wise and scientific leadership would be inconceivable without his uniquely far-sighted intelligence. He sets out lines and policies with a vision extending far into the future. The people of the world, considering the staunchness of our country in the present complicated situation, express their admiration for the foresight of President Kim Il Sung, who has put forward the line of independence, self-sufficiency and self-defence and built an independent, socialist power. We have built a fine country and are now administering it successfully by relying on our native cadres. From this fact alone, we can feel once again how wise he was, in the complicated and difficult circumstances immediately after the liberation of the country, to build as a matter of priority Mangyongdae Revolutionary School, Kim Il Sung University and other national cadre training centres.

    His wise leadership has reached into every field of the revolution and construction. With his profound knowledge he has sagaciously taken the lead in the political, economic, scientific, educational, military, artistic, literary, and other fields. He is truly a great leader who wields the might of pen and sword combined with versatile talent. The brilliant successes our people have achieved in all fields, including politics, the economy, science, education, art and literature, can be ascribed to his pre-eminent leadership art and skill.

    His leadership is great, in that with his iron will and unique leadership ability he transforms adversity into advantage and misfortune into blessing. Our revolution has travelled a path beset with unprecedented difficulties. It has had to experience endless hardship. Our revolution has had to survive the anti-Japanese revolutionary war, the Fatherland Liberation War, post-war reconstruction and other severe trials. However, he has confronted the difficulties with a strong determination that there will be a way out, even if the sky falls in, and with his unique leadership ability, he has taken the revolution and construction to one upsurge after another. Thanks to his iron will and outstanding leadership, our people have been able to work one world-startling miracle after another in the face of all the ordeals, and hew out their destiny with credit.

    His leadership is people-oriented, in that he solves everything by relying on the masses and enlisting them. Since he embarked on the road of revolution in his early years, he has always been among the people, formulating lines and policies that reflect their aspirations and opinions and, by enlisting them, leading the revolution and construction to brilliant victory. Our Party has been able to lead the revolution and construction straight to victory without the slightest error or blunder in its lines and policies because he has mixed with the people, advancing lines and policies that reflect their aspirations and opinions, and leading them to implement these lines and policies fully. His whole life has been spent in the field guiding the people. Having devoted his life to the people, he continues his on-the-spot guidance to the people even now, when he is over 80 years old. That is why our people earnestly wish that he would allow himself some rest, if only for a moment, as reflected in the song that starts The leader goes on the road of love tonight, too, after sending the people to the cradle of happiness.

    The respected Comrade Kim Il Sung is a genuine people’s leader with noble virtue, whose love for the people is boundless. There is no great man in history who can be his equal in virtue.

    Since ancient times it has been said that a statesman must be virtuous and must govern the country with benevolence. The exploiting society, however, is not a society governed by benevolence, and its rulers can never embody benevolence. Exploitation and oppression of man by man is incompatible with love for man. Genuinely benevolent politics can only be practised in a socialist society where the people are its masters. Even in a socialist society benevolent politics is not implemented of its own accord. It can be realized only when a man whose love for the people is boundless, is leading the country.

    Our leader personifies love for the people at the highest level. He once said that it was a maxim in his family, handed down from his grandfather’s time, that one can live without money, but not without humanity. He considers that the traits of kind-heartedness, generosity and virtue that have been handed down through the generations are a source of pride for the Korean nation, so he pursues benevolent politics for the people. His love for the people is noble, in that he shares good times and bad, weal and woe, with them and spares nothing for their good. His boundless love for the people is the motive force for our country’s genuinely people-oriented politics. All the people-oriented policies enforced in our country today emanate from his noble love for the people.

    His noble humanity finds clear expression in his boundless love for his comrades. He began his revolutionary struggle by winning comrades, holding dear in his heart the words of his father Kim Hyong Jik, that “Only he who will die for his comrades will find good comrades,” and has never spared anything for his comrades. Regarding it as the greatest wealth to have many comrades and the greatest happiness to be loved and trusted by his comrades, he has created a beautiful history of revolutionary comradeship. It is thanks to his noble love that our Party’s ranks have been built up millions strong, our invincible revolutionary armed forces have been created, and single-hearted unity in our society based on comradely love and revolutionary obligation has been guaranteed.

    The leader’s love for the people is infinitely benevolent, in that it embraces all the people. Respecting the people as supreme beings, he has devoted his all for the good of the working masses, including the workers, peasants and working intellectuals. He does not judge people by their class status. If someone, though born into the propertied class, mixes with the working masses and fights in defence of their independence, the leader regards him as one of the people and places trust in him as a revolutionary companion. Saying that the criterion for judging a man should be his present ideas, not his origin at birth or past career, he has embraced the masses of all strata and rallied them firmly. He is lenient even to those who fought against communism in the past or who committed crimes against the nation, if they are determined to serve their nation. This great magnanimity enabled the successful multi-part feature film The Nation and Destiny, which is based on true stories, to be produced. His boundlessly deep and warm love enables every member of the nation, whether in the north, in the south or abroad, to turn out for the sacred cause of reunification, irrespective of their ideas, political views, party affiliation, religious belief and political record, upholding him as the great father of the nation. Today our people entrust their destiny entirely to the fatherly leader with the noblest virtue and enjoy a worthwhile, happy life under his care.

    A leader enjoys respect and trust from the people not because he is given prominence by others but by dint of his own achievements. Comrade Kim Il Sung enjoys the absolute respect and trust of the people because he has performed immortal feats for the cause of the independence of the masses.

    Since embarking on the road of revolution at the age of 13, the respected Comrade Kim Il Sung has achieved immortal exploits by leading to brilliant victory the underground revolutionary struggle, two revolutionary wars, two stages of social revolution and two rounds of reconstruction, as well as several stages of socialist construction. The Korean people, once oppressed and trampled on as a weak and small nation, were able to defeat the strong Japanese and US imperialists, which is a miracle hitherto unknown in the history of national liberation struggles, and, in a short span of time, build on the debris a strong socialist state that is independent, self-sufficient and self-reliant in defence, something that is a shining example in the history of creation and construction. These epoch-making victories and developments would be inconceivable without Comrade Kim Il Sung’s wise leadership. As a prominent leader of the international communist movement, he has also achieved undying successes for the cause of global independence. His feats, being so great, have earned tremendous admiration among the world’s people. No leader in any age or country has made such great achievements in his lifetime as our leader has. For his distinguished achievements, he enjoys the world’s boundless respect and admiration as the greatest leader in history.

    The great leader wrote in his memoirs as follows: “Revolutionaries, believe in the people and rely on them at all times and you shall always emerge victorious; if you are forsaken by them, you will always fail. Let this be your maxim in your life and struggle.” This aphorism with philosophical meaning makes clear the secret of his great achievements for the people. Historical experience shows that a leader can guide the socialist cause to victory through any adversity if he believes in the people and relies on them, and that he will fail to defend the gains of socialism if he is forsaken by them. The great leader has performed his exploits together with the people for the benefit of the people, and for this reason they will live on in the minds of the people.

    A great achievement made by the respected Comrade Kim Il Sung for the people is the creation of the guiding idea with which the masses can shape their destiny with credit.

    Without the guidance of a correct ideology, the masses cannot shape their destiny. Socialist society can be built only when it is guided by a correct ideology. Unlike capitalist society, which is run by money and power, socialist society, which is based on collectivism, cannot take even a step forward without a correct guiding ideology.

    Comrade Kim Il Sung, by creating the Juche idea, put forward the most correct guiding ideology with which the masses can successfully shape their destiny. For the first time in history, he developed socialist theory with the masses at the centre of all thought and practice. Aware that the truth was to be found in the aspirations of the masses for independence and in revolutionary practice, not in the propositions of existing theories, he found original solutions to all problems, based on our people’s aspirations and the specific situation in our country. By reflecting the aspirations of the masses and by analyzing their experience in the struggle, he perfected the comprehensive Juche-oriented theory of socialism.

    Understanding the demand of the masses to live independently, free from all hues of subordination and social and natural fetters, he elevated them to the place of the masters of the world and of their own destiny. And understanding that they had inexhaustible strength with which to reshape the world and hew out their destiny by their own efforts, he elevated them to the place of transformers of the world and of their destiny. From this, he formulated the viewpoint and attitude that everything should serve the people, the masters of the world and of their destiny, and that every problem should be solved by relying on the creative efforts and wisdom of the people, the transformers of the world and of their destiny.

    The Juche idea, which he created, being the most superior ideology, accurately reflects the masses’ desire for independence and their creative ability, and our style of socialism, as its embodiment, is displaying tremendous vitality. Our Party and people are vigorously advancing along the road of socialism despite the present complicated circumstances, simply because they are guided by the Juche idea. Holding high as ever the banner of the Juche idea, our Party will accomplish the Juche revolutionary cause he pioneered.

    Another great achievement by Comrade Kim Il Sung for the people is the founding of Juche-type political organizations that are responsible for looking after the people’s destiny.

    For the masses to shape their destiny, they need political organizations that can organize and lead them in the struggle and take care of their life. They cannot carve out their destiny individually, divorced from a political organization. The destiny of the working masses, including the working class, is shaped under the leadership of their leader, who in turn takes care of the destiny of all the members of society through a political party, a power organ and other political organizations. Thus, building up these political organizations into organs that serve the people is key to shaping the destiny of the masses.

    Among the political organizations in a socialist society, it is the party of the working class that is the leading political organization. In socialist society the working-class party assumes the mission of taking responsible care of the destiny of the masses. In order to fulfil this mission, it must occupy the leading position. The responsibility the working-class party assumes for the destiny of the masses cannot be separated from its leadership position. Giving up its leadership position and role is tantamount to the party’s self-destruction, and to a treacherous act of abandoning its responsibility.

    Comrade Kim Il Sung has led the Workers’ Party of Korea to occupy the position of the political guide of society, and has strengthened it continuously. This is a manifestation of his noble love and great sense of responsibility for the destiny of the people. Our people regard the Party as their political guide and entrust their destiny entirely to it.

    The working-class party, in order to perform its mission of taking responsibility for the destiny of the masses and leading them in a socialist society, must make defending the interests of the people the supreme principle in its activities. The party should not be supported only by its membership or the working class. It should enjoy the support of all the people. To this end, it must defend the masses’ interests to the letter.

    Comrade Kim Il Sung put forward the original idea in party building that the working-class party should represent the interests of the broad sections of the masses. In the past a party was viewed as an organized unit of a class, which defended the interests of that class, and as a weapon in the class struggle. Since the needs of the working class coincide with those of all other classes and strata that are interested in social progress, the working-class party ought to represent the interests of the broad sections of the masses. This is all the more so in a socialist society where the masses of all strata have been transformed into socialist working people.

    The working-class party, if it is to take responsibility for the destiny of the masses, must be built into a party of the masses with its roots deep among the broad sections of the masses, and the working masses as its class foundation. This is an intrinsic requirement for building a working-class party that defends the interests of the broad sections of the working masses. In putting forward the original line of building a mass-based party, Comrade Kim Il Sung wisely led our Party to develop into a mass-based party in which the advanced elements of the workers, farmers and working intellectuals are enrolled.

    Building a working-class party into a mass-based party that represents the interests of the masses in socialist society does not mean diluting or negating its class and revolutionary character. The party must neither abandon the needs of the working class on the grounds of representing the interests of the broad sections of the masses, nor admit anyone into the party without due consideration, on the grounds that a mass-based party is being built. It should fully embody the needs of the working class while defending the interests of the broad sections of the masses, and admit only progressive elements into its ranks while securing the working masses as its social and class foundation.

    Under the wise leadership of Comrade Kim Il Sung, the Workers’ Party of Korea has developed into a party representing the interests of all Korean people, with its roots deep among the broad sections of the masses, while strictly maintaining its class and revolutionary character as a working-class party.

    The state power organ in socialist society plays an important role in taking responsibility for the destiny of the masses. The power organ in socialist society should, to all intents and purposes, be the people’s power organ serving the people.

    Comrade Kim Il Sung pointed out that state power in socialist society should represent the masses’ right to independence, cultivate their creativity and organize their activities. He led our people’s power organs in defending to the hilt the masses’ right to independence, cultivating their creativity and enlisting their inexhaustible creativity. The preceding theories viewed the difference in class character as the essential difference between the power organ in an exploitative society that oppresses the masses and the power organ in a socialist society that conducts its activities in the interests of the people, and defined state power as the weapon of dictatorship for realizing the rule by a certain class. They went on to state that state power that performs the function of dictatorship would wither in a classless society. Comrade Kim Il Sung for the first time elucidated, based on the Juche idea, that state power is a weapon serving the interests of the class and social collective that hold the position of master in society. State power in an exploitative society is a weapon for ruling over the working masses in the interests of the ruling class, whereas in a socialist society, it is a weapon that serves the interests of the masses, the masters of society. In socialist society each working man or woman exercises his or her political rights, but the right to independence of all the people is represented by the people’s government elected by the will of the people. Cultivating the masses’ creativity and enlisting it is also possible only by such a powerful political organization as the people’s power. The people’s government organs in our country established by the masses themselves have been developed ceaselessly into political organizations that staunchly defend their right to independence, effectively cultivate their creativity and skilfully lead them in their creative activities.

    Having stated that the state power organ in socialist society should be the master responsible for the livelihood of the people, Comrade Kim Il Sung has led our people’s government organs to take responsibility for the material and cultural life of the people. The government in an exploitative society serves as a weapon protecting the exploitation and plunder of the people by the ruling class, without caring whether the people starve to death or not. But in a socialist society, where the people have become the masters of the country, the government takes responsibility for all aspects of their life. Because Comrade Kim Il Sung set the steady improvement of the people’s standard of living as the supreme principle in the activities of the state, and has led the people’s government organs to make the people’s livelihood their responsibility, our people’s government organs have been able to perform their mission and role as servants of the people with credit.

    If the party and the people’s government organs are to fulfil their mission and role in the service of the people, their officials must possess a proper method and style of work. The masses’ support for and trust in the party and the people’s government depend largely on the officials’ method and style of work. The masses will not follow the party and the government, no matter how correct the lines and policies of the party and the government are, if abuse of power, bureaucracy and other outdated work practices and styles are tolerated among officials, and this will ultimately jeopardize the very existence of the working-class party and the people’s government.

    From the first days after the founding of our Party and the people’s government, Comrade Kim Il Sung made it an important task to reject such practices as the abuse of power and bureaucracy and establish the revolutionary work method and popular style of work. Emphasizing that officials of the Party and the government organs in socialist society should be servants of the people instead of bureaucrats who lord it over them, he led the officials to serve the people faithfully. As a result, our officials could establish the revolutionary work method and popular style of work, and our Party and government organs could perform their mission and role as servants of the people splendidly. Since our Party and the Government of the Republic, founded by Comrade Kim Il Sung, take responsibility for their destiny, our people actively support and place absolute trust in them. In the future, too, we will strengthen our Party and the people’s government as true servants of the people and, with them as a weapon, accomplish the people’s cause of independence.

    An immortal achievement by Comrade Kim Il Sung for the people was the founding of the genuine people’s revolutionary armed forces that defend their freedom and happiness.

    With a strong sense that the Korean nation must have an army of its own if it was to be saved from the suffering inflicted by the bayonets of the Japanese imperialists, he launched the cause of founding the army with two pistols he had inherited from his father, and in the forests of Antu 60 years ago, he declared to the whole world the founding of the Anti-Japanese People’s Guerrilla Army.

    Having put forward the slogan, “As fish cannot live without water, so guerrillas cannot live without the people,” he led the soldiers to serve the people faithfully and live in harmony and unity with them. The army’s spirit of devoted service to the people and the unity between the army and the people–these are a source of power with which our revolutionary armed forces defeated the powerful Japanese and US imperialists. Thanks to his wise leadership, our revolutionary armed forces have travelled, in company with the people, a road covered with victory and glory, and have grown in strength to the point that they are invincible. Nowadays the US imperialists and their stooges are watching out for a chance to invade our Republic, but our people are able to accelerate socialist construction without vacillation as they have the revolutionary armed forces whose members are each the equal of a hundred foes.

    Comrade Kim Il Sung, the founder of our revolutionary armed forces, is an invincible and iron-willed commander who led us to brilliant victory in two revolutionary wars against powerful imperialists, and a military genius who created the Juche-oriented military thought, strategy, tactics and art of war. Recently he was awarded the title of Generalissimo of the DPRK, and this is recognition by our Party and people of the great feats he has accomplished in the building up of the armed forces, and in the revolutionary wars. It is our people’s great honour and pride to uphold him as the Generalissimo of the Republic. Our Party will carry forward his cause of army building and further strengthen our revolutionary armed forces into an ever-victorious, invincible army.

    Another great achievement he has made for the people is that he has brought them up to be a revolutionary people with a strong sense of independence.

    For success to be achieved in shaping the destiny of the people, the masses must be prepared politically and ideologically. Ideological consciousness plays the decisive role in human activities, and a person’s character and value are determined by his or her ideological consciousness. The ideological consciousness that reflects the intrinsic needs of a person, as a social being, is the ideological consciousness of independence. The greatest manifestation of love for the people is to equip them with the consciousness of independence and awaken them ideologically, whereas the worst crime against them is to paralyze their consciousness of independence and debase them ideologically.

    From the first days after he embarked on the road of revolution, Comrade Kim Il Sung has directed great efforts to equipping our people with the revolutionary consciousness of independence. His leadership has enabled our people to be awakened to the consciousness of independence, shape their destiny by their own efforts, and exalt their dignity and greatness.

    Our people, with their high sense of independence, are rallied rock-solid around the Party and their leader, and thus they have become a great people with a strong sense of independence and invincibility. The strength of the masses is the might of their unity, and the most solid unity is the single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party and the masses. Their firm determination and strong will to trust their leader and their Party and conduct the revolution rallied behind them is the ideological source of our people’s unrivalled unity. The single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party and the masses is a term that is found only in our country. Single-hearted unity began to take shape in our country when the Korean revolution was being waged under the banner of the Juche idea with the great Comrade Kim Il Sung as the centre of unity, and it has developed onto a higher plane in a comprehensive way through the struggle to model the whole society on the Juche idea led by our Party. The single-hearted unity of the leader, the Party and the masses is the source of the might and invincibility of our socialist system and the essential factor in our socialism winning victory after victory without wavering, whatever the adversity. The foreign guests who were present at the celebrations of Comrade Kim Il Sung’s 80^th birth anniversary said that the single-hearted unity of our people who are united rock-solid behind the Party and the leader would prove more powerful than nuclear bombs. The brilliant successes our people have achieved in the revolution and construction are also the fruits of their high sense of independence in shaping their destiny by their own efforts. Our people are marching forward aggressively along the road of revolution without the slightest vacillation or hesitation despite the present daunting circumstances, precisely because Comrade Kim Il Sung has devoted such efforts all his life to training them into a revolutionary people with a firm spirit of independence. The whole world is now expressing their admiration at the fact that our people are advancing unwaveringly with a strong sense of independence along the road of socialism that they themselves have chosen. Our Party will, in the future, too, frustrate all the obstructive schemes of the enemy by dint of the high revolutionary spirit of our people, and continue to carry out the revolution.

    Another immortal achievement by Comrade Kim Il Sung for the people is that he has built socialism of our own style centred on the masses.

    He has built in our country a style of socialism in which the masses’ desire for independence is fully realized. By leading the two stages of social revolution with success and dynamically stepping up socialist construction, he has freed our people from exploitation and oppression and provided them with all the conditions necessary for leading a full independent and creative life. Our style of socialism, which he has built through a lifelong arduous struggle, is the cradle of our people’s happiness. It is people-centred socialism in which the masses are the masters of everything and everything serves them.

    In building socialism, Comrade Kim Il Sung has made it a key policy for the Party and the state to assume responsibility for providing the people with everything they need, from food, clothing and housing to schooling and medical treatment. Thanks to this, our people are living without any worries. Since the emergence of human society, it is only in our socialist society that all the members of society live without any worries. Needless to say, we cannot say that our people’s life is rich in every respect. We are still at the stage of building socialism. But our Party and the Government of the Republic, having identified providing the people with affluent and equitable living conditions as one of their most important tasks, are continuously improving the people’s standard of material and cultural living and narrowing the gap in living standards. Recently, measures were adopted to raise the wage ceiling of the working people drastically, particularly for low-income earners, so as to narrow the gap in living standards. No other country in the world would guarantee such substantial equality in the people’s material and cultural life. The superiority of a social system lies in whether all its people lead an independent and creative life as befits true masters of society. Capitalist society, in which the differences in the material life between the rich and the poor only grow bigger, the intellectual and cultural life of the people becomes poorer, and the independent right and dignity of the masses are mercilessly trampled upon, can never be called a society for the people. Through their life experience, our people have become keenly aware of how valuable and worthwhile the socialist way of life is, compared with the corrupt and debasing capitalist way of life.

    In our style of socialist society our people not only have no worries in their material and cultural life, but also are leading a worthwhile life with their dignity and personality respected to the full by society. No one can be said to be leading a fulfilling life when society disregards his or her dignity and personality. In an exploitative society, the privileges enjoyed by the exploiter class are the main factor infringing on the dignity and personality of the working masses who make up the overwhelming majority in society. Such privileges, if they are tolerated in socialist society, will encroach on the dignity and personality of the people. In our country, social duty and position may differ from person to person, but everyone’s dignity and personality are respected equally as revolutionary comrades. Our people exercise equal rights in state power and lead organizational life in Party and working people’s organizations, where there is neither superior nor subordinate, and where they have the same rights and duties. The worth of a person in our society is judged not by power or money, but by the work they have done for the benefit of the people. Those who perform more work and render more distinguished service for the people become heroes and enjoy greater respect of society.

    The true nature of our society, as a genuine people’s society, can be identified in the fact that all the people are living in harmony, leading and helping one another as the members of a family would do. People living in harmony, cooperating with one another in a comradely way–this is an essential characteristic of our socialist way of life, which differs from the capitalist way of life in which people feud with one another and fight tooth and nail. The harmonious life of our people is based on the comradely love and revolutionary obligation between the leader and the members of society and between the members of society, and the source of this is Comrade Kim Il Sung’s boundless love for the people. Thanks to the benevolent politics of the leader who dearly loves the people, the relationship between the leader and the members of society constitutes the relationship of noble comradely love and revolutionary obligation and, on this basis, the members of society are tied to one another by comradely love and revolutionary obligation. Our people believe there is nothing more worthwhile than to live in harmony, helping and leading one another forward, united rock-solid around the great leader and the great Party. Our Party will defend to the last our style of socialism centred on the masses, whatever the adversity, and bring its advantages into fuller play.

    An immortal achievement of Comrade Kim Il Sung for the people is that he has provided a sure guarantee for carrying forward the revolutionary cause of Juche through the generations.

    The revolutionary cause of the masses of realizing independence is not completed in one generation. It continues from one generation to the next. Historical experience shows that the revolutionary cause of the masses advances victoriously when the continuation of leadership is assured; otherwise, the revolution suffers twists and turns and in the end the gains of socialism are lost.

    The historical mission of a working-class leader is not only to initiate and advance the masses’ cause of independence but also to establish a firm organizational and ideological foundation and leadership system for the revolution to be inherited. The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, with his deep insight into the historical inevitability of the continuation of the revolutionary cause, demonstrated outstanding foresight by making thorough preparations for it long ago, laying a solid organizational and ideological basis and establishing a leadership system for the accomplishment of the revolutionary cause down through the generations. This is a priceless achievement he has recorded for our people.

    Truly, our leader’s great achievements will shine throughout the generations. It is the firm will of our Party to inherit his immortal exploits in every aspect. Inheriting and developing his revolutionary achievements is a sure guarantee for accomplishing the revolutionary cause of Juche throughout the generations.

    It is a great honour and source of happiness for our people to have Comrade Kim Il Sung. In their historical experience and daily life, they keenly feel how honoured and fortunate they are to have him as their leader. Our people, who were deprived of their country and national sovereignty and were forced to lead the bitter life of colonial slaves by the foreign imperialists, have become an honoured and dignified people who shape their destiny with credit, because they held him up and are led by him, the great leader they acclaimed for the first time in their history spanning thousands of years. They feel this honour and happiness more deeply in the light of the recent complicated situation.

    Bearing deep in mind our great honour and happiness in having the great leader, we should hold him in high esteem forever with our loyalty and filial devotion.

    It is the ardent desire of our people and the revolutionary people of the world to hold him in high esteem. Many friends from various countries who have recently visited Korea asked our officials to attend to him more carefully, saying this was the unanimous desire of the world’s communists and revolutionary people. Because we have the great leader, a veteran leader of the world revolution, our Party enjoys great authority and our socialism is shining brilliantly.

    It is our international duty as well as our noble national duty to hold him in high esteem. Bearing deep in mind the mission entrusted to the Korean communists, led by Comrade Kim Il Sung who is respected by the world’s people, we must focus all our efforts on holding him in higher esteem.

    We should make Party members and other working people fully aware of his greatness and immortal exploits. The ideological desire to hold the leader in high esteem emanates from a deep understanding of his greatness and achievements. In the past we published reference books for studying his revolutionary history and many other books and writings on his greatness and immortal achievements, but we cannot say that all the people are fully aware of them. The people who have read his memoirs that were published recently are struck with wonder by his greatness and eternal exploits. The history of his revolutionary struggle is so great that, although the memoirs are written in a humble way, those who read them are struck with wonder. The memoirs are an eternal asset of our revolution and a priceless textbook of the revolution. We should print them in large quantities so that the entire Korean nation, not least our Party members and other working people, can read them and learn the theories, principles, and method of the revolution and the noble spirit of loving one’s homeland, nation, fellow people and revolutionary comrades. We should also have them translated and distributed among the world’s people.

    We should conduct education in his greatness in various forms and by various means. Even a single piece of educational material on his greatness and exploits should be prepared with great effort. We should write many books and articles that penetrate the hearts of the people, just as Comrade Kim Il Sung’s memoirs do, and inculcate the people with his greatness and achievements in various forms and by various means.

    Art and literature play an important role in inspiring the people with his greatness and exploits. In the past the sector of art and literature made a great contribution to imbuing the people with his greatness and achievements by creating artistic and literary works, including films and novels. The sector should, in the future, too, produce excellent artistic and literary works in greater numbers based on his memoirs and newly discovered materials. We should give wide publicity to the legendary tales about his greatness. During the dark period of Japanese rule, the modern information work media we have today were not available, but his greatness spread far and wide in the form of legendary tales that filled our people with hope and belief. The 80 years of his revolutionary career are woven with legendary tales, which will become more precious as time passes. We should unearth more legendary tales that have been handed down among our people from the period of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle, and give them wide publicity.

    The education in loyalty to Comrade Kim Il Sung should be conducted more effectively. It is the will of our Party that loyalty to him should become higher as time passes. The loyalty of the people who braved the tempest of the revolution in support of his guidance, should become intenser as time passes and the revolutionary generation is replaced. It is the lesson of history that socialism will be frustrated when loyalty to the leader is tarnished and degenerates. We should continue to intensify education in loyalty, so as to ensure that loyalty to the leader is carried forward unswervingly through the generations. We should hold up as role models of loyalty to the leader the first generation of the revolution, who blazed the trail of the arduous revolution, and the second generation, who worked hard to build a new society, and learn from them down through the generations. We should also identify role models from among the new generation of the revolution and give wide publicity to them.

    Education in loyalty should be conducted in close combination with revolutionary practice in order to persuade all the people to make loyalty to the leader an element of their conviction, conscience and moral obligation, and to display it fully in their daily life. The fact that in some countries some of the people, who used to talk much about their belief in communism and their loyalty to their leaders, became renegades to socialism, shows that they were paying only lip service to loyalty, instead of making it an element of their faith, conscience and morality and their everyday concern. We should educate all Party members and other working masses in loyalty more substantially in various forms and by various means so that they cherish loyalty and filial duty as an element of their revolutionary faith, conscience and moral obligation, which will remain unchanged come what may, and apply them in their work and life.

    We should equip Party members and other working people with the Juche idea. This is the way to add lustre to the greatness and achievements of Comrade Kim Il Sung, the Juche idea’s author.

    The Juche idea is the most priceless ideological sustenance for Juche-type communist revolutionaries. The Juche idea, the most scientific and revolutionary outlook on the world, comprehensively elucidates the ideological and moral traits to be possessed by communist revolutionaries. By conducting systematic and effective education in the Juche idea among Party members and other working people, we should make sure that they have a deep understanding of the idea and think and act as it requires.

    In order to equip themselves with the Juche idea, Party members and other working people should study Comrade Kim Il Sung’s works and Party documents. These, as an encyclopaedia of the Juche idea, comprehensively elucidate the fundamental principles of the idea and the issues that arise in its practical application. Party members and other working people should strengthen their study of Comrade Kim Il Sung’s works and Party documents so as to make the Juche idea an article of their unshakable faith.

    In order to equip Party members and other working people with the Juche idea, we should intensify the study of the Juche idea and give comprehensive publicity to it.

    The Juche idea is a new philosophical thought, and all the ideas and theories of our Party are developed on the basis of its philosophical principles. Only someone who has a correct understanding of the essence, content, originality and superiority of the Juche philosophy can clearly understand all the thoughts and theories of our Party, which are developed on its basis. The Juche philosophy is not a philosophy for theory’s sake but a philosophy that, centring on the masses, illuminates the way for the masses to shape their destiny. In studying the Juche philosophy, attention should be focused on finding solutions that are of practical benefit for the revolution and construction, instead of indulging in empty talk on issues that are of no practical value.

    Study of the ideological theory of Juche should be intensified, too. Here the main emphasis should be on resolving the pressing theoretical and practical issues in the revolutionary practice aimed at accomplishing the socialist cause. Particular efforts should be directed to the study of the theoretical and practical issues arising in consolidating socialism of our own style centred on the masses.

    We should give wide publicity to the experience we have gained in the revolution and construction. By applying the Juche idea, we have managed events that have astonished the world and built up a history of great achievements and experience in the revolution and construction. Revolutionary people all over the world are deeply interested in the Juche idea and the accomplishments we have managed by applying it. Giving wide publicity to the experience of our Party and people in their efforts to apply the Juche idea will educate Party members and other working people and inspire the world’s revolutionary people in their struggle.

    We should redouble our efforts against bourgeois ideology, revisionism, dogmatism, great-power worship and other counterrevolutionary ideologies of all hues, which are opposed to the Juche idea.

    These days bourgeois ideology is being spread mainly through the ideological and cultural infiltration by the imperialists. It is because they opened the door to the ideological and cultural infiltration by the imperialists that the people in several countries were corrupted by the reactionary bourgeois ideology and disrupted the revolutionary cause pioneered by the leaders of the working class. We must never tolerate any ideological and cultural infiltration by imperialism.

    Revisionism is a counterrevolutionary poison that negates the leader’s role in the revolutionary struggle of the working class and leads to the abandonment of the revolution. The counterrevolutionary criminal acts of slandering the leaders of the working class in several countries are attributable to the emergence of revisionism. Great-power worshippers in our country once attempted to smuggle revisionist ideas into the country, but our Party resolutely rejected them. History teaches that any tolerance of revisionism in a socialist country will give way to bourgeois liberalization, corrupting the party, poisoning the people ideologically and causing the revolutionary cause pioneered by the leader to be abandoned unfinished. We should thoroughly reject revisionism in the future, too, and thus resolutely defend the revolutionary cause of Juche pioneered by Comrade Kim Il Sung through the generations and inherit it with credit. We must reject the bourgeois restorationism that is prevalent in several countries. Bourgeois restorationism is a trend of counterrevolutionary thought that turns socialism back into capitalism. Modern revisionism has now cast off its mask and has been revealed as bourgeois restorationism, which overtly turns socialism back into capitalism. The reality has clearly shown that social disorder, devastation, unemployment, poverty, crime and social evils, and not development and prosperity, prevail if socialism is turned back into capitalism. We should bring home to Party members and other working people the reactionary nature and perniciousness of bourgeois restorationism so that they exercise great vigilance against it.

    We should continue to pay attention to ensuring that great-power worship and dogmatism are not revived among the people. If they are influenced by these maladies, they will not follow their leader and Party, instead dancing to the tune of others, and in the end will disrupt the revolution and fail to defend the nation’s independence. Needless to say, great-power worship and dogmatism as ideological trends have been overcome in our country, but their remnants still remain. We should not remain indifferent to even the slightest manifestation of these maladies, and overcome them comprehensively.

    We should prepare the younger generation as communist revolutionaries of the Juche type. The first and second generations of the revolution pose no problem to the efforts to accomplish the leader’s cause. However, it is another matter with the third generation, who have grown up in a socialist society, free from exploitation and oppression and without experiencing hardship. There is no need to make them suffer exploitation and oppression on purpose or undergo such trials as experienced by their predecessors. The key to raising the younger generation as a revolutionary one that will carry forward the leader’s cause is ideological education and training. Education and training in the period of one’s childhood and youth have a great influence for the rest of one’s life. Being sensitive, young people are susceptible to either good or bad influences in their surroundings. This is why the imperialists and reactionaries are so tenacious in trying to blow the wind of liberalism into the minds of young people and students. The present ideological and spiritual state of our young people and students is laudable. Having seen the grand mass gymnastics performance given by the young people on this occasion, our foreign guests were envious of our excellent youth, saying that many countries had been ruined because their young people had received an improper education. We should feel proud of having such a sound and revolutionary generation. Even so, we should not rest on laurels, but further intensify the revolutionary education and training of our young people and students. In their education, it is of great importance to teach them properly about the principles of the Juche idea and our revolutionary traditions. The traditions of the anti-Japanese revolution that were established by Comrade Kim Il Sung are the most valuable revolutionary sustenance for the rising generation, who have not experienced the ordeals of the revolution, because these traditions incorporate the noble revolutionary spirit and lofty revolutionary exploits and experiences accumulated during the most arduous struggle. We should educate the younger generation in our revolutionary traditions in various forms and by various means so that they grow up into communist revolutionaries who resolutely fight for the victory of the revolutionary cause of Juche by displaying the same spirit and fortitude as those demonstrated by the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters when they fought on Mt. Paektu in support of Comrade Kim Il Sung. We should also encourage them to train themselves continuously through the practical efforts to defend the homeland and tackle the challenging and important tasks for socialist construction, devoting their wisdom and zeal.

    We should ensure that officials, Party members and other working people give full play to the revolutionary practice of giving one’s all for the benefit of the people. Comrade Kim Il Sung, who has devoted his whole life to the people, feels most satisfied when the work for the benefit of the people is done perfectly so that they are pleased. Devoting oneself to the people is the way to bring pleasure and satisfaction to him and to ensure him a long life in good health.

    To work faithfully for the people in our country today is to conduct socialist construction effectively so as to give full play to the advantages of socialism of our own style centred on the masses. Only then can the country be reunified at an early date and the revolutionary cause of Juche be completed as Comrade Kim Il Sung intends.

    Socialist construction is an undertaking to implement the lines and policies put forward by the Party and the leader. All officials, Party members and other working people should bring about an uninterrupted upsurge on all fronts of socialist construction by implementing the Party’s lines and policies to the letter.

    The Korean people are now filled with a firm conviction and fiery energy to battle forward resolutely along the road of socialism of our own style, displaying unfailing loyalty to the Party and the leader. The key is that officials should organize and guide the work as appropriate to the elevated spirit of the people. Officials should always think and plan their work properly to implement Party policies, and dovetail their organizational and political work so as to rally Party members and other working people to the undertaking.

    In mobilizing the people’s high revolutionary zeal and creative enthusiasm, it is very important for officials to employ a correct method and style of work.

    Our officials should serve the people faithfully, as Comrade Kim Il Sung has said, and make it a rule to go among the people and work by relying on them. To do so, they should have a revolutionary outlook on the masses and enhance their spirit of serving the people. It is also necessary to fight against the abuse of power, bureaucratism and other outmoded work practices and styles that have been revealed among officials. Recently we have achieved a certain degree of success in the struggle to wipe out the abuse of power and bureaucratism and establish a revolutionary work method and people-oriented style of work among them, but we must not rest content. Since the remnants of outdated ideas still remain in the minds of people and the ranks of cadres are constantly being replenished with the new generation who lack revolutionary training, we should conduct the struggle continuously; otherwise, the abuse of power and bureaucratism might revive.

    In order to rid officials of their outdated work practices and styles, we should intensify Party organizational life and conduct an ideological campaign. Priority in all work should be given to education, but we must never compromise with any infringement on the interests of the people. If officials encroach on the interests of the people by misusing their authority, we should take issue with it before it is too late, combat it strongly and apply Party or legal sanctions according to the severity of the case.

    In order to establish a revolutionary work method and people-oriented style of work, officials should make it their habit to go among the masses. Only when they work and live by mingling with the masses and listening to them will officials not act in a subjective and bureaucratic manner. Our Party has established a well-regulated system to ensure that officials go among the masses on a regular basis. All officials should, as required by the work system established by the Party, go among the masses, share good times and bad with them, and find prompt solutions to the problems they are facing. “We serve the people!”–this is a consistent slogan of the Party, and it is the Party’s demand that officials should not be separated from the masses even for a moment. It is an obligation for all officials to always go among the masses and serve them faithfully.

    It is a noble duty for our officials, Party members and other working people to add lustre to their honour in holding Comrade Kim Il Sung in high esteem through the generations, and herein lies the source of the eternal pride and happiness of our people. All officials, Party members and other working people must hold high the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung with loyalty and filial piety and thus further exalt the pride of the Korean nation and the honour of Juche Korea.