Dear comrades and friends,
We extend you the great Juche-Songun greetings and high appreciations for your firm support to our just struggle, and have the honor to send you President Kim Il Sung’s work “Let Us Intensify the Anti-Imperialist, Anti-US Struggle” on the occasion of its 43rd publishing anniversary hoping it to be conducive to your noble work.
We wish you good health and greater successes in your work.
Comradely yours,
Zo Il Min,
Representative of the Pyongyang Mission of the AINDF
August 9, Juche 99 (2010)
Pyongyang, DPRK
KIM IL SUNG
LET US INTENSIFY THE ANTI-IMPERIALIST, ANTI-US STRUGGLE
Article Published in the Inaugural Issue of the Theoretical Magazine Tricontinental,
Organ of the Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America
August 12, 1967
Two years ago the Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America was inaugurated in Havana , the capital of Cuba .
It was an event of enormous importance. The aims and ideas of this organization have aroused the sympathy of hundreds of millions of Asians, Africans and Latin Americans and are exerting a profound influence on the great changes taking place in the world today.
The peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America , who had been oppressed and plundered by Western capitalism and imperialism for centuries, have risen courageously and taken their place on the stage of history. The strong tide of national liberation is rising with an irresistible force. Hundreds of millions of people on the three continents are fighting for their freedom and are struggling to defend the revolutionary achievements they have already won. The colonial system of imperialism is rapidly disintegrating.
Imperialism is making desperate attempts to retain its former positions and regain its lost ground. As the dying hour of imperialism draws closer, the struggle is intensifying further. Thus, the peoples cannot but continue their struggle, holding high the banner of anti-imperialism, until imperialism is totally wiped off the face of the earth.
The newly independent countries which have thrown off the yoke of imperialism are confronted with the very difficult and important tasks of defending their national independence, carrying forward the revolution and aiding the liberation struggle of the peoples still chained by imperialism. The peoples who have won their independence must fight to crush the subversive activities of foreign imperialism and the domestic forces of reaction, tear down their economic strongholds, strengthen the revolutionary forces, set up a progressive social system and build an independent national economy and national culture. Only in this way can they protect the gains of the revolution, achieve the prosperity of their countries and nations and contribute to the common struggle of the peoples of the whole world to bury imperialism.
Asia, Africa and Latin America comprise 71 percent of the world’s land surface. These continents are inhabited by more than two-thirds of the world’s population and are blessed with inexhaustible natural resources. Imperialism has grown and become fat by grinding these peoples down and robbing them of their riches. Even today imperialism is squeezing tens of billions of dollars in profits from these areas every year. Once Asia, Africa and Latin America are completely freed from old and new colonialism, there will not be an imperialist Western Europe and an imperialist North America .
The struggle of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America against imperialism and colonialism is a sacred liberation struggle for hundreds of millions of oppressed and humiliated people; it is also a great battle to cut the life line of world imperialism. This struggle and the revolutionary struggle of the international working class for socialism are the two major revolutionary forces of our times, and they join into one stream which will carry imperialism to its grave.
The imperialists cannot bestow independence upon the colonial peoples. Is there any need to prove the falsity of the imperialists’ declaration that the Western world can help the peoples of the three continents to achieve independence and progress and can coexist with a free and independent Asia, Africa and Latin America ? The imperialist leopard cannot change his imperialist spots, and he never will. Imperialism will exploit, oppress and plunder the people until it meets its doom.
The oppressed peoples can liberate themselves only through struggle. This is a simple and clear truth confirmed by history. It is necessary to expose the false propaganda of the imperialists and thoroughly dispel the illusion that they will give up their positions in the colonies and dependent countries with a good will. Where there is oppression, there is bound to be resistance. It is inevitable that the oppressed peoples should fight for their emancipation. As long as imperialism plunders and oppresses small and weak nations by force, it remains an inalienable right of the oppressed nations to rise up in arms and fight against the aggressors.
It is wrong to try to avoid the struggle against imperialism under the pretext that independence and revolution are important, but that peace is still more precious. Is it not true that the line of seeking unprincipled compromise with imperialism only tends to encourage its aggressive actions and increase the danger of war? Peace secured by slavish submission is not peace. Genuine peace cannot be achieved unless a struggle is waged against those who break the peace, unless the slave’s peace is rejected and the oppressors’ rule overthrown. We are opposed to the line of compromise with imperialism. At the same time, we cannot tolerate the practice of only denouncing imperialism but, in actual fact, being afraid to fight it. This is a line of compromise in an inverted form. Both have nothing to do with a genuine anti-imperialist struggle and only help the imperialist policy of aggression and war.
It is most important, when fighting against imperialism, to concentrate the attack on US imperialism, the ringleader of world imperialism.
By stretching out its aggressive tentacles all over the world, US imperialism has become the common enemy of all peoples of the world. There is no country on earth whose sovereignty is not violated by US imperialism; there is no country which is free from the menace of US imperialist aggression. The US imperialists are brutally suppressing the liberation struggle of the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America and constantly perpetrating acts of aggression and subversion to re-enslave the newly independent countries. Bluntly revealing their true colours as gangsters, the US imperialists are waging a war of aggression against a socialist country and interfering in the domestic affairs of other countries by force of arms. Over the past 20-odd years since the end of World War II, not a day has gone by which has not witnessed the flames of aggression and war kindled by US imperialism. US imperialism is, indeed, the most heinous and shameless plunderer known to history. It is the US imperialists themselves who are causing peoples all over the world calling for peace, independence and progress, to unite in a common front against US imperialism.
The peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America have common interests and are in a position to support each other in their anti-imperialist, anti-US struggle. As long as Africa and Latin America are not free, Asia cannot be free; driving the US imperialists out of Asia will benefit the liberation struggle of the African and Latin-American peoples. Victory over US imperialism on one front will sap its strength and facilitate victory on other fronts by that much. If the US imperialist forces of aggression are defeated in any part of the world, it will be a very good thing for all the peoples of the world. It is necessary, therefore, to form the broadest possible anti-US united front to isolate US imperialism completely, and strike it in unison wherever it extends its talons of aggression, This alone will make it possible to disperse and weaken the force of US imperialism to the maximum and to lead the people with their unquestionably superior power to defeat US imperialism on all fronts.
For more than 20 years the US imperialists have been occupying the southern half of our country. They have enforced colonial rule in south Korea and turned it into a military base for their aggression against the whole of Korea and Asia . In spite of their ignominious defeat in the aggressive war against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , the US imperialists have not yet given up their aggressive design to conquer the whole of Korea and are unceasingly planning to unleash another war in Korea . The supreme task of the Korean people at this time is to liquidate the colonial system of US imperialism in south Korea , accomplish the national-liberation revolution and reunite the country. For the Korean people to achieve the cause of national liberation, forces must be prepared along three fronts: strengthen the socialist forces in north Korea ; increase and augment the revolutionary forces in south Korea ; and develop the international revolutionary movement and strengthen solidarity with it. North Korea is the base of the Korean revolution. The successes of socialist construction there encourage the south Korean people in their anti-US, national-salvation struggle and stimulate the preparation of revolutionary forces in south Korea . We are striving to strengthen and develop the revolutionary forces in north and south Korea and, at the same time, to cement solidarity with the international revolutionary forces. The Korean people support the struggle of the peoples of all countries against US imperialism, and regard it as support for their own cause of liberation. We maintain that all the anti-imperialist forces of the world should unite in a joint struggle against US imperialism, and we have been working consistently to achieve this goal.
The US imperialists are more afraid of the united strength of the revolutionary peoples of the world than of anything else. That is why they are resorting to all kinds of tricks to obstruct the formation of an anti-US united front and are using the strategy of conquering small, weak countries one by one. This strategy of US imperialism must be thoroughly frustrated. The Asian, African and Latin-American countries have differing social systems, and there are many parties and groupings with divergent political views there. But all these countries, parties and groupings—except the stooges of imperialism—have a common interest in opposing the imperialist forces of aggression headed by US imperialism. The difference in social systems and political ideas can never be an obstacle to united struggle and concerted action against US imperialism. No one must be allowed to divide the anti-US united front or refuse joint action, claiming primary importance for his own specific national or partisan interests. Such an act will only benefit imperialism led by US imperialism and harm the revolutionary peoples.
It is very important in the joint struggle against imperialism to defend the revolution which has already triumphed.
It is an internationalist duty of all the revolutionary peoples to fight to defend the gains of the Cuban revolution. Revolutionary Cuba represents the future of Latin America , and its very existence encourages the peoples of that continent in their liberation movement. The triumph of the Cuban revolution is striking evidence that imperialism is doomed and that the national-liberation revolution and people’s revolution will assuredly triumph in our times. It is for this very reason that the US imperialists hate and fear this small island country so much. They are trying to strangle the Republic of Cuba . The peoples of Latin America and the progressive peoples of the whole world must do everything in their power to foil the US imperialists’ blockade policy against the Republic of Cuba and frustrate their preparations for a military invasion of Cuba .
Today the Vietnamese people’s war of resistance for national salvation against the US expeditionary forces has become the focal point of the anti-imperialist struggle. The US imperialist forces of aggression and the anti-imperialist, peace-loving forces of the world are having a showdown in Vietnam . The US troops are suffering one defeat after another in face of the heroic resistance of the Vietnamese people and are being driven into a corner. Contrary to the expectations of the US imperialists, the Vietnam war has become a grave for the aggressors. The Vietnamese people’s war of resistance for national salvation is another graphic example that a people who are determined to defend their independence and freedom at any cost, and who have the support of the peoples of the whole world, cannot be defeated.
At present, the US imperialists are escalating the war, continuously reinforcing their own military strength in South Vietnam , bringing in more troops from their satellite countries, and perpetrating the extensive aerial and artillery bombardment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
The Vietnamese people, through their heroic struggle, are shouldering the enormous burden of resisting the aggression of the most barbarous and most heinous imperialism of modern times. They are fighting not only to defend their independence and freedom, but also to safeguard world peace and security. Once US imperialist aggression against Vietnam is checked and frustrated, US imperialism will sink like the setting sun and the situation will be more favourable for the peoples of all countries fighting for peace, independence and progress. The peace-loving peoples of the whole world have a duty to give all forms of aid to the Vietnamese people, and the Vietnamese people are entitled to receive it. The peoples of the socialist and the newly independent states and the peoples of all countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the rest of the world should make the greatest efforts to broaden the anti-US united front, to aid the Vietnamese people in their war of resistance for national salvation and, through concerted action, check US imperialist aggression. No one has the right to force a solution of their internal affairs on the Vietnamese people. The US armed forces of aggression must withdraw from Vietnam and the Vietnamese question must be settled by the Vietnamese people themselves.
We must neither underestimate nor overestimate the strength of US imperialism. US imperialism can still commit many crimes. But it is on the decline. Today when US imperialism is behaving most outrageously, its vulnerability is more evident than ever before. The Korean people know what US imperialism is. Our people have fought US imperialism, and defended their country against its aggression. The Korean war showed that US imperialism is by no means invincible, and that it is quite possible to fight it and defeat it. The triumph of the Cuban revolution again proved this truth under conditions which were different from ours. The Vietnamese people’s war of resistance for national salvation also clearly confirms this truth.
US imperialism is doomed to complete destruction. Through a unified struggle against imperialism headed by US imperialism, the peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin America will build a new, independent and prosperous Asia, Africa and Latin America , and will make a great contribution to world peace and to the liberation of mankind.
Wednesday 11 August 2010
Thursday 5 August 2010
Pyongyang Mission of the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front
Website: www. aindf.dyndns.org/kuguk8/Title1.htm
E-Mail: ndfsk@celery.ocn.ne.jp
Dear comrades and friends,
We extend you the great Juche-Songun greetings and high appreciations and have the honor to send you Leader Kim Jong IL’s work “LET US CARRY OUT THE GREAT LEADER COMRADE KIM IL SUNG'S INSTRUCTIONS FOR NATIONAL REUNIFICATION” (part 2) on the occasion of its 13th publishing anniversary hoping it to be conducive to your noble work.
We wish you good health and greater successes in your work.
With best regards,
Zo Il Min,
Representative of the Pyongyang Mission of the AINDF
August 3, Juche 99 (2010)
Pyongyang, DPRK
KIM JONG IL
LET US CARRY OUT THE GREAT LEADER COMRADE KIM IL SUNG'S INSTRUCTIONS
FOR NATIONAL REUNIFICATION
August 4, 1997
Reunifying the country in our generation without fail by carrying forward the cause of the country's reunification pioneered and guided by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung is a firm decision of our Party and a revolutionary will of our people.
The territorial partition and the division of the nation lasting over half a century are obstructing the uniform development of our nation with a history of 5,000 years and causing immeasurable misfortunes and sufferings to all our nation.
If we fail to reunify the country in our generation, the new generations will also suffer the tragedy of national division, even the national community between the north and the south will disappear and the nation will remain divided forever. When the imperialist colonial system has collapsed and all the countries and nations that were once oppressed are advancing along the road of independence, it is an intolerable national shame that our nation that values its dignity and honor as lifeblood has to see its sovereignty trampled upon by foreign forces.
We must achieve the cause of the country's reunification, the lifelong will of respected Comrade Kim Il Sung and the vital demand of the nation. National reunification is the greatest national task that must not be delayed any longer.
We must reunify the country at all costs and put an end to the tragic history of national division, the history of disgrace. By reunifying the country, we must save the destiny of the nation from the crisis, hand down the reunified country to the coming generations and defend and exalt the dignity and honor of the nation.
In order to reunify the country, we must defend the imperishable achievements which the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung made for national reunification all his life and carry out the Juche-orientated line and policy for national reunification.
The three charters for the country's reunification set forth by the great leader are the programmatic guide which all our nation that desires reunification must support. The specific method may change in the struggle for the country's reunification with the change in the situation, but the basic principles and standpoint for the country's reunification can never change. In the future we must reunify the country on the basis of the three charters for the country's reunification no matter how the situation and circumstance may change. To maintain the Juche character and preserve the national character in shaping the destiny of the country and the nation is a principled requirement for the country's independence, sovereignty and growth in its wealth and strength and for the prosperity of the nation.
By adhering to the Juche character and the national character and brilliantly embodying them during the whole period of his leadership of our revolution, the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung achieved the historic cause of national liberation, established a powerful socialist state that is independent, self-sufficient and self-reliant in defense and ensured the display of our nation's unfathomable strength, talent and unbreakable spirit to the whole world.
The lines and charters for the country's reunification advanced by Comrade Kim Il Sung are motivated by the principled requirement for adhering to the Juche character and the national character and are permeated with them.
To thoroughly maintain and embody the Juche character and the national character in the struggle for the reunification and independence of the country is the basic guarantee for reunifying the country successfully in accordance with the interests and desire of our nation. The country must be reunified at all events on the principle of national independence. Maintenance of the principle of national independence is fundamental to adhering to the Juche character and the national character.
All nations have the right to shape their destiny by their own hands and independently according to their will.
Nobody can deprive a nation of its right to independence or infringe upon it. Since the reunification of our country is an affair of our nation and concerns its right to independence, our nation must achieve it by its own efforts as the master in accordance with its independent will and desire. In order to reunify the country on the principle of national independence, all the members of the nation must arm themselves firmly with the consciousness of national independence and thoroughly oppose and reject flunkeyism and the idea of dependence on foreign forces.
The consciousness of national independence is an ideological strength which makes the nation powerful and the country prosper, whereas flunkeyism and the idea of dependence on foreign forces are an ideological poison that makes a nation disgraceful and powerless.
That flunkeyism and the idea of dependence on foreign forces lead to the ruin of the nation is the serious and bitter lesson our nation learned through a long history of national suffering. Our country was occupied by the Japanese imperialists, the early communist movement failed, and the nationalist movement suffered frustration because, in the final analysis, of flunkeyism which meant disbelieving its own strength and grovel before big powers. Even after the liberation of the country, the successive rulers of south Korea committed anti-reunification treachery to the country and the nation, with the backing of the United States , following its aggressive policy.
Attempting to find a solution to the problem of national reunification and to win back the sovereignty of the nation by depending on foreign forces is a foolish act which is tantamount to putting one's neck into the noose of slavery of its own accord.
In order to keep the sovereignty and dignity of the nation and to reunify the country in accordance with the will and interests of the nation, we must reject flunkeyism and dependence on foreign forces and resolutely fight against the aggression and interference of foreign forces. We will never allow any attempt to realize an aggressive and dominationist ambition through interference in our country's reunification.
We must struggle more strongly for the country's reunification upholding the banner of national independence and thus achieve the complete independence and sovereignty of the country and the nation. In order to reunify the country independently, we must build up the force of our own nation. The great unity of the entire nation is the decisive guarantee for the independent and peaceful reunification of the country.
Our nation is directly responsible for national reunification, and no one can take our place in the struggle to reunify our country. Only when the entire nation is united firmly under the banner of great national unity and strengthens the driving force of national reunification can we defeat the attempts of the divisive forces at home and abroad and accomplish the cause of the country's reunification. In order to achieve great national unity we should put the common interests of the nation above all else, relegating the differences in thoughts, ideas and systems to the background, and hold fast to the principle of uniting on this basis. The country's reunification is not a matter of settling any class contradictions within our nation or antagonism between social systems; it is the national cause of establishing the nation's sovereignty all over the country. No class or stratum can exist outside the nation and no independence for the members of the nation can be ensured without the independence of the nation.
Today when reunifying the country is the supreme task of the nation, no class or stratum should place their interests above the common national interests. No matter how great the difference in ideologies and systems existing in the north and south may be, it cannot be greater than our national community which has been formed and consolidated and developed over a long period of history. When the north and the south put the national community and the common national interests to the fore and desire the country's reunification, they can achieve the great unity of the entire nation transcending differences in ideologies and social systems.
Love for the country and the nation is the common ideological feeling of all members of the nation and the ideological basis of national unity. To love ardently the country and the nation and value most the national dignity are our nation's proud tradition and the national characteristics. Anyone who has the blood and soul of the Korean nation must treasure and preserve the admirable national character of the Korean people.
Today the true value and worth of life for the Koreans lie in linking their destiny with the destiny of the nation and devoting themselves heart and soul to the noble cause of the country's reunification and independence and the prosperity of the nation. Everyone who loves the country and the nation and is concerned over their destiny whether he or she lives in the north, in the south or abroad, must unite firmly under the banner of national reunification, regardless of the differences in ideologies and ideas, religious beliefs and political views, class and stratum.
We maintain that the north and the south join their efforts to promote co-existence, co-prosperity and common interests and achieve the great cause of the country's reunification transcending the differences in ideologies and social systems. We will join hands with those who take the road of national reunification with national conscience, regardless of their ideas and religious beliefs, and even if they are capitalists, army generals or high authorities. Even those who have committed crimes against the nation in the past, if they repent of their mistakes and come round to the side of the nation, we will cross off all their past, treat them with generosity and unite with them.
Our Party's line and policy for great national unity constitute all-embracing politics based on love for the country, nation and people. Our consistent policy is to pursue all-embracing politics invariably in the whole process of the struggle for the reunification, independence, and prosperity of the country. The line of great national unity which fully embodies the idea of love for the country, nation and people has fully demonstrated its validity and vitality in the long-drawn-out struggle for the restoration of the fatherland, for the building of a new society and for national reunification. We will respect the ideologies, ideas and religions of all parties, organizations and people that aspire after patriotism and turn out for the cause of reunification, and unite with them, thereby fulfilling our duty and remaining loyal to the nation.
Reunifying the country in a peaceful way without recourse to the armed forces is our principled position and the consistent line of our Party. There is no reason why we fellow countrymen should fight among ourselves on the question of national reunification. The difference in thoughts and systems existing in the north and the south is not a ground for the use of armed forces.
One cannot accept any idea and system under coercion and the difference in ideologies and systems between the north and the south cannot be abolished by a coercive method. If the north and the south fight against each other, our nation will suffer the ravages of war and the imperialists will profit from it. The peaceful reunification of Korea is not only the desire of our nation but also the aspiration of the peace-loving people of the world.
Everyone who loves the country and nation and values peace must exert all his or her efforts for the peaceful reunification of the country. In order to ensure peace in the Korean Peninsula and achieve the peaceful reunification of the country we must oppose the moves towards aggression and war and eliminate the danger of war. Without the struggle against the moves towards aggression and war, it would be impossible to ensure peace and think of peaceful reunification.
At present, the maneuvers of the United States and the south Korean rulers against socialism and our Republic have aggravated the tension and created the danger of war breaking out in the Korean Peninsula any minute.
The question of easing the tension and removing the danger of war in our country can be settled, before all else, when the United States gives up its hostile policy against our Republic and a peace treaty is concluded between the DPRK and the U.S. Our Republic and the United States are still in the state of temporary armistice and the danger of war has not been dispelled from our country. In order to remove the danger of war and ensure peace, a peace treaty must be concluded between DPRK and the United States and a new peace-keeping mechanism must be established. In addition, it is imperative to reaffirm the nonaggression agreement between the north and the south already published to the world and implement it thoroughly.
Although the United States clamors about "the end of Cold War" and "easing of the tension", it is invariably resorting to the "policy of power", threatening us with ceaseless military exercises and aggressive maneuvers and instigating the south Korean rulers to war provocation hullabaloo. Trying to bring us to our knees by military threat or pressure is a foolish attempt and a dangerous act.
We will defend our socialism firmly and never tolerate anyone to infringe upon the sovereignty and dignity of our nation. Strengthening the revolutionary armed forces to defend the security of the country and people against the moves of the imperialists and the south Korean rulers to provoke a war is a natural step to self-defense. The imperialist war-maniacs should refrain from attempting to test our military power by means of their armed forces or to frighten or bring our people to their knees by military threat and provocations.
Such a reckless act will be a dangerous adventure which may end in inviting a terrible catastrophe to themselves. We never want war; we are making consistent efforts to reunify the country peacefully. The most reasonable way to settle the question of Korean reunification smoothly is to reunify the country on the basis of federation. Our nation wants to reunify the country as soon as possible in a reasonable way acceptable to everyone. Over half a century has passed since the different systems were established in the north and the south.
If, in these circumstances, one side tries to reunify the country under its system, it will further aggravate the state of division, let alone reunification, and end in an irretrievable national disaster. In view of the urgent requirement of our nation and the situation in the country, the best way to reunify the country as soon as possible is to establish a unified nation-state of federation based on one nation, one state, two systems and two governments. Reunification through federation is a fair and rational way for reunification which does not attach weight to the advantages or interests of only one side or harm any side. Federal reunification will also contribute to removing the danger of war always hanging over the Korean Peninsula and ensuring peace and security of the world.
If the country is reunified by federation, our nation will establish sovereignty throughout the country and achieve great unity as one nation; o ur country will become a unified nation-state, independent, peace-loving and neutral. The reunified federal state will not infringe upon the interests of neighboring countries and threaten them. We will advance dynamically along the road of national reunification under the banner of the three charters of national reunification set forth by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung without a slightest vacillation in any difficulty and trial.
Website: www. aindf.dyndns.org/kuguk8/Title1.htm
E-Mail: ndfsk@celery.ocn.ne.jp
Dear comrades and friends,
We extend you the great Juche-Songun greetings and high appreciations and have the honor to send you Leader Kim Jong IL’s work “LET US CARRY OUT THE GREAT LEADER COMRADE KIM IL SUNG'S INSTRUCTIONS FOR NATIONAL REUNIFICATION” (part 2) on the occasion of its 13th publishing anniversary hoping it to be conducive to your noble work.
We wish you good health and greater successes in your work.
With best regards,
Zo Il Min,
Representative of the Pyongyang Mission of the AINDF
August 3, Juche 99 (2010)
Pyongyang, DPRK
KIM JONG IL
LET US CARRY OUT THE GREAT LEADER COMRADE KIM IL SUNG'S INSTRUCTIONS
FOR NATIONAL REUNIFICATION
August 4, 1997
Reunifying the country in our generation without fail by carrying forward the cause of the country's reunification pioneered and guided by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung is a firm decision of our Party and a revolutionary will of our people.
The territorial partition and the division of the nation lasting over half a century are obstructing the uniform development of our nation with a history of 5,000 years and causing immeasurable misfortunes and sufferings to all our nation.
If we fail to reunify the country in our generation, the new generations will also suffer the tragedy of national division, even the national community between the north and the south will disappear and the nation will remain divided forever. When the imperialist colonial system has collapsed and all the countries and nations that were once oppressed are advancing along the road of independence, it is an intolerable national shame that our nation that values its dignity and honor as lifeblood has to see its sovereignty trampled upon by foreign forces.
We must achieve the cause of the country's reunification, the lifelong will of respected Comrade Kim Il Sung and the vital demand of the nation. National reunification is the greatest national task that must not be delayed any longer.
We must reunify the country at all costs and put an end to the tragic history of national division, the history of disgrace. By reunifying the country, we must save the destiny of the nation from the crisis, hand down the reunified country to the coming generations and defend and exalt the dignity and honor of the nation.
In order to reunify the country, we must defend the imperishable achievements which the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung made for national reunification all his life and carry out the Juche-orientated line and policy for national reunification.
The three charters for the country's reunification set forth by the great leader are the programmatic guide which all our nation that desires reunification must support. The specific method may change in the struggle for the country's reunification with the change in the situation, but the basic principles and standpoint for the country's reunification can never change. In the future we must reunify the country on the basis of the three charters for the country's reunification no matter how the situation and circumstance may change. To maintain the Juche character and preserve the national character in shaping the destiny of the country and the nation is a principled requirement for the country's independence, sovereignty and growth in its wealth and strength and for the prosperity of the nation.
By adhering to the Juche character and the national character and brilliantly embodying them during the whole period of his leadership of our revolution, the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung achieved the historic cause of national liberation, established a powerful socialist state that is independent, self-sufficient and self-reliant in defense and ensured the display of our nation's unfathomable strength, talent and unbreakable spirit to the whole world.
The lines and charters for the country's reunification advanced by Comrade Kim Il Sung are motivated by the principled requirement for adhering to the Juche character and the national character and are permeated with them.
To thoroughly maintain and embody the Juche character and the national character in the struggle for the reunification and independence of the country is the basic guarantee for reunifying the country successfully in accordance with the interests and desire of our nation. The country must be reunified at all events on the principle of national independence. Maintenance of the principle of national independence is fundamental to adhering to the Juche character and the national character.
All nations have the right to shape their destiny by their own hands and independently according to their will.
Nobody can deprive a nation of its right to independence or infringe upon it. Since the reunification of our country is an affair of our nation and concerns its right to independence, our nation must achieve it by its own efforts as the master in accordance with its independent will and desire. In order to reunify the country on the principle of national independence, all the members of the nation must arm themselves firmly with the consciousness of national independence and thoroughly oppose and reject flunkeyism and the idea of dependence on foreign forces.
The consciousness of national independence is an ideological strength which makes the nation powerful and the country prosper, whereas flunkeyism and the idea of dependence on foreign forces are an ideological poison that makes a nation disgraceful and powerless.
That flunkeyism and the idea of dependence on foreign forces lead to the ruin of the nation is the serious and bitter lesson our nation learned through a long history of national suffering. Our country was occupied by the Japanese imperialists, the early communist movement failed, and the nationalist movement suffered frustration because, in the final analysis, of flunkeyism which meant disbelieving its own strength and grovel before big powers. Even after the liberation of the country, the successive rulers of south Korea committed anti-reunification treachery to the country and the nation, with the backing of the United States , following its aggressive policy.
Attempting to find a solution to the problem of national reunification and to win back the sovereignty of the nation by depending on foreign forces is a foolish act which is tantamount to putting one's neck into the noose of slavery of its own accord.
In order to keep the sovereignty and dignity of the nation and to reunify the country in accordance with the will and interests of the nation, we must reject flunkeyism and dependence on foreign forces and resolutely fight against the aggression and interference of foreign forces. We will never allow any attempt to realize an aggressive and dominationist ambition through interference in our country's reunification.
We must struggle more strongly for the country's reunification upholding the banner of national independence and thus achieve the complete independence and sovereignty of the country and the nation. In order to reunify the country independently, we must build up the force of our own nation. The great unity of the entire nation is the decisive guarantee for the independent and peaceful reunification of the country.
Our nation is directly responsible for national reunification, and no one can take our place in the struggle to reunify our country. Only when the entire nation is united firmly under the banner of great national unity and strengthens the driving force of national reunification can we defeat the attempts of the divisive forces at home and abroad and accomplish the cause of the country's reunification. In order to achieve great national unity we should put the common interests of the nation above all else, relegating the differences in thoughts, ideas and systems to the background, and hold fast to the principle of uniting on this basis. The country's reunification is not a matter of settling any class contradictions within our nation or antagonism between social systems; it is the national cause of establishing the nation's sovereignty all over the country. No class or stratum can exist outside the nation and no independence for the members of the nation can be ensured without the independence of the nation.
Today when reunifying the country is the supreme task of the nation, no class or stratum should place their interests above the common national interests. No matter how great the difference in ideologies and systems existing in the north and south may be, it cannot be greater than our national community which has been formed and consolidated and developed over a long period of history. When the north and the south put the national community and the common national interests to the fore and desire the country's reunification, they can achieve the great unity of the entire nation transcending differences in ideologies and social systems.
Love for the country and the nation is the common ideological feeling of all members of the nation and the ideological basis of national unity. To love ardently the country and the nation and value most the national dignity are our nation's proud tradition and the national characteristics. Anyone who has the blood and soul of the Korean nation must treasure and preserve the admirable national character of the Korean people.
Today the true value and worth of life for the Koreans lie in linking their destiny with the destiny of the nation and devoting themselves heart and soul to the noble cause of the country's reunification and independence and the prosperity of the nation. Everyone who loves the country and the nation and is concerned over their destiny whether he or she lives in the north, in the south or abroad, must unite firmly under the banner of national reunification, regardless of the differences in ideologies and ideas, religious beliefs and political views, class and stratum.
We maintain that the north and the south join their efforts to promote co-existence, co-prosperity and common interests and achieve the great cause of the country's reunification transcending the differences in ideologies and social systems. We will join hands with those who take the road of national reunification with national conscience, regardless of their ideas and religious beliefs, and even if they are capitalists, army generals or high authorities. Even those who have committed crimes against the nation in the past, if they repent of their mistakes and come round to the side of the nation, we will cross off all their past, treat them with generosity and unite with them.
Our Party's line and policy for great national unity constitute all-embracing politics based on love for the country, nation and people. Our consistent policy is to pursue all-embracing politics invariably in the whole process of the struggle for the reunification, independence, and prosperity of the country. The line of great national unity which fully embodies the idea of love for the country, nation and people has fully demonstrated its validity and vitality in the long-drawn-out struggle for the restoration of the fatherland, for the building of a new society and for national reunification. We will respect the ideologies, ideas and religions of all parties, organizations and people that aspire after patriotism and turn out for the cause of reunification, and unite with them, thereby fulfilling our duty and remaining loyal to the nation.
Reunifying the country in a peaceful way without recourse to the armed forces is our principled position and the consistent line of our Party. There is no reason why we fellow countrymen should fight among ourselves on the question of national reunification. The difference in thoughts and systems existing in the north and the south is not a ground for the use of armed forces.
One cannot accept any idea and system under coercion and the difference in ideologies and systems between the north and the south cannot be abolished by a coercive method. If the north and the south fight against each other, our nation will suffer the ravages of war and the imperialists will profit from it. The peaceful reunification of Korea is not only the desire of our nation but also the aspiration of the peace-loving people of the world.
Everyone who loves the country and nation and values peace must exert all his or her efforts for the peaceful reunification of the country. In order to ensure peace in the Korean Peninsula and achieve the peaceful reunification of the country we must oppose the moves towards aggression and war and eliminate the danger of war. Without the struggle against the moves towards aggression and war, it would be impossible to ensure peace and think of peaceful reunification.
At present, the maneuvers of the United States and the south Korean rulers against socialism and our Republic have aggravated the tension and created the danger of war breaking out in the Korean Peninsula any minute.
The question of easing the tension and removing the danger of war in our country can be settled, before all else, when the United States gives up its hostile policy against our Republic and a peace treaty is concluded between the DPRK and the U.S. Our Republic and the United States are still in the state of temporary armistice and the danger of war has not been dispelled from our country. In order to remove the danger of war and ensure peace, a peace treaty must be concluded between DPRK and the United States and a new peace-keeping mechanism must be established. In addition, it is imperative to reaffirm the nonaggression agreement between the north and the south already published to the world and implement it thoroughly.
Although the United States clamors about "the end of Cold War" and "easing of the tension", it is invariably resorting to the "policy of power", threatening us with ceaseless military exercises and aggressive maneuvers and instigating the south Korean rulers to war provocation hullabaloo. Trying to bring us to our knees by military threat or pressure is a foolish attempt and a dangerous act.
We will defend our socialism firmly and never tolerate anyone to infringe upon the sovereignty and dignity of our nation. Strengthening the revolutionary armed forces to defend the security of the country and people against the moves of the imperialists and the south Korean rulers to provoke a war is a natural step to self-defense. The imperialist war-maniacs should refrain from attempting to test our military power by means of their armed forces or to frighten or bring our people to their knees by military threat and provocations.
Such a reckless act will be a dangerous adventure which may end in inviting a terrible catastrophe to themselves. We never want war; we are making consistent efforts to reunify the country peacefully. The most reasonable way to settle the question of Korean reunification smoothly is to reunify the country on the basis of federation. Our nation wants to reunify the country as soon as possible in a reasonable way acceptable to everyone. Over half a century has passed since the different systems were established in the north and the south.
If, in these circumstances, one side tries to reunify the country under its system, it will further aggravate the state of division, let alone reunification, and end in an irretrievable national disaster. In view of the urgent requirement of our nation and the situation in the country, the best way to reunify the country as soon as possible is to establish a unified nation-state of federation based on one nation, one state, two systems and two governments. Reunification through federation is a fair and rational way for reunification which does not attach weight to the advantages or interests of only one side or harm any side. Federal reunification will also contribute to removing the danger of war always hanging over the Korean Peninsula and ensuring peace and security of the world.
If the country is reunified by federation, our nation will establish sovereignty throughout the country and achieve great unity as one nation; o ur country will become a unified nation-state, independent, peace-loving and neutral. The reunified federal state will not infringe upon the interests of neighboring countries and threaten them. We will advance dynamically along the road of national reunification under the banner of the three charters of national reunification set forth by the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung without a slightest vacillation in any difficulty and trial.
Tuesday 27 July 2010
From the AINDF
Dear comrades and friends,
We extend you the great Juche-Songun greetings and high appreciations and have the honor to send you Leader Kim Jong IL’s historic work “THE JUCHE PHILOSOPHY IS AN ORIGINAL REVOLUTIONARY PHILOSOPHY” on its 14th publishing anniversary, hoping it to be conducive to your noble work.
We wish you good health and more achievements in your work.
Comradely regards,
Zo Il Min,
Representative of the Pyongyang Mission of the AINDF
July 24, Juche 99 (2010)
Pyongyang, DPRK
KIM JONG IL
THE JUCHE PHILOSOPHY IS AN ORIGINAL REVOLUTIONARY PHILOSOPHY
Discourse Published in Kulloja, Theoretical Magazine of the Central Committee of
the Worker’s Party of Korea
July 26, 1996
An opinion has recently been raised that some of our social scientists had expressed a wrong view contrary to our Party’s idea in explaining the Juche philosophy, that this view had been disseminated abroad as well.
These social scientists still attempt to explain the basic principles of the Juche philosophy from the point of view of the general law of the development of the material world, instead of explaining them in the direction of clarifying the law of social movement. The proponents of this view say that their argument is aimed at proving that the Juche philosophy is a new development also of Marxist materialistic dialectics. In explaining and propagating the Juche philosophy we do not need to convince people that the Juche philosophy is a new development of Marxist materialistic dialectics. It is true that our Party has not taken a dogmatic approach to Marxist materialistic dialectics but analysed it from the point of view of Juche and has given new explanations to a number of problems. However, some development of materialism and dialectics does not constitute the basic content of the Juche philosophy.
The Juche philosophy is an original philosophy which has been evolved and systematized with its own principles. The historic contribution made by the Juche philosophy to the development of philosophical thoughts lies not in its advancement of Marxist materialistic dialectics, but in its clarification of new philosophical principles centred on man.
The Marxist philosophy raised the relationship between material and consciousness, between being and thinking, as the fundamental question of philosophy and proved the primacy of material, the primacy of being and, on this basis, elucidated that the world is made of material and changed and developed by the motion of material. The Juche philosophy has raised the relationship between the world and man, and man’s position and role in the world, as the fundamental question of philosophy, clarified the philosophical principle that man is the master of everything and that he decides everything and, on this basis, illuminated the absolutely correct way of shaping man’s destiny. The Marxist philosophy raised as its major task the clarification of the essence of the material world and the general law of its motion, whereas the Juche philosophy has raised as its important task the elucidation of man’s essential characteristics and the law of social movement, man’s movement. Therefore, the Juche philosophy is an original philosophy which is fundamentally different from the preceding philosophy in its task and principles. That is why we should not understand the Juche philosophy as a philosophy that has developed materialistic dialectics, nor should we attempt to prove the originality and advantages of the Juche philosophy by arguing one way or the other about the essence of the material world and the way or the other about the essence of the material world and the general law of its motion which were clarified by the Marxist philosophy. You cannot explain the Juche philosophy in the framework of the preceding philosophy because it is a philosophy that has clarified new philosophical principles. If you attempt to do so, you will not only fail to prove the originality of the Juche philosophy, but instead make it obscure and fail to understand the essence of Juche philosophy correctly.
Having defined the essential qualities of man for the first time in history, the Juche philosophy has held up man as the best qualified and most powerful being in the world and advanced a new idea on the world that the world is dominated and transformed by man.
The new outlook on the world established by the Juche philosophy does not deny the world outlook of dialectical materialism. The Juche philosophy regards the world outlook of dialectical materialism as its premise. The Juche view of the world that the world is dominated and transformed by man is inconceivable separately from the materialistic dialectical understanding of the essence of the objective material world and the general law of its motion. From the idealistic view that the world is something mysterious you cannot draw the conclusion that man dominates the world, and from the metaphysical view that the world is immutable you cannot infer that man can transform the world. The Juche view of the world that the world is dominated and transformed by man can only be established when the materialistic dialectical understanding of the world that the world is made of material and ceaselessly changes and develops is recognized. In spite of a number of limitations and immaturities of the Marxist materialistic dialectics, its basic principles are scientific and valid. That is why we say that the Juche philosophy regards materialistic dialectics as its premise.
That the world outlook of the materialistic dialectics is the premise for the Juche philosophy does not mean that the Juche philosophy has merely inherited and developed the materialistic dialectical understanding of the objective material world, you cannot draw the conclusion that man is the master of the world and plays a decisive role in transforming the world simply from the proposition of materialism that the world is made of material and from the dialectical principle that the world ceaselessly changes and develops. Only on the basis of the clarification of man’s essential qualities which distinguish man radically from all the other material beings can man’s outstanding position and role as the master of the world capable of transforming the world be clarified. Only on the basis of man’s essential qualities as a social being with independence, creativity and consciousness as scientifically clarified by the Juche philosophy has the basic principle that man is the master of the world and plays the decisive role in transforming the world been clarified.
By establishing the Juche outlook on social history, the Juche view of history, on the basis of the man-centered philosophical principle, the Juche philosophy has overcome the limitations of the preceding socio-historical view and effected a radical change in the socio-historical view and standpoint.
Marxist philosophy established socio-historical view of dialectical materialism, historical materialism, through the application of the general law of the development of the material world to social history. Of course, we do not deny the historic merit of historical materialism. Historical materialism made an important contribution to defeating the reactionary and unscientific socio-historical view which was based on idealism and metaphysics. In addition, since man lies in the objective material world and society is inseparably linked with nature, the general law of the development of the material world acts on social phenomena. However, if you overlook the social movement being governed by its own law and apply the general law of the development of the material world mechanically to social phenomena, you cannot avoid acquiring one-sided understanding of social history.
The social movement changes and develops according to its own law.
The social movement is the movement of man who dominates and transforms the world, man transforms nature to dominate and transform the objective material world. By transforming nature man creates material wealth and material conditions for his life.
Transforming nature and creating material wealth is the endeavour to satisfy people’s social cooperation. People transform society to improve and perfect the relations of social cooperation. It is man who transforms both nature and society. While transforming nature and society, man transforms and develops himself continuously. The domination and transformation of the world by man are realized after all through the transformation of nature, society and himself, and the popular masses are the motive force of this undertaking. The popular masses create all the material and cultural wealth of society and develop social relations.
The social movement, the driving force of which is the popular masses, has characteristics which are different from those of the motion of nature. In nature motion takes place spontaneously through the interaction of material elements which exist objectively, whereas the social movement is caused and developed by the volitional action and role of the driving force.
Therefore, if you apply the principles of materialistic dialectics which explain the general law of the development of the material world mechanically to social history, you cannot clarify correctly the essence of society and the law of social movement. The major limitation of the materialistic conception of history is that it failed to correctly expound the peculiar law of the social movement and explained the principles of the social movement mainly on the basis of the common character of the motion of nature and the social movement in that both of them are the motion of material.
Marxist materialistic conception of history broke down society into social being and consciousness and attached determining significance to social being; it also broke down the social structure into productive force and production relations, foundation and superstructure, and attached decisive significance to material production and economic relations. This means an unaltered application of the principle of materialistic dialectics to society, the principle that the world is of material and changes and develops in accordance with the general law of the motion of material. The world, viewed by the founders of Marxism when applying the general law governing the material world to social history, is an integrity of not only nature but also man and society in that they are material beings. If you consider man as a part of the world, a material integrity, not as a social being with independence, creativity and consciousness, and apply the general law of the movement of the material world to social history, you cannot avoid seeing the socio-historical movement as a process of the history of nature.
Of course, society, too, changes and develops in accordance with a certain law, not by man’s will. But the action of law in society is fundamentally different from that of the law of nature. In nature the law works spontaneously regardless of man’s activity, but in society the law works through man’s independent, creative and conscious activities. Some of the laws of society governs every society in general irrespective of social systems, and some of them governs a particular society. Because all the social laws work through man’s activity, they may work smoothly or their actions may be restrained or limited depending on man’s activity.
When I say that social laws function through man’s activity, I do not deny the objective character of social laws and possible spontaneity in the social movement. If a certain socio-economic condition is created, a social law corresponding to it functions inevitably and therefore it assumes an objective character as a natural law does. Spontaneity in the social movement is due to a relatively low level of man’s independence, creativity and consciousness and to the absence of the social system under which people can display them to the full. With the growth in man’s independence, creativity and consciousness and with the establishment of the social system which ensures a full display of these qualities, man will work better in keeping with the objective laws and the range of spontaneity will narrow. Social development is the process of the development of the masses’ independence, creativity and consciousness. With the growth in these qualities and with the consummation of the social system capable of meeting their requirements, the society will develop more and more through the purposeful and conscious activities of the popular masses. This means that the law peculiar to the social movement, which changes and develops by the volitional action and role of the driving force, will work on a full scale.
Although the founders of Marxism established the materialistic dialectical concept of social history by applying the general law of the development of the material world to social history, they themselves came across many problems in the practical social movement, problems which could not be resolved only by the general law of the development of the material world. So they attempted to overcome the one-sidedness of the materialistic dialectical concept of social history by advancing some theories, for example, that although social consciousness emerges as the reflection of the material and economic conditions, it reacts on these conditions and that although politics is defined by the economy, it reacts on the economy. However, the Marxist materialistic concept of history is, in essence, a view on social history which considers the common character of the motion of nature and the social movement as the main factor. This theory was unable to avoid the limitation of identifying the process of social development with that of natural history.
The fundamental difference between the Juche philosophy and the preceding philosophy results, in the final analysis, from a different understanding of man.
The Marxist philosophy defined the essence of man as the ensemble of social relations, but it failed to correctly expound the characteristics of man as a social being. The preceding theory explained the principle of the social movement mainly on the basis of the general law of the development of the material world, because it failed to clarify the essential qualities of social man. For the first time, the Juche philosophy gave a perfect elucidation of the unique qualities of man as a social being.
As clarified in the documents of our Party, man is a social being with independence, creativity and consciousness and nobody has expressed doubt about it. However, some social scientists maintain a wrong view in understanding how man became a social being with these qualities. Regarding the question of man’s essential characteristics as the issue of the level of his development as a material being, they still assert that the origin of man; independence, creativity and consciousness should be sought in the diversity of the material components and the complexity of their combination and structure. This is, in fact, a view regarding man’s essential qualities as the extension of natural and biological attributes, as their development and consummation. When talking about man as an organism, one can consider him in comparison with other organisms, or discuss the characteristics of his biological components and their combination and structure. However, the man who is deliberated by the Juche philosophy is not only a highly developed organism but also lives and works with independence, creativity and consciousness which no other creatures have acquired. The origin of man’s essential qualities must be sought not in the development of his features common with those of other material beings but in the characteristics unique to him. Man has acquired independence, creativity and consciousness, because he is a social being who forms a social collective and lives and works in a social relationship. These qualities of man are social attributes which are formed and developed through the socio-historical process of his working in the social relationship. Of course, these qualities of his would be inconceivable without his highly developed organic body, man can be said to be the highest product of evolution and the most developed material being. However, if man had not formed a social collective and had not lived and worked in the social relationship, he could not have developed as an independent, creative and conscious being no matter how developed his organic body may be. Without physical life man cannot have social and political integrity. However, it is not man’s physical life itself that gives birth to his social and political integrity. Likewise, without his developed organic body his independence, creativity and consciousness would be inconceivable, but his biological characteristics themselves do not produce his social attributes. Man’s social attributes can take shape and develop only through the process of his emergence and development as a social being, in other words, through the process of the historical development of his social activity and his social relationship. The history of social development is the history of development of man’s independence, creativity and consciousness. This means that man’ independence, creativity and consciousness are social attributes which are formed and developed socially and historically. Therefore, the philosophical consideration of man must start from the fact that man is a social being.
Nevertheless, some of our social scientists argue about the material components and their combination and structure, and relate them to man’s essential qualities, preaching that the biological factors constitute the major content of the Juche philosophy. Their argument is a deviation that explains the Juche philosophy within the framework of Marxist dialectical materialism. It is only an attempt to justify the wrong evolutionary view which regards man’s essential qualities as the development and consummation of biological attributes.
Regarding man’s essential qualities, it is important to have a correct understanding of the social being. The founders of Marxism, while raising the question of man’s essence in social relationship, used the phrase social being as a concept meaning the material conditions and economic relations of social life which exist objectively and are reflected on social consciousness. Since they regarded man as a component of productive forces, as the ensemble of social relations, the phrase social being they used implied man as well. However, they did not use it as one having the particular meaning that defines man’s essential qualities.
Systematizing the Juche philosophy, we used the term social being as one having the particular meaning that defines man’s essential qualities. In the theory of the Juche philosophy man is the only social being in the world. Some social scientists, however, still insist that social wealth and social relations should also be included in the social being, obscuring the difference between man and social wealth and social relations. Social wealth and social relations are created and developed by man. Therefore, they cannot be included together in the concept that defines man’s essential qualities. When referring to the Marxist philosophy, the phrase social being can, of course, be used as the founders of Marxism meant. But, if we understand the term social being in its conventional meaning when referring to the Juche philosophy, it will result in obscuring their understanding of man’s essential qualities. The Juche philosophy is a new philosophy which has its own system and content, so its categories must not be understood in the conventional meaning.
One of the main reasons why these social scientists have committed a deviation in explaining and propagating the Juche philosophy is that they have not studied philosophical problems from the point of view of the requirement of revolutionary practice.
Theory must be based on practice and serve practice. A theory divorced from practice cannot correctly elucidate truth and is of no use.
The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung always studied philosophical problems proceeding from the demand of revolutionary practice and evolved the Juche philosophy in the course of giving scientific answers to urgent ideological and theoretical problems arising in revolutionary practice. Our Party has generalized the rich and profound experiences of revolutionary practice, systematized the Juche philosophy in a comprehensive way and developed it in depth.
Revolutionary practice is a struggle to realize independence for the popular masses and it is the masses who carry out the struggle.
Therefore, it is important in the study of philosophy to reflect the demands and aspirations of the popular masses correctly, evolve the theory by generalizing their experiences of struggle and make it the theory of the popular masses themselves. In the exploitative society the reactionary ruling class makes use of philosophy for defending and rationalizing their reactionary ruling system, trying to make it the monopoly of the philosophers who act as spokesmen in their interests. They consider the popular masses to be ignorant people who have nothing to do with philosophy.
With a viewpoint and attitude that the popular masses are the masters of everything and the wisest people, our Party has evolved the Juche philosophy by reflecting their demand and aspirations and generalizing their struggle experiences, further developed it in depth and made it their weapon of struggle. This is the reason why the Juche philosophy is an absolute truth which meets the people’s desire for and aspirations to independence and a popular philosophy which the masses easily understand and regard as their own weapon of struggle.
However, some of the social scientists are arguing about the questions which are of little practical significance in illuminating the road of shaping the destiny of the popular masses. We study philosophy essentially for the purpose of clarifying the principles and methodology by which to develop the society and shape the destiny of the popular masses. The development of society is guided by politics and it is none other than the Juche philosophy which clarifies the basic principles of politics which lead social development in the most straight way. In this sense, the Juche philosophy can be called a political philosophy.
Some social scientists say that they have explained the Juche philosophy as a philosophy which developed the dialectical materialism of Marxism in order to present the Juche idea to suit the characteristic of the external world. We must give a clear understanding of the Juche philosophy as a new revolutionary philosophy, not as a mere development of the preceding philosophy. It is a mistake to explain the Juche philosophy within the framework of the preceding philosophy on the grounds that it is presented to suit the characteristic of the external world or to disseminate the Juche philosophy with ideas which do not accord with the fundamental principle of the Juche philosophy. Moreover, why should we argue about questions which are of no political importance and hardly of any theoretical practical significance, shutting eyes to the demand of reality in the international arena, when internationally we have many theoretical and practical questions which urgently await correct answers to be given on the basis of the principles of the Juche philosophy? In presenting the Juche idea to the external world, we must explain correctly in relation to actual problems that the Juche philosophy is thoroughly an original philosophy and a new revolutionary philosophy. We must get rid of such a deviation not only in external dissemination but also in the research, study and education on the Juche philosophy.
The Juche philosophy is a revolutionary philosophy and political philosophy of our Party which illuminates the philosophical basis of the Juche idea and fundamental principles of the revolution. How to approach the Juche philosophy does not merely concern philosophical theories, but is related to the viewpoint and attitude towards the Party’s ideology. We must accept the Party’s ideology as the absolute truth, defend it resolutely and keep it as a revolutionary conviction, and thus understand, interpret and propagate the Juche philosophy correctly.
We must feel a great pride and confidence in having such a great political philosophy as the Juche philosophy, deeply understand its principles and apply them fully to the practical activities of the revolution and construction. We must analyse and judge all the social phenomena thoroughly on the basis of the principles of the Juche philosophy and dynamically accelerate the revolution and construction by uniting the popular masses solidly around the Party and enhancing the role of the motive force as the Juche philosophy requires.
Our scientists and people must study and follow the Juche philosophy, but they must also know the philosophical ideas of Marxism-Leninism. The social scientists in particular must be well acquainted with the preceding philosophy, it is important to distinguish limitations and immaturity of the preceding philosophy along with its merits.
In addition, we must strictly guard against all heterogeneous trends of philosophy which are contrary to the Juche philosophy and ensure the purity of the Juche philosophy. The Juche philosophy is the most advantageous and viable philosophy which reflects the demand of the revolutionary practice and the truthfulness and validity of which have been proved by revolutionary practice. The fact that the Juche philosophy is attracting more attention on the international arena and the followers of the Juche idea are increasing in number clearly demonstrates that the Juche philosophy gives absolutely correct answers to the questions of revolutionary practice. Our social scientists must have an unshakable conviction of the scientific accuracy, truthfulness, originality and superiority of the Juche philosophy and analyse and judge all the philosophical theories with the Juche philosophy as a guideline, thus preventing infiltration of any heterogeneous trend of philosophy into the Juche philosophy.
All the social scientists must study the Juche philosophy in depth and breadth and propagate it in line with the Party’s intention and, by doing so, exalt its greatness and further increase its attraction.
We extend you the great Juche-Songun greetings and high appreciations and have the honor to send you Leader Kim Jong IL’s historic work “THE JUCHE PHILOSOPHY IS AN ORIGINAL REVOLUTIONARY PHILOSOPHY” on its 14th publishing anniversary, hoping it to be conducive to your noble work.
We wish you good health and more achievements in your work.
Comradely regards,
Zo Il Min,
Representative of the Pyongyang Mission of the AINDF
July 24, Juche 99 (2010)
Pyongyang, DPRK
KIM JONG IL
THE JUCHE PHILOSOPHY IS AN ORIGINAL REVOLUTIONARY PHILOSOPHY
Discourse Published in Kulloja, Theoretical Magazine of the Central Committee of
the Worker’s Party of Korea
July 26, 1996
An opinion has recently been raised that some of our social scientists had expressed a wrong view contrary to our Party’s idea in explaining the Juche philosophy, that this view had been disseminated abroad as well.
These social scientists still attempt to explain the basic principles of the Juche philosophy from the point of view of the general law of the development of the material world, instead of explaining them in the direction of clarifying the law of social movement. The proponents of this view say that their argument is aimed at proving that the Juche philosophy is a new development also of Marxist materialistic dialectics. In explaining and propagating the Juche philosophy we do not need to convince people that the Juche philosophy is a new development of Marxist materialistic dialectics. It is true that our Party has not taken a dogmatic approach to Marxist materialistic dialectics but analysed it from the point of view of Juche and has given new explanations to a number of problems. However, some development of materialism and dialectics does not constitute the basic content of the Juche philosophy.
The Juche philosophy is an original philosophy which has been evolved and systematized with its own principles. The historic contribution made by the Juche philosophy to the development of philosophical thoughts lies not in its advancement of Marxist materialistic dialectics, but in its clarification of new philosophical principles centred on man.
The Marxist philosophy raised the relationship between material and consciousness, between being and thinking, as the fundamental question of philosophy and proved the primacy of material, the primacy of being and, on this basis, elucidated that the world is made of material and changed and developed by the motion of material. The Juche philosophy has raised the relationship between the world and man, and man’s position and role in the world, as the fundamental question of philosophy, clarified the philosophical principle that man is the master of everything and that he decides everything and, on this basis, illuminated the absolutely correct way of shaping man’s destiny. The Marxist philosophy raised as its major task the clarification of the essence of the material world and the general law of its motion, whereas the Juche philosophy has raised as its important task the elucidation of man’s essential characteristics and the law of social movement, man’s movement. Therefore, the Juche philosophy is an original philosophy which is fundamentally different from the preceding philosophy in its task and principles. That is why we should not understand the Juche philosophy as a philosophy that has developed materialistic dialectics, nor should we attempt to prove the originality and advantages of the Juche philosophy by arguing one way or the other about the essence of the material world and the way or the other about the essence of the material world and the general law of its motion which were clarified by the Marxist philosophy. You cannot explain the Juche philosophy in the framework of the preceding philosophy because it is a philosophy that has clarified new philosophical principles. If you attempt to do so, you will not only fail to prove the originality of the Juche philosophy, but instead make it obscure and fail to understand the essence of Juche philosophy correctly.
Having defined the essential qualities of man for the first time in history, the Juche philosophy has held up man as the best qualified and most powerful being in the world and advanced a new idea on the world that the world is dominated and transformed by man.
The new outlook on the world established by the Juche philosophy does not deny the world outlook of dialectical materialism. The Juche philosophy regards the world outlook of dialectical materialism as its premise. The Juche view of the world that the world is dominated and transformed by man is inconceivable separately from the materialistic dialectical understanding of the essence of the objective material world and the general law of its motion. From the idealistic view that the world is something mysterious you cannot draw the conclusion that man dominates the world, and from the metaphysical view that the world is immutable you cannot infer that man can transform the world. The Juche view of the world that the world is dominated and transformed by man can only be established when the materialistic dialectical understanding of the world that the world is made of material and ceaselessly changes and develops is recognized. In spite of a number of limitations and immaturities of the Marxist materialistic dialectics, its basic principles are scientific and valid. That is why we say that the Juche philosophy regards materialistic dialectics as its premise.
That the world outlook of the materialistic dialectics is the premise for the Juche philosophy does not mean that the Juche philosophy has merely inherited and developed the materialistic dialectical understanding of the objective material world, you cannot draw the conclusion that man is the master of the world and plays a decisive role in transforming the world simply from the proposition of materialism that the world is made of material and from the dialectical principle that the world ceaselessly changes and develops. Only on the basis of the clarification of man’s essential qualities which distinguish man radically from all the other material beings can man’s outstanding position and role as the master of the world capable of transforming the world be clarified. Only on the basis of man’s essential qualities as a social being with independence, creativity and consciousness as scientifically clarified by the Juche philosophy has the basic principle that man is the master of the world and plays the decisive role in transforming the world been clarified.
By establishing the Juche outlook on social history, the Juche view of history, on the basis of the man-centered philosophical principle, the Juche philosophy has overcome the limitations of the preceding socio-historical view and effected a radical change in the socio-historical view and standpoint.
Marxist philosophy established socio-historical view of dialectical materialism, historical materialism, through the application of the general law of the development of the material world to social history. Of course, we do not deny the historic merit of historical materialism. Historical materialism made an important contribution to defeating the reactionary and unscientific socio-historical view which was based on idealism and metaphysics. In addition, since man lies in the objective material world and society is inseparably linked with nature, the general law of the development of the material world acts on social phenomena. However, if you overlook the social movement being governed by its own law and apply the general law of the development of the material world mechanically to social phenomena, you cannot avoid acquiring one-sided understanding of social history.
The social movement changes and develops according to its own law.
The social movement is the movement of man who dominates and transforms the world, man transforms nature to dominate and transform the objective material world. By transforming nature man creates material wealth and material conditions for his life.
Transforming nature and creating material wealth is the endeavour to satisfy people’s social cooperation. People transform society to improve and perfect the relations of social cooperation. It is man who transforms both nature and society. While transforming nature and society, man transforms and develops himself continuously. The domination and transformation of the world by man are realized after all through the transformation of nature, society and himself, and the popular masses are the motive force of this undertaking. The popular masses create all the material and cultural wealth of society and develop social relations.
The social movement, the driving force of which is the popular masses, has characteristics which are different from those of the motion of nature. In nature motion takes place spontaneously through the interaction of material elements which exist objectively, whereas the social movement is caused and developed by the volitional action and role of the driving force.
Therefore, if you apply the principles of materialistic dialectics which explain the general law of the development of the material world mechanically to social history, you cannot clarify correctly the essence of society and the law of social movement. The major limitation of the materialistic conception of history is that it failed to correctly expound the peculiar law of the social movement and explained the principles of the social movement mainly on the basis of the common character of the motion of nature and the social movement in that both of them are the motion of material.
Marxist materialistic conception of history broke down society into social being and consciousness and attached determining significance to social being; it also broke down the social structure into productive force and production relations, foundation and superstructure, and attached decisive significance to material production and economic relations. This means an unaltered application of the principle of materialistic dialectics to society, the principle that the world is of material and changes and develops in accordance with the general law of the motion of material. The world, viewed by the founders of Marxism when applying the general law governing the material world to social history, is an integrity of not only nature but also man and society in that they are material beings. If you consider man as a part of the world, a material integrity, not as a social being with independence, creativity and consciousness, and apply the general law of the movement of the material world to social history, you cannot avoid seeing the socio-historical movement as a process of the history of nature.
Of course, society, too, changes and develops in accordance with a certain law, not by man’s will. But the action of law in society is fundamentally different from that of the law of nature. In nature the law works spontaneously regardless of man’s activity, but in society the law works through man’s independent, creative and conscious activities. Some of the laws of society governs every society in general irrespective of social systems, and some of them governs a particular society. Because all the social laws work through man’s activity, they may work smoothly or their actions may be restrained or limited depending on man’s activity.
When I say that social laws function through man’s activity, I do not deny the objective character of social laws and possible spontaneity in the social movement. If a certain socio-economic condition is created, a social law corresponding to it functions inevitably and therefore it assumes an objective character as a natural law does. Spontaneity in the social movement is due to a relatively low level of man’s independence, creativity and consciousness and to the absence of the social system under which people can display them to the full. With the growth in man’s independence, creativity and consciousness and with the establishment of the social system which ensures a full display of these qualities, man will work better in keeping with the objective laws and the range of spontaneity will narrow. Social development is the process of the development of the masses’ independence, creativity and consciousness. With the growth in these qualities and with the consummation of the social system capable of meeting their requirements, the society will develop more and more through the purposeful and conscious activities of the popular masses. This means that the law peculiar to the social movement, which changes and develops by the volitional action and role of the driving force, will work on a full scale.
Although the founders of Marxism established the materialistic dialectical concept of social history by applying the general law of the development of the material world to social history, they themselves came across many problems in the practical social movement, problems which could not be resolved only by the general law of the development of the material world. So they attempted to overcome the one-sidedness of the materialistic dialectical concept of social history by advancing some theories, for example, that although social consciousness emerges as the reflection of the material and economic conditions, it reacts on these conditions and that although politics is defined by the economy, it reacts on the economy. However, the Marxist materialistic concept of history is, in essence, a view on social history which considers the common character of the motion of nature and the social movement as the main factor. This theory was unable to avoid the limitation of identifying the process of social development with that of natural history.
The fundamental difference between the Juche philosophy and the preceding philosophy results, in the final analysis, from a different understanding of man.
The Marxist philosophy defined the essence of man as the ensemble of social relations, but it failed to correctly expound the characteristics of man as a social being. The preceding theory explained the principle of the social movement mainly on the basis of the general law of the development of the material world, because it failed to clarify the essential qualities of social man. For the first time, the Juche philosophy gave a perfect elucidation of the unique qualities of man as a social being.
As clarified in the documents of our Party, man is a social being with independence, creativity and consciousness and nobody has expressed doubt about it. However, some social scientists maintain a wrong view in understanding how man became a social being with these qualities. Regarding the question of man’s essential characteristics as the issue of the level of his development as a material being, they still assert that the origin of man; independence, creativity and consciousness should be sought in the diversity of the material components and the complexity of their combination and structure. This is, in fact, a view regarding man’s essential qualities as the extension of natural and biological attributes, as their development and consummation. When talking about man as an organism, one can consider him in comparison with other organisms, or discuss the characteristics of his biological components and their combination and structure. However, the man who is deliberated by the Juche philosophy is not only a highly developed organism but also lives and works with independence, creativity and consciousness which no other creatures have acquired. The origin of man’s essential qualities must be sought not in the development of his features common with those of other material beings but in the characteristics unique to him. Man has acquired independence, creativity and consciousness, because he is a social being who forms a social collective and lives and works in a social relationship. These qualities of man are social attributes which are formed and developed through the socio-historical process of his working in the social relationship. Of course, these qualities of his would be inconceivable without his highly developed organic body, man can be said to be the highest product of evolution and the most developed material being. However, if man had not formed a social collective and had not lived and worked in the social relationship, he could not have developed as an independent, creative and conscious being no matter how developed his organic body may be. Without physical life man cannot have social and political integrity. However, it is not man’s physical life itself that gives birth to his social and political integrity. Likewise, without his developed organic body his independence, creativity and consciousness would be inconceivable, but his biological characteristics themselves do not produce his social attributes. Man’s social attributes can take shape and develop only through the process of his emergence and development as a social being, in other words, through the process of the historical development of his social activity and his social relationship. The history of social development is the history of development of man’s independence, creativity and consciousness. This means that man’ independence, creativity and consciousness are social attributes which are formed and developed socially and historically. Therefore, the philosophical consideration of man must start from the fact that man is a social being.
Nevertheless, some of our social scientists argue about the material components and their combination and structure, and relate them to man’s essential qualities, preaching that the biological factors constitute the major content of the Juche philosophy. Their argument is a deviation that explains the Juche philosophy within the framework of Marxist dialectical materialism. It is only an attempt to justify the wrong evolutionary view which regards man’s essential qualities as the development and consummation of biological attributes.
Regarding man’s essential qualities, it is important to have a correct understanding of the social being. The founders of Marxism, while raising the question of man’s essence in social relationship, used the phrase social being as a concept meaning the material conditions and economic relations of social life which exist objectively and are reflected on social consciousness. Since they regarded man as a component of productive forces, as the ensemble of social relations, the phrase social being they used implied man as well. However, they did not use it as one having the particular meaning that defines man’s essential qualities.
Systematizing the Juche philosophy, we used the term social being as one having the particular meaning that defines man’s essential qualities. In the theory of the Juche philosophy man is the only social being in the world. Some social scientists, however, still insist that social wealth and social relations should also be included in the social being, obscuring the difference between man and social wealth and social relations. Social wealth and social relations are created and developed by man. Therefore, they cannot be included together in the concept that defines man’s essential qualities. When referring to the Marxist philosophy, the phrase social being can, of course, be used as the founders of Marxism meant. But, if we understand the term social being in its conventional meaning when referring to the Juche philosophy, it will result in obscuring their understanding of man’s essential qualities. The Juche philosophy is a new philosophy which has its own system and content, so its categories must not be understood in the conventional meaning.
One of the main reasons why these social scientists have committed a deviation in explaining and propagating the Juche philosophy is that they have not studied philosophical problems from the point of view of the requirement of revolutionary practice.
Theory must be based on practice and serve practice. A theory divorced from practice cannot correctly elucidate truth and is of no use.
The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung always studied philosophical problems proceeding from the demand of revolutionary practice and evolved the Juche philosophy in the course of giving scientific answers to urgent ideological and theoretical problems arising in revolutionary practice. Our Party has generalized the rich and profound experiences of revolutionary practice, systematized the Juche philosophy in a comprehensive way and developed it in depth.
Revolutionary practice is a struggle to realize independence for the popular masses and it is the masses who carry out the struggle.
Therefore, it is important in the study of philosophy to reflect the demands and aspirations of the popular masses correctly, evolve the theory by generalizing their experiences of struggle and make it the theory of the popular masses themselves. In the exploitative society the reactionary ruling class makes use of philosophy for defending and rationalizing their reactionary ruling system, trying to make it the monopoly of the philosophers who act as spokesmen in their interests. They consider the popular masses to be ignorant people who have nothing to do with philosophy.
With a viewpoint and attitude that the popular masses are the masters of everything and the wisest people, our Party has evolved the Juche philosophy by reflecting their demand and aspirations and generalizing their struggle experiences, further developed it in depth and made it their weapon of struggle. This is the reason why the Juche philosophy is an absolute truth which meets the people’s desire for and aspirations to independence and a popular philosophy which the masses easily understand and regard as their own weapon of struggle.
However, some of the social scientists are arguing about the questions which are of little practical significance in illuminating the road of shaping the destiny of the popular masses. We study philosophy essentially for the purpose of clarifying the principles and methodology by which to develop the society and shape the destiny of the popular masses. The development of society is guided by politics and it is none other than the Juche philosophy which clarifies the basic principles of politics which lead social development in the most straight way. In this sense, the Juche philosophy can be called a political philosophy.
Some social scientists say that they have explained the Juche philosophy as a philosophy which developed the dialectical materialism of Marxism in order to present the Juche idea to suit the characteristic of the external world. We must give a clear understanding of the Juche philosophy as a new revolutionary philosophy, not as a mere development of the preceding philosophy. It is a mistake to explain the Juche philosophy within the framework of the preceding philosophy on the grounds that it is presented to suit the characteristic of the external world or to disseminate the Juche philosophy with ideas which do not accord with the fundamental principle of the Juche philosophy. Moreover, why should we argue about questions which are of no political importance and hardly of any theoretical practical significance, shutting eyes to the demand of reality in the international arena, when internationally we have many theoretical and practical questions which urgently await correct answers to be given on the basis of the principles of the Juche philosophy? In presenting the Juche idea to the external world, we must explain correctly in relation to actual problems that the Juche philosophy is thoroughly an original philosophy and a new revolutionary philosophy. We must get rid of such a deviation not only in external dissemination but also in the research, study and education on the Juche philosophy.
The Juche philosophy is a revolutionary philosophy and political philosophy of our Party which illuminates the philosophical basis of the Juche idea and fundamental principles of the revolution. How to approach the Juche philosophy does not merely concern philosophical theories, but is related to the viewpoint and attitude towards the Party’s ideology. We must accept the Party’s ideology as the absolute truth, defend it resolutely and keep it as a revolutionary conviction, and thus understand, interpret and propagate the Juche philosophy correctly.
We must feel a great pride and confidence in having such a great political philosophy as the Juche philosophy, deeply understand its principles and apply them fully to the practical activities of the revolution and construction. We must analyse and judge all the social phenomena thoroughly on the basis of the principles of the Juche philosophy and dynamically accelerate the revolution and construction by uniting the popular masses solidly around the Party and enhancing the role of the motive force as the Juche philosophy requires.
Our scientists and people must study and follow the Juche philosophy, but they must also know the philosophical ideas of Marxism-Leninism. The social scientists in particular must be well acquainted with the preceding philosophy, it is important to distinguish limitations and immaturity of the preceding philosophy along with its merits.
In addition, we must strictly guard against all heterogeneous trends of philosophy which are contrary to the Juche philosophy and ensure the purity of the Juche philosophy. The Juche philosophy is the most advantageous and viable philosophy which reflects the demand of the revolutionary practice and the truthfulness and validity of which have been proved by revolutionary practice. The fact that the Juche philosophy is attracting more attention on the international arena and the followers of the Juche idea are increasing in number clearly demonstrates that the Juche philosophy gives absolutely correct answers to the questions of revolutionary practice. Our social scientists must have an unshakable conviction of the scientific accuracy, truthfulness, originality and superiority of the Juche philosophy and analyse and judge all the philosophical theories with the Juche philosophy as a guideline, thus preventing infiltration of any heterogeneous trend of philosophy into the Juche philosophy.
All the social scientists must study the Juche philosophy in depth and breadth and propagate it in line with the Party’s intention and, by doing so, exalt its greatness and further increase its attraction.
Friday 19 February 2010
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