Hail the 62nd Anniversary of the Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea!

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Hail the 62nd Anniversary of the Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea!

September 9 marks the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). WDIE sends its warmest congratulations on this occasion to the Korean people, and their Party, the Workers’ Party of Korea, and its General Secretary Kim Jong Il.

The founding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) on September 9, 1948, was an event that was charged with historical significance. It enabled Koreans to bring forth a dignified, independent nation, carving out their own destiny for the first time in their 5,000-year-long national history. Its achievements over these 62 years have not only been a source of pride for the Korean people. It is the continued existence of the DPRK which has been a thorn in the side of world reaction, and a decisive factor for peace on the Korean Peninsula and in East Asia as a whole. Its steadfast stands throughout these 62 years against US hegemony have continued to be a significant contribution to the struggle of the world’s people against US imperialism and the opposition of struggling peoples to big power dictate, aggression and interference. Not only this, but the defence of the people of the DPRK of their sovereignty, and the building of the social system of their choice which has withstood all the attempts of the big powers and reaction to subvert it, is both an inspiration and an example to democratic people of all countries who take up the task themselves of becoming decision-makers.

It should not be forgotten that only three years before President Kim Il Sung led the Korean people in founding the DPRK, the Korean people under his leadership had won their liberation from the Japanese military occupation of Korea (1910-1945) thus playing a decisive role in the defeat of the Axis powers in the Second World War. The victorious Korean people under the leadership of General Kim Il Sung and the Korean People's Army enthusiastically began building a modern democratic state from the ruins of war. Across the country, People's Committees were formed and the Korean people elected their representatives to a People's Assembly in August-September 1945 which proclaimed the "Korean People's Republic" on September 6, 1945. The Korean People's Republic was short-lived because US troops arrived two days later and true to the Cold War Truman Doctrine of the "containment of communism" and securing "US interests" on the Korean peninsula, declared the Korean People's Republic illegal and began to crush the People's Committees by force. In the words of US General Douglas MacArthur, Korea was to be an "anti-communist bulwark."

Over the next three bloody years, through a campaign of mass terror and brutality, the US Military Government and their local agents criminalised, rounded up, tortured, imprisoned and murdered hundreds of thousands of suspected communists, "leftists" and other patriots who were resisting the brutal military occupation of the US.

The US organised a fraudulent "free and fair" election in May 1948, installed the US puppet Syngman Rhee in power to the outrage of the entire Korean people, and declared the Republic of Korea in the south on August 15, 1948.

To guarantee the revolutionary base of the Korean people and to ensure the future of the nation, Kim Il Sung declared the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on September 9, 1948 in Pyongyang. The fledgling DPRK faced very great difficulties. Under the direction of the Workers' Party of Korea, led first by President Kim Il Sung and now by General Secretary Kim Jong Il, the DPRK has been able to overcome the great hardships which history has presented, especially the brutal war forced on it by US imperialism from 1950-1953.

In this war, more than four million Korean civilians were killed and massive destruction caused to the economy and infrastructure. The United States and other countries took part in this war of aggression against the Korean people on the basis of the lie of intervening in an international conflict. The Labour government in Britain was one of the most enthusiastic in its anti-communism. The lie was promoted that North Korea was the aggressor. Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee told the House of Commons, "I think that no one can have any doubt whatever that here is a case of naked aggression." It was during the Korean War in order to pay for Britain’s part in the conflict that the government first retreated from the principle that the NHS should be free at the point of delivery. The truth is that the south Korean puppet troops were the aggressor, launching an all-out surprise attack along the 38th parallel, following a plan of invasion drawn up by the US. The aggressors committed crimes against the peace, crimes against humanity and untold war crimes including widespread massacres of civilians, the use of biological and chemical weapons, fire-bombing of various northern cities with no thought to civilian casualties. The DPRK, though still in its infancy, organised the Korean people, defeated the US in the war, and successfully defended the independence of the country and sovereignty of the nation.

DPRK leader President Kim Il Sung said at the time: "The victory of our people in the Korean War was a victory of the revolutionary people over the imperialist forces, a victory of the revolutionary army over the aggressive forces of imperialism. It proved that the people who rise up for freedom, independence and progress, taking their destiny into their own hands under the leadership of a Marxist-Leninist party, will never be conquered by any imperialist forces of aggression. It also exposed the vulnerability and corruptness of US imperialism, demonstrating to the oppressed nations of the world that US imperialism is by no means an unconquerable enemy and that they too can definitely fight and defeat it."

The significance of the founding of the DPRK stands out in sharp relief on this 62nd anniversary. The DPRK continues to be decisive as a factor for peace in the region as it works diligently for the emergence of a united, dignified and independent Korean nation. Its steadfast refusal to submit to US blackmail on the nuclear issue with the aim of expelling the US imperialists and their nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula is an affirmation of its sovereignty and a block to US hegemony.

There is a great tradition of national unity of the Korean people, which has remained a counter to the designs of imperialism for physical and ideological domination, which today goes under the signboard of globalisation and the upholding of so-called universal values. In the period leading up to the founding of the DPRK, Kim Il Sung himself initiated a conference to further the national reunification movement at a time when the US was attempting to impose colonial enslavement on the Korean people and had installed Syngman Rhee in the south of Korea. So today, the steps to achieve overall national unity are countering the big powers’ attempts to keep the Korean nation divided and impose foreign domination. The US cannot countenance having a unified Korean nation of close to 85 million people which is based on self-reliance. What a factor for progress and against imperialism such a unified nation would be! The struggle to reunify Korea can thus be said to be at the heart of the struggle for peace on a world scale.

It is the DPRK which has put forward countless proposals to sign a peace treaty with the US to replace the 1953 Armistice Agreement, only to be spurned by the US. This demonstrates that it is Anglo-US imperialism which is the main threat to peace and security on the Korean peninsula.

Today, based on the DPRK's Songun policy of giving military matters first priority and the leading role of the armed forces in the nation-building project, especially as the main workforce in the mass construction projects, the DPRK is implementing a bold programme to ensure the people's well-being and raise their standard of living. Through the Songun policy, the DPRK ensures that not only it is an impregnable fortress which can defend against any provocation but also that it will achieve its aim of becoming a thriving and prosperous nation. To that end, the DPRK is providing itself modern and innovative means of production such as cokeless steel production and computer numerical controlled production in many industries.

The DPRK, the heroic Korean people, and their leadership are taking a principled and resolute stand in defence of their national rights to independence, sovereignty and peace. WDIE reiterates the demand that all US troops be removed from the Korean Peninsula, and that the US immediately comply with the just demand to sign a peace treaty now to replace the Armistice Agreement of 1953. We are confident that the government and people of the DPRK will achieve their goal of "building a powerful and prosperous nation" by 2012, the centenary of the birth of Comrade Kim Il Sung.