The Worker’s Party of Korea has a Long and Victorious History

I am very pleased to have the honour to be invited to take part in the e-seminar organized under the auspices of the Organizing Committee of the International Festival in Praise of the Great Persons of Mt. Paektu and the Indonesia-Korea Friendship and Cultural Exchange on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Workers Party of Korea by sending this contribution.

These days the Korean people, all peace loving people and friends of the Korean people the world over are celebration the 75th anniversary of the WPK October 10. I as a chairman of the Denmark-DPR Korea Friendship Association and co-chairman of the Organizing Committee of the IFPGPP express my warmest congratulations to the Korean people and its supreme leader Chairman of WPK Kim Jong Un.

The Worker’s Party of Korea has a long and victorious history. The party was founded in 1945 by the great leader President Kim Il Sung, but the roots of the party go back to the time of the heroic anti-Japanese revolutionary liberation struggle also led by President Kim Il Sung. The Worker’s Party of Korea under the wise leadership of President Kim Il Sung was built into a mass-based party composed of workers, peasants and intellectuals, and ensured that all its activities were oriented toward championing and realizing the demands and interests of the masses of the people.

For the past seven and a half decades since the first day of its founding - October 10, 1945, it has taken responsibility for the people's destiny as the ruling party of socialist Korea.

Soon after the liberation of Korea from Japanese occupation in 1945 the party under leadership of President Kim Il Sung advanced the line of anti-imperialist, anti-feudal democratic revolution.  Exploitation and oppression, backwardness and poverty was abolished once and for all and the WPK ensured that the agrarian reform was carried out to realize peasants' centuries-old desire to till their own land and women, who had been deprived of any political right and subjected to social inequality for decades, exercised the same rights as men.

The WPK was also initiator of the introduction of the democratic labour law enacted to institute an 8-hour workday and ban minor labour, and the major industries nationalized to make workers masters of the factories. As a result, the Korean people led an independent, creative and worthwhile life under the leadership of the WPK for the first time in the national history spanning 5000 years, experiencing how precious it was in their living.

Thanks to the excellent and iron-willed leadership of President Kim Il Sung - the WPK and the Korean people repulsed the aggressive forces of imperialism in 1950-53, defending the gains of the revolution in the young people’s republic - the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea -, and build up under complex conditions guided by the Juche Idea a strong socialist independent country in a short span of years.

The WPK took responsibility for the people's destiny may be illustrated by the universal free medical care system that has been maintained in the DPRK. It was introduced during the Korean war (1950-1953) unleashed by the US imperialists that the State enforced the system at its colossal expense to give all its citizens free access to medical care, though it had to mobilize all its human and material resources to repulse the invasion by the enemy.

In 1956, when the people were waging a hard struggle to remove the war damage, the State by initiative of WPK enforced the universal compulsory primary education system for the first time in the East and, in April 1959, the universal free education system. With notable progress made in socialist construction, it developed the system to a higher standard, and now it has established the universal 12-year compulsory education system of the highest level in the world. To this end comes that the DPRK has freed the people from the burden of taxation by abolishing the tax system more than 45 years ago.

The WPK is definitely supported and trusted not only by the entire Korean people but also highly respected the world over. All the achievements and experiences of the WPK that have been attained were despite of  periods with hardships and still ongoing imperialist war threats and blockade and sanctions are the precious and definite result of the outstanding and seasoned leadership of President Kim Il Sung and leader Comrade Kim Jong Il. Leader Kim Jong Il has attached great importance to and led the work of cementing the ideological and organizational unity of the Party based on the Juche Idea and comradeship of great President Kim Il Sung, and thus ever consolidated the party into one that has taken deep roots into the broad masses of the Korean people.

In the late 20th century, when socialism collapsed in several countries in succession, the DPRK adhered to socialism. The DPRK remained unperturbed because it had maintained its independent line as required by the Juche idea. The WPK led the revolution and construction according to its own principles and as suited to the specific conditions of the country without kowtowing to big countries or imitating others blindly. The anti-socialist forces the world over made concerted efforts to threaten the DPRK militarily and blockade it economically, but could not bring the socialist power to its knees. Even today the anti-socialist reactionary and imperialist forces still attempting to stifle the DPRK by harsh sanctions, blockade and war threat. But thanks to the excellent leadership of WPK they will not succeed in their endeavour.

In 1992 at the time when the Korean people and peace loving people were celebrating the 80th birthday of President Kim Il Sung the WPK took the responsible and worldwide initiative after the collapse of socialism in several countries to reunite and rebuild the movement of communist and workers' parties by proposing the Pyongyang Declaration. It was very successful. More than 130 parties and organisations worldwide have signed this important declaration. It shows have respected the WPK is worldwide.

In period from the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21th century and the period of the Arduous March the country had to experience the worst-ever trials and difficulties owing to the concentrated anti-socialist offensive of the allied imperialist forces and the successive natural disasters, but the people-oriented policies of the party were enforced invariably under leadership of General Secretary of WPK Kim Jong Il. General Secretary Kim Jong Il, who too was a chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission carried forward President Kim II Sung's ideology and cause, and thus developed the WPK into an invincible organization.

Today, holding high the banner of people-first principle, the WPK under outstanding leadership of Chairman Kim Jong Un – supreme leader of Korea people - is vigorously leading the construction of a strong, thriving and prosperous  socialist state, a civilized socialist nation, where all the ideals and dreams of people are going to be realized.

Thus today the Worker’s Party of Korea is demonstrating its invincible might under the leadership of chairman Kim Jong Un, who is carrying forward the ideology and cause of his predecessors faithfully. He has formulated Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism as the guiding ideology of the WPK and set forth modelling the whole society on Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism as its ultimate programme. This is his manifestation and his unshakeable determination to carry forward and accomplish the ideology and cause of President Kim Il Sung and chairman Kim Jong Il.

Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism is, in a word, the people-first principle, and its quintessence is the Juche idea. The Juche idea, authored by President Kim Il Sung and developed by General Secretary Kim Jong Il in a deep-going way, clarifies that the masters of the revolution and construction are the masses of the people and that they are the motive force of the revolution and construction, putting forth the masses of the people as the most precious and powerful beings in the word.

Guided by this idea, the WPK has consistently pursued the policy of loving and trusting them. When formulating a line or a policy, the WPK reflected in it their aspirations and demands |and made it as the supreme principle of its activities to defend their interests and steadily improve their living standards.

Thanks to the policy of WPK in recent years bases for mass cultural life including the Rungra People's Recreation Ground, Munsu Water Park, Mirim Riding Club, Masikryong Ski Resort, May Day Stadium and Mangyongdae Schoolchildren's Palace were built or renovated on the world standards. New medical service centres were built in a superb way, including Okryu Children's Hospital and Ryugyong Dental Hospital. New modern apartment houses like those on Changjon Street, Wisong Scientists Dwelling District and Mirae Scientists Street resound with merry laughter of the people.

Since the WPK regards promotion of people's well-being as the highest principle of its activities, it has constantly paid close attention to building dwelling houses. In recent years Changjon Street, Unha Scientists Street, Wisong Scientists Dwelling District, apartment houses for teachers at Kim Il Sung University and Mirae Scientists Street have been built. It may be unbelievable, but it is a fact that these houses, for which a huge investment was made, have been built at the State's expense and distributed to people free of charge. And all over the DPRK similar promotion of the well-being of the people has taken place in many cities and towns.

Under the leadership of the WPK the Korean people lead an independent, creative and worthwhile life and keenly realize how valuable are the happiness they are leading and the WPK which provides them with this life. That is why they absolutely trust the Party and follow it, calling it a motherly party, and turn out as one in the struggle to implement its lines and policies with their destinies entirely entrusted upon it.

The integral whole of the Party and the masses which is based on the former's trust in and affection for the latter and the latter's absolute support for and trust in the former-this is a true appearance of Korea.

I once again on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Worker’s Party of Korea express my warmest congratulations and firm support to the party and the Korean people in its just cause to realize the ideas of President Kim Il Sung and leader Comrade Kim Jong Il under leadership of chairman Kim Jong Un and the banner of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism building up a great, prosperous, thriving, powerful, socialist country and to succeed in the struggle to  achieve the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea.

Thank you.