October 9, 2009 - No. 185
Hail the 64th Anniversary of the
Workers' Party of Korea!
Left: Comrade Kim Il Sung
addresses the First Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in August
1946.
Centre: The Party Founding Monument in Pyongyang, commemorating the
50th anniversary of the Party's founding (1995). The hammer, brush and
sickle symbolize the unity of the workers, intellectuals and peasants,
respectively.
Right: Comrade Kim Jong Il during a visit to the Korean People's Army
Naval Unit 597 this past September.
• Hail the
64th
Anniversary of the Workers' Party of Korea!
• Tokyo International
Korean Reunification Conference -
Interview H.P. Chung, Canadian Delegate
• Great Successes in 150-Day Campaign for
Development of Economy
• DPRK's Intention to Build
Nuclear-Free World
64th Session UN General Assembly
• "The Foreign Policy of the DPRK Is Committed
to the Principles of Independence, Peace and Friendship" - Speech by Pak Kil
Yon, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of DPRK Delegation
to UN
Hail the 64th Anniversary of the
Workers' Party of Korea!
October 10 marks the 64th anniversary of the founding of
the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). On this occasion, the First
Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada
(Marxist-Leninist) Sandra L. Smith sent revolutionary greetings to
Comrade Kim Jong Il, congratulating the WPK for all its achievements.
Founded by Comrade Kim Il Sung and under the present
leadership of Comrade Kim Jong Il, the WPK has led the people of the
DPRK for 64 years to build an independent, self-reliant and prosperous
socialist country. From the time of its founding, the WPK has faced
severe tests including the brutal
war of aggression launched by the United States under the banner of the
United Nations from 1950-53. This aggression devastated much of Korea
and resulted in the loss of some four million lives, the majority of
whom were civilians. It was the WPK under the leadership of Kim Il Sung
which mobilized the Korean
People's Army and the people to defeat the U.S. aggressors and force
them to sign the Armistice Agreement in 1953. After the war, the WPK
mobilized the people to rebuild their devastated country in record time
and to build a self-reliant economy despite a crippling embargo imposed
by the U.S. and constant military
threats which have escalated in the recent period. Ever responding to
the needs of each era, the WPK is now taking the required stands
against the aggression and nuclear blackmail of the U.S. imperialists
and their allies to ensure peace and security on the Korean peninsula.
From its inception, the WPK took up the historic task of
Korean reunification. It has provided the political leadership to
mobilize the entire Korean people to realize this task under the banner
of "by the nation itself." It calls on
all Koreans to work together to oust the
U.S. military from south Korea and to reunify their country peacefully
and independently without outside interference. In recent years this
leadership has given rise to significant results, including the June
15, 2000 North-South Joint Declaration and the October 4, 2007
declaration signed
at the second inter-Korean summit. Each
of these agreements mark the advances made by the movement for
reunification and provide a framework and impetus for its further
development by laying out concrete tasks in order to build trust and
co-operation between Koreans on both sides of their divided country. TML
expresses its confidence
that this bold work will be crowned with the glorious victory of Korean
reunification.
As well, in the next three years, the WPK is leading the
people of the DPRK to take up bold mass initiatives on the economic,
political,
social and cultural fronts to "build a great, powerful and prosperous
nation" by 2012, to mark the centenary of the birth Comrade Kim Il
Sung, the founder and leader
of the WKP and the DPRK -- so as to usher in the next level of their
nation-building project and lay the foundation to guarantee the
independence and prosperity of the Korean nation and people in the
years to come.
Long Live the Workers' Party of Korea!
Victory to the Struggle for Independent, Peaceful Reunification!
Tokyo International Korean
Reunification Conference
- Interview, H.P. Chung, Canadian
Delegate -
TML is posting below an interview with H.P.
Chung, a delegate of the Corean Federation in Canada to the
international conference on Korean Reunification taking place in Tokyo,
Japan later this month.
***
TML: Tell us a about the conference of
overseas Korean taking place in Tokyo, Japan on October 14-17 -- who is
participating and what is the aim of the conference?
H.P. Chung: There will be about 1000
participants in all from Canada, Central and South America, China,
Europe,
the former Soviet Union, Oceania and U.S. and Japan. These are
patriotic
Koreans living outside of the Korean homeland. The purpose of this
conference is to demonstrate overseas
Korean people's support for the June 15, 2000 North-South Joint
Declaration signed between the leaders of north and south Korea as well
as the October 4, 2007 Declaration. The overseas Korean community, as
well as the people of south and north Korea are all united in wanting
to advance the implementation of
the principles of these important historic agreements that are
important achievements for the Korean reunification movement.
TML: As part of the conference
preparation, from the period June 15-October 4, 2009, there were
signature campaigns organized in various parts of the world including
in Canada to endorse these two declarations. How did this campaign go
in Canada and what was achieved?
HPC: In Canada, several hundred
signatures were collected on Korean reunification flags as well as on
petitions. These signatures came mostly from Montreal, Toronto and
Vancouver where there are good numbers of people of Korean origin
resident. I should point out that about half of
the signatures were from non-Koreans -- workers, students and others
who support the peaceful reunification of Korea. This is very
encouraging to those of us active in the movement for Korean
reunification. It tells us that we are not alone and can count on the
Canadian people as allies. The signature campaign
helped to inform Canadians and Koreans living in Canada about these two
important agreements that should be supported by everyone, because
Korean reunification is the concern of not only Koreans, but everyone.
Korean reunification will bring peace and stability on the Korean
peninsula and this will be a positive
outcome for peace in Asia and the world.
TML: From your perspective, what is the
state of affairs regarding Korean reunification at this time and what
can the Canadian people do to support this important political project
of the Korean people for reunification and peace?
HPC: The current
south Korean government is
following U.S. policy on the Korean peninsula and is not supporting
reunification and going backward to the Cold War strategy. From this
outlook, the current president of South Korea is trying to nullify of
the June 15 Joint Declaration between the leaders
of north and south Korea as well as the October 4 Declaration. But
the Korean people's desire for reunification is firm and they consider
that the two historic declarations are fundamental milestones to
achieving reunification by the peaceful, independent political efforts
of the Korean people themselves. Peace on
the Korean peninsula can only be achieved as a result of the
reunification of the country. The main obstacle to reunification is the
presence of U.S. troops in south Korea. Peace on the Korean peninsula
will
contribute to peace in northeast Asia and world peace. Therefore,
we appeal to everyone in Canada to support
the Korean reunification movement.
TML: Thank you and we wish the
reunification conference and your important ongoing work great success.
HPC: Thank you.
Great Successes in 150-Day Campaign
to Develop the Economy
Pyongyang, Korea, August
11, 2009: Performers in the Arirang Mass Games celebrate the
DPRK's 150-day campaign
for the all-sided development of its economy.
On September 25, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA)
released a report in connection with the decisive victory won by the
concerted efforts of the army and people of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea in the "150-day Campaign" for the development of the
nation. According to the
report, taking the
country as a whole, the campaign was realized at 112 percent.
According to
another report by the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the campaign which
lasted from April 20 to September 16 this year "was an all-party
general offensive, a campaign for nationwide mobilization and an
all-people decisive campaign to make this year a year of great changes
which will mark a turning point in
the building of a thriving nation."
Industrial production showed a 1.2-fold increase over
that in the same period last year and hundreds of objects were
commissioned or underwent technological updating in that period. The
production of steel, rolled steel and Juche
iron jumped several times
as compared to the same period
last year.
Workers of the Pukchang Thermal Power Complex generated
1.4 times as much electricity as compared to the same period last year
while those of the East Pyongyang Thermal Power Station, the
Chongchongang Thermal Power Station and the Sunchon Thermal Power
Station produced more electricity than
planned.
In the coal industry, production swelled 1.5 times over
that in the same period last year. More than 1,200 reserve coal cutting
faces were secured to contribute to the increase of coal production. In
the field of railway transport the freight transport assignment was
carried out at 118 percent. A intensive
drive was waged at the mines in the Tanchon area to effect a surge in
production.
The machine-building industry provided
the necessary machines and equipment to various domains of the national
economy. The quota for the production of machine tools was surpassed at
126 percent, that of generators at 114 percent, that of motors 122
percent and that of transformers at 120 percent.
The workers in the field of forestry boosted timber
production 1.5 times compared to the same period last year while the
construction materials industry raised cement production 1.4 times.
Light industry achieved successes by directing efforts to boost the
production of mass consumer goods.
By August, targets of the campaign were achieved by many
industries while at least 1,000 factories and enterprises fulfilled
their yearly assignments ahead of schedule.
The members of the shock brigades of scientists and
technicians and technical innovation shock brigades of factories and
enterprises across the country made a lot of scientific inventions and
realized more than 9,000 technical innovation proposals. Scientists and
technicians also launched satellite
Kwangmyongsong-2 by their own efforts and with their own technology.
In the field of food production, rice-transplanting,
maize-planting, weeding and so on were carried out qualitatively in the
right season thanks to the efforts of agricultural workers and with the
support of the whole country, bringing about a bumper crop. Meanwhile,
various provinces registered successes
in the efforts to build new general food processing factories equipped
with modern facilities relying on their locally available raw and other
materials or rebuilt the existing factories following the example set
by the Samilpho Special Products Factory.
In terms of construction projects, the soldier builders
carried out in a matter of a few months the amount of work that would
have taken several years at an ordinary pace. The construction of the
Kumyagang Power Station, the Ryesonggang Power Station, the Orangchon
Power Station and the Paektusan
Songun Youth Power Station also made brisk headway thanks to the
dynamic drive of servicepersons, builders and members of the youth
shock brigades, making it possible to complete them earlier than
scheduled. Those engaged in reclaiming the tideland on Taegye Islet
wound up in the main the gigantic project.
Headway was also made in the construction of houses for 100,000
families in Pyongyang.
This period also saw the appearance of modern buildings
with all amenities for creating art works, performances and
entertainment such as the North Hwanghae Provincial Art Theatre and the
Songdowon Youth Open-Air Theatre. Many buildings including Mansudae
Street, the Majon Hotel and the
Sohung Gymnasium were also constructed. The 150-day campaign also saw
the production of such
masterpieces as feature films "White Gem" (parts 1 and 2) and "The
Country I Saw" (parts 2 and 3) and many other literary and art works.
The KCNA report notes that "the shining victory of the
'150-day campaign' goes to clearly prove the great Songun
revolutionary leadership of Kim Jong Il." Based on the success of this
national campaign, the Worker's Party of Korea has called for a
follow-up "100-Day Campaign" to
build on the successes to date. This call of the WPK has been
enthusiastically taken up by all sectors of the people.
DPRK's Intention to Build Nuclear-Free World
A spokesman for the DPRK Foreign Ministry gave the
following answer to a question put by Korean Central News Agency on
September 30 in regards to the recent summit of the UN Security Council
(UNSC) member nations:
Heads of state of the UNSC member nations met in New
York on September 24 to discuss the issues of nuclear nonproliferation
and nuclear disarmament and adopted UNSC Resolution 1887 on building "a
world without nuclear weapons."
What matters is that this resolution, too, is a
double-standards document as it failed to fully reflect the desire and
will of the world community as a whole.
As a matter of fact, the summit should have called into
question and dealt with the U.S. nuclear threat and the reality in
which peace and stability are being seriously disturbed in different
regions due to the above-said threat.
It is a prerequisite to global denuclearization for the
country with the biggest stockpile of nukes to reduce and eliminate
them.
The recent resolution deals with the unilateral demands
of the nuclear powers to be met by other countries while disregarding
the important realistic issues. It is, therefore, nothing but a
sinister scheme of the nuclear powers to maintain the sphere of their
domination through their nuclear monopoly
under the signboard of global denuclearization.
The DPRK was compelled to have access to a nuclear
deterrent in order to protect the supreme interests of the country and
the regional peace and security in face of the high-handed and
arbitrary practices to violate the right to peaceful development of the
Korean people who have been exposed to
the U.S. nuclear threat for more than half a century.
It has already totally rejected the resolutions the UNSC
unreasonably cooked up over its legitimate measures for self-defence.
The DPRK's dismantlement of nuclear weapons is
unthinkable even in a dream as long as there exist the sources that
compelled it to have access to nukes.
Moreover, it is unimaginable to expect the DPRK to
return
to the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty] as a non-nuclear state as it
failed to play any role in preventing the U.S. forward-deployment of
nuclear weapons in south Korea and its growing nuclear threat to the
DPRK and has been abused for serving
the purpose of the U.S. policy to isolate and stifle the DPRK.
We totally reject UNSC Resolution 1887, too, as it is
peppered with the hegemonic ambitions of nuclear powers and will not be
bound to it at all.
President Kim Il Sung advanced an idea of denuclearizing
the Korean Peninsula and building a world free from nuclear weapons
long ago. And it is the desire of the Korean people to live in a
peaceful world without nuclear weapons.
We will make efforts to denuclearize the peninsula in
the context of building a world free from nuclear weapons and
the U.S nuclear policy toward the DPRK in the future, too, as in the
past.
64th Session UN General Assembly
"The Foreign Policy of the DPRK Is Committed to the
Principles of Independence, Peace and Friendship"
- Speech by H.E. Mr. Pak Kil Yon,
Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Chairman of DPRK Delegation to UN, New York, September 28 2009 -
DPRK Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Pak Kil Yon
|
Mr. President, at the outset, I, on behalf of the
delegation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), would
like to congratulate, you, Dr. Ali Abdussalam Treki on your election
as President of the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly
(UNGA). At the same time, I wish to express
my expectation that your skilful stewardship will lead the current
session to achieve success.
Mr. President, the 64th session of the UNGA will mark an
end of the first decade of the new century that humankind ushered in
with a great deal of anticipation and aspiration. One of the major
tasks facing the UNGA this year is to take an impartial review of the
first decade and set the correct path
ahead. Humankind has yet to realize its long-cherished desire to
achieve a peaceful and equitable world free from war, while its hopeful
aspirations are confronted with a host of serious challenges one after
another.
The Afghan war is in escalation whereas the Iraqi war is
still at a loose end. The cold wind of the nuclear arms race is blowing
even before the opening of the negotiations on nuclear disarmament.
Avian influenza is not completely subdued. Yet a new strain of A/H1N1
flu is sweeping the world. This
year the world is undergoing more global warming than last year and
witnessing more stagnant economies and many more people out of work
everywhere.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has become
more arrogant, resulting in further inequality and prevalent double
standards in international relations. We need to direct serious
attention to this prevailing reality when we review the first decade of
the new century.
Mr. President, the DPRK, under the leadership of the
great General Kim Jong Il, has now entered a new phase of
state-building. The great, prosperous and powerful nation as we say is
a country in which national power is strong, everything is thriving and
the people are living happily with nothing
to envy in the world.
To build such a country was the lifetime wish of the
great leader of our people, President Kim Il Sung, and to open the gate
of this thriving nation by 2012 which marks the centenary of his birth
is the invariable will of the DPRK government and people. The main task
before us in the next 3 years
is to concentrate all efforts on the building of an economic power
which is the last [summit] of building a great, prosperous and powerful
nation.
The Korean peninsula remains as ever in a state of
armistice. But now that we possess a dependable nuclear deterrent, we
can possibly prevent war and defend peace. For over half a century our
country was compelled to produce bullets first rather than sweets while
suffering from nuclear threats and
danger of war posed by hostile forces, but today we have settled down
to channel our main efforts into the building of a great, prosperous
and powerful nation. For all intents and purposes, this is completely
attributable to the Songun-based politics unfolded by the
great General Kim Jong Il. When our
country turns into an economic power, it will create a new impetus to
the economic development of the region. Our striving for economic
development will constitute a significant element in the efforts of the
international community to attain the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Mr. President, we have never denied the denuclearization
of the Korean peninsula and the rest of the world. Denuclearization is
the behest of President Kim Il Sung and a nuclear-free world is a
long-cherished desire of humankind. The Korean people are holding the
sovereignty and peace of the country
dearer than any other people and nation in the world, proceeding from
the characteristics of its historical development.
The DPRK has done everything it can to realize the
peaceful reunification of the country, to remove nuclear threats and
the source of war and secure peace and stability on the Korean
peninsula. We initiated the denuclearization of Northeast Asia and the
Korean peninsula and advanced the proposal
of replacing the Armistice Agreement with a peace agreement and the
proposal of adopting a DPRK-U.S. non-aggression treaty. However, our
efforts have not received due response from the United States. The U.S.
considers the Korean issue only in light of its Asian strategy and does
not want to see the entire Korean
peninsula denuclearized. Thus it has increased nuclear threats against
the DPRK. The arbitrariness of the U.S. finds expression in arguing
that the DPRK must not launch even a peaceful satellite. The UNSC is
being abused by this arbitrariness.
We came to the conclusion that as long as the U.S. does
not change it nuclear policy at the present time, we have no other
option but to rely on our dependable nuclear possession to ensure
nuclear balance of the region, if we are to preserve peace and
stability in North East Asia. The denuclearization
of the Korean peninsula depends on whether or not the U.S. changes its
nuclear policy towards Korea. In order to realize the denuclearization
of the Korean peninsula, the U.S. administration must discard the old
concept of confrontation and show "change" in practice, as it recently
stated on several occasions.
Mr. President, we do not pursue the nuclear arms race.
The purpose of our nuclear weapon is to deter a war. We will only
possess a nuclear deterrent to such an extent as to deter military
attacks and its threat against our country. The deterrence will be
directly proportional to the threat on the Korean
peninsula, as in Europe and elsewhere. The DPRK, while in possession of
nuclear weapons, will act in a responsible manner in management, use
and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons as well as in nuclear
disarmament.
We share the position of all peace loving countries
including the non-aligned countries in opposing nuclear war, the
nuclear arms race and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. "Sanctions"
are now imposed on us in the name of the United Nations on the grounds
that we possess a nuclear deterrent.
It may be recalled that the UN was born in the country which produced
the first nuclear weapon and all five permanent members states of the
UNSC are nuclear powers. Had these countries shown sincerity in nuclear
disarmament a long time ago and refrained from arbitrary acts of
selectively taking issue with the
peaceful satellite launch of another country, the nuclear-related
situation of the world may have evolved differently.
The DPRK attaches importance to sovereignty and equality
enshrined in the UN Charter. The principle of sovereignty and equality
is also the reason that we joined the UN as a member. Unfair and
unequal sanctions will never be recognised nor accepted. It is the
stand of the DPRK government to react
to dialogue with dialogue and respond to "sanctions" by strengthening
our nuclear deterrence. If the U.S. comes to dialogue with "sanctions,"
we will also participate in the dialogue with bolstered nuclear
deterrence.
In order to strengthen the role of the UN in conformity
with the requirements of the times and the changed situation, it is
important to thoroughly democratize the UNSC and decisively raise the
authority of the General Assembly. In restructuring the UNSC, we should
debate first on the feasible issues
such as expansion of non-permanent members of the UNSC on the principle
of fully ensuring the representation of the non-aligned and other
developing countries which account for the majority of the UN member
states. In enhancing the authority of the General Assembly, we need to
discuss the issue of submitting
to the UNGA for approval the decisions of the UNSC and, in particular,
all the decisions related to the principle of sovereign equality under
the UN Charter.
The UN is required to have proper criteria and
principles for debating human rights issues. The UN Charter recognizes
the rights of national self-determination and choice, the principle of
non-interference in the internal affairs, and all international human
rights instruments being set on the basis of
the non-politicization of human rights as their elementary principles.
But now in the UN, some debates are running counter to this.
Any attempt to make an issue of systems of specific
countries and to interfere in their internal affairs under the guise of
the "protection of human rights" is, in itself, a violation of human
rights denying the rights of the people of those countries to choose
their own system. The UN should pay attention
to the fact that on its human rights agenda there are only "problems"
of small countries without mentioning about big countries, the West and
European countries. Due attention should also be given to the reality
in which the role of non-aligned and other developing countries is
enhanced on the international arena.
International efforts to attain the Millennium
Development Goals and address the central issues of the UN like the
global economic crisis and climate change urgently call for active
participation of a broad spectrum of developing countries including the
non-aligned movement.
Mr. President, the foreign policy of the DPRK, as in the
past, and now, and also in the future, will be committed to the
principles of independence, peace and friendship. The DPRK government
will make active efforts to further strengthen and develop friendly and
cooperative relations with all UN
member states under these principles and discharge its full
responsibility in defending peace and security of the Korean peninsula
and the rest of the world.
Thank you.
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