Anniversary of the Election of Kim Jong Il

as the General Secretary of the WPK

Kim Jong Il was elected the general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea on October 8, 1997. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was in a difficult situation that time.

The US- led imperialist forces were intensifying than ever before their political and military pressure, economic sanctions and blockade against socialist Korea, with a view to completely stamping out the existence of the globe after the collapse of socialism in the Eastern European countries in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. The Korean people suffered the greatest national loss on July 8, 1994—the death of Kim Il Sung who had led the country over half a century. To make things worse, they encountered the worst economic difficulties and shortage of food caused by the natural calamities which hit the country for several consecutive years. The DPRK had to launch a severe struggle to defend socialism. Given the situation, Kim Jong Il unfolded the blueprint for the bright future for the Korean people---plan for building a great, prosperous and powerful socialist country whose national power is strong, and where everything prospers and the people live with nothing to envy in the world. The successful launch in August 1997 of the artificial earth satellite, Kwangmyonsong No. 1 , which was made entirely by its own efforts, was the solemn declaration which heralded the start of the building of a thriving nation.

In order to crush the aggressive maneuvers of the imperialists by strengthening the politico-ideological might and military strength of the country, he formulated Songun politics as the basic political mode of socialism, and thoroughly applied it through his continuous field inspections of army units.

The WPK adopted measures to establish the atmosphere of attaching importance to military affairs throughout society and emulate the revolutionary soldier spirit.

The Korean people responded to his Songun politics with all their heart. The army broke through the economic difficulties standing in the van and the civilians supported the army more sincerely in the course of which the traditional single-hearted unity of the Korean society has reached a new, higher plane. The overall national power of the country has been strengthened remarkably, with the result that it came to possess a powerful nuclear deterrent.

The WPK’s policies of developing the economy of the country at the earliest possible date have been realized brilliantly one by one.

Numerous hydroelectric power stations have been built in the country. The Korean people realigned the paddy and non-paddy fields across the country into the standardized plots and built gravitational waterways to the brilliant implementation of the decision of the WPK on strengthening the foundations of the agricultural development.

True to Kim Jong Il’s aphorism of keeping their feet firmly planted on their land and looking out over the world and WPK’s idea of pushing back the frontiers of science and technology, the Korean people secured the supremacy in the CNC technology and are achieving marvelous success in such domains as the nuclear, space, and bioengineering technologies. The WPK’s line of building an independent national economy is also being implemented with credit as a new steel-making system using no cokes and scrap iron has been established, the line of producing fertilizer based on coal gasification installed and the line of producing vinalon fiber renovation to rely on the resource abundant in the country.

In 2011, too, Korea set it as its key goal to improve the people’s living standards and focus its investment on developing light industry and agriculture. Every province, not to mention the capital city of Pyongyang, has built a general foodstuff factory equipped with modern facilities and run them at full capacity; renovated factories of light industry are producing daily necessities of high quality. The construction of 100, 000 flats is under way full steam in Pyongyang, and the large-scale Huichon Power Station, which was scheduled to be finished by 2012, is near completion.

In a word, it can be said that the Korean people have already laid possible foundations on which to translate into reality the goals set by the WPK, to open the gates of thriving nation by 2012, greeting the centenary of the birth of President Kim Il Sung, founding father of socialist Korea.

The Conference of the Worker’s Party of Korea convened in September 2010 adopted a decision on reelecting Kim Jong Il to the helm of the Party. When the decision was made public the whole country was instantly thrown into a festive mood, and everyone came outside to dance and cheer.

These were a vivid picture of the Korean people, who absolutely support and trust their leader and entrust their destiny and future entirely on the WPK headed by him.

S. Korean Authorities Urged to Drop Ambition for 'Unification through Absorption'

Pyongyang, September 5 (KCNA) -- A spokesmen for the Disarmament and Peace Institute of the DPRK Foreign Ministry issued the following statement Monday:

The international community is greatly concerned about the north-south relations that have been pushed to such state of confrontation as the brink of war since the emergence of the present authorities of south Korea though they had favorably developed since the outset of the 21st century.

The south Korean authorities' strategy of "unification through absorption" is the main reason why the north-south relations have been systematically deteriorated in a little more than three years after the present south Korean authorities came to power and situation has reached a point of explosion.

The present south Korean authorities' all "policies" toward the north have proceeded from the "theory of unification of systems."

"Unification of systems" precisely means "a method of achieving unification through absorption" whereby one side swallows up the other side, under the situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula where the two differing ideologies and systems have existed in the north and the south for more than half a century since their division.

The south Korean authorities adopted "unification of systems" as their policy, reneging on the north-south agreement on achieving reunification by federal formula. They thus turned the north-south relations into those of confrontation by opposing the reunification by federal formula to "unification through absorption."

Their "north policy" called "no nukes, opening and 3 000 dollars" which they put forth in the early days of their office revealed their attempt at "unification of systems" aimed to disable the nuclear deterrent of the DPRK, force it into opening and destroy it in the end.

"Contingency" and "wait-and-see strategy" touted by the south Korean authorities are, in essence, prompted by their sinister intention to see the system in the DPRK collapse.

After inventing "unification tax" which no successive regimes had ever thought of, the authorities are crying out for raising funds necessary for "unification through absorption."

They have been busy visiting not only neighboring countries but European countries to solicit them to help them realize "unification through absorption."

This is, in a nutshell, a declaration of a war against the DPRK and is little short of a war action.

The south Korean authorities consider the DPRK as an "enemy" to be wiped out, not as part of the driving force for reunification with whom they should pool efforts.

It is instinct of a human being to protect oneself and clear is the stand of the army and people of the DPRK toward those forces set to do harm to their system.

Herein lies the root cause of the deteriorated north-south relations.

In other words, the present north-south confrontation is the confrontation of reunification modes.

The federal formula proposed by the DPRK side is a reunification mode calling for co-existence and co-prosperity irrespective of ideology and system.

"Unification through absorption" leads to a war while reunification by federal formula to peace.

For detente and the improvement of the north-south relations on the peninsula it is necessary for the international community to exercise its influence to make the south Korean authorities wake up from the dangerous dream of "unification through absorption," to begin with. -0-

Kim Jong Il Seen off by Russian President

Pyongyang, August 24 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, was warmly seen off by Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, on Wednesday upon the conclusion of his historical visit to the Russian Federation.

Present there were Alexandr Avramov, assistant to president for regional policy, Sergei Prikhodiko, assistant to president for external policy, Viktor Ishayev, presidential envoy to the Far East Region of the Russian Federation, Viktor Tolokonski, presidential envoy to the Siberian Region of the Russian Federation, Anatoly Serzhukov, minister of Defense, Igor Levitin, minister of Transport, Viktor Basargin, minister of Regional Development who is chairman of the Russian side to the Governmental Committee between Russia-DPRK for the Cooperation of Trade and Economy, Science and Technology, Valery Sukhinin, Russian ambassador to the DPRK, Aleksei Borodavkin, vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Byacheslav Nagovitsin, president of the Republic of Buryatia, Matbei Gershevich, chairman of the People's Khural, Gennadi Aidayev, mayor of Ulan-Ude, Anatoly Sidorov, first vice commander of the Eastern Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Tsilko, commander of the 36th Combined Forces of the Eastern Military District, and other central and local leading officials and commanding officers of the armed forces.

Kim Jong Il Meets with Russian President

Pyongyang, August 24 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, met with Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation, in Ulan-Ude, the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia in Russia, on Wednesday.

Kim Jong Il exchanged warm greetings with Medvedev and had a talk with him.

The president warmly welcomed leader Kim Jong Il visiting Russia by sparing precious time despite his tight schedule leading the building of a prosperous and powerful country in the DPRK on behalf of the Russian government and the people. He said that the visit would mark a particularly important occasion in further developing the Russia-DPRK friendly relations as required by the new century.

The third visit to Russia paid by Kim Jong Il in the new century clearly proves what importance he is attaching to the Russia-DPRK friendship, he noted, paying high tribute to Kim Jong Il who has made an immortal contribution to the development of the Russia-DPRK friendship.

Kim Jong Il expressed his pleasure of meeting with Medvedev and thanked him for coming all the way to Ulan-Ude to kindly meet with him. He gave his impressions of his visit to the Far East and Siberian regions under the great concern of the Russian government and people and amid their cordial hospitality.

The talk took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere. -0-

Kim Jong Il′s Russian Visit Hailed as Great Event

Pyongyang, August 24 (KCNA) -- Vorontsov, chief of Section for Korea of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, on a visit to the DPRK had this to say upon hearing the news of leader Kim Jong Il's unofficial visit to Siberia and the Far East Region of the Russian Federation:

Kim Jong Il's visit to Russia is a great event and it cannot but be an auspicious event for the peoples of the two countries.

Kim Jong Il is a great leader. He has paid deep attention to the development of relations with Russia. It has great expectation towards his current visit.

The visit would contribute to boosting the cooperation between the two countries in different domains.

He visited the Bureya Hydro-electric Plant, a large power base in the Far East Region of Russia.

His visit to Russia would mark an important occasion in developing the traditional friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries onto a new higher stage.

I wish Kim Jong Il success in his Russian visit. -0-

Pyongyang, August 23 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission, visited the Republic of Buryatia in Siberia of the Russian Federation Tuesday.

The Republic of Buryatia was wrapped in a festive atmosphere to welcome Kim Jong Il.

He arrived at Ulan-Ude, the capital city of the Republic this morning.

He exchanged greetings with Byacheslav Nagovitsin, president of the Republic of Buryatia, Matbei Gershevich, chairman of the People's Khural, Sergei Shylin, federal chief inspector for the Republic of Buryatia of the Presidential Envoy Office to the Siberian Region of the Russian Federation, Pyotr Noskov, deputy prime minister of the government of the Republic of Buryatia and chief of the presidential office and government administration of the Republic of Buryatia, Gennadi Aidayev, mayor of Ulan-Ude, and other central and local leading officials who were present there to greet him and Viktor Ishayev, presidential envoy to the Far East Region of the Russian Federation, and Valery Sukhinin, Russian ambassador to the DPRK, who were accompanying him to conduct him on a visit to Siberia in the wake of his visit to the Far East Region.

Kim Jong Il was accorded warm welcome by citizens in national costumes. He was offered bread, salt, blue kerchief, milk and bouquet according to the customs of various nationalities in the region.

He was accompanied by Kim Yong Chun, member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and minister of the People's Armed Forces, Kang Sok Ju, member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and vice-premier of the Cabinet, Jang Song Thaek, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and vice-chairman of the NDC, Kim Yang Gon, Pak To Chun and Thae Jong Su, alternate members of the Political Bureau and secretaries of the WPK Central Committee, Ju Kyu Chang, alternate member of the Political Bureau and department director of the WPK Central Committee, Pak Pong Ju, first vice department director of the WPK Central Committee, O Su Yong, chief secretary of the North Hamgyong Provincial Committee of the WPK, Kim Kye Gwan, first vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, and Kim Yong Jae, DPRK ambassador to Russia.

He had conversations with leading officials of the Republic of Buryatia including Byacheslav Nagovitsin and Matbei Gershevich.

Nagovitsin said it is a great honor of the people in the region including the Republic of Buryatia to receive Kim Jong Il, the great leader of the Korean people, in their place. He paid high tribute to Kim Jong Il who came all the way to visit Siberia to boost the traditional Russia-DPRK friendship.

Touring various places of the region including Ulan-Ude that day, Kim Jong Il got familiar with the customs and life of various nationalities of the Siberia region. He received warm congratulations and welcome whenever he went.

He was accompanied by Viktor Ishayev, Byacheslav Nagovitsin, Matbei Gershevich, Sergei Shylin, Pyotr Noskov, Gennadi Aidayev and Valery Sukhinin.

He cruised Lake Baikal, a large natural lake of Russia.

The lake is associated with unforgettable historic relics as it was visited by President Kim Il Sung on his way to foreign tour in July 1961, 50 years ago.

Kim Jong Il was greeted by the captain and sailors of passenger ship "Inperiya".

He got aboard the ship. Cruising the lake whose water seems to convey the feelings of the DPRK-Russia friendship just as it did half a century ago, he recollected in reverence the brilliant life and exploits of Kim Il Sung who devoted his all to the friendship among countries and accomplishment of the human cause of independence.

He said that Lake Baikal, scenic beauty of picturesque Siberia, is pride of the Russian people, underscoring the need to preserve well the lake and natural environment in its vicinity to hand them down to the generations to come and positively contribute to the living of the Russian people and the promotion of their well-being.

That day Byacheslav Nagovitsin hosted a luncheon in honor of Kim Jong Il visiting the Republic.

The luncheon took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

Artistes of the Republic gave a special performance in welcome of him.

They included people's artistes, merited artistes and international concours winners of Russia and the Republic who visited the DPRK on several occasions including the April Spring Friendship Art Festival.

Put on the stage were numbers including female solos "Altan Delhe" and "Oriole", male solo "Flock of Cranes", mixed duet "Moment of Parting", national instrument solo "Series of Folk Music" and male solo of Korean song "Please Receive Our Salute".

The performance was acclaimed by the audience for high artistry.

Kim Jong Il congratulated the artistes on their successful performance and had a photo taken with them.

He was presented with a gift by the president of the Republic on behalf of its government and people on the same day.

His visit to the Republic took place amid the warm welcome and cordial hospitality accorded by leading officials of Russia and the people of Siberia.

Kim Jong Il to Visit Northeast Area of China

Pyongyang, August 25 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, will pay a visit to the Northeast area of the People's Republic of China on August 25 on his way home after winding up his visit to the Siberian and Far East Regions of Russia. -0-

Kim Jong Il to Visit Siberia and Far Eastern Region of Russia

Pyongyang, August 20 (KCNA) -- Chairman Kim Jong Il of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea will pay an unofficial visit to Siberia and Far Eastern region of the Russian Federation at the invitation of Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation.

During the visit the top leaders of the two countries will have a meeting -0-

Kim Jong Il Passes through Khasan Railway Station, Russia

Pyongyang, August 20 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK, passed through Khasan, the border railway station of Russia this morning on his way to pay an unofficial visit to Siberia and the Far East Region of the Russian Federation at the invitation of Dmitri Anatoliyevich Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation.

He was greeted at Khasan Railway Station by Viktor Ishayev, presidential envoy to the Far East Region of the Russian Federation, who came to Khasan to conduct him.

He was also greeted by Sergey Darikin, governor of Maritime Territory, Valery Sukhinin, Russian ambassador to the DPRK, Irina Skorobogatova, deputy governor of Maritime Territory, and other senior officials of Moscow, maritime territory, city and district.

When the train pulled in the station, the senior officials got on the train and offered greetings to him.

Medvedev, who has paid deep attention to the Russia-DPRK friendship, dispatched them to greet Kim Jong Il, Viktor Ishayev and other senior officials said, warmly welcoming him to Russia upon the authorization of its President.

Kim Jong Il's current visit to Russia will mark a historic occasion in putting the Russia-DPRK friendly and cooperative relations onto a fresher and higher stage, they noted.

He said he was very pleased to see for himself the achievements made by the diligent and resourceful Russian people through his current visit, thanking the senior officials of Moscow and local areas and people for warmly greeting him.

He was presented with a souvenir by Sergey Darikin on behalf of the Maritime Territorial Government and people.

After a while, he left for his destination amid send-off by senior officials of Russia.

Prior to it, he left the country to pay an unofficial visit to Siberia and the Far East Region of the Russian Federation.

He is accompanied by Kim Yong Chun, member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and minister of the People's Armed Forces, Kang Sok Ju, member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and vice-premier of the Cabinet, Jang Song Thaek, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and vice-chairman of the NDC, Kim Yang Gon, Pak To Chun and Thae Jong Su, alternate members of the Political Bureau and secretaries of the WPK Central Committee, Ju Kyu Chang, alternate member of the Political Bureau and department director of the WPK Central Committee, Pak Pong Ju, first vice department director of the WPK Central Committee, O Su Yong, chief secretary of the North Hamgyong Provincial Committee of the WPK, Kim Kye Gwan, first vice-minister of Foreign Affairs, Kim Yong Jae, DPRK ambassador to Russia, and Sim Kuk Ryong, consul general of the DPRK Consulate General in Nakhodka of Russia.

His visit to Russia, another event in achieving world peace and security and the human cause of independence, will mark a historic occasion in boosting the DPRK-Russia friendship given steady continuity generation after generation and putting strong impetus to the drive of all the servicepersons and people to build a thriving socialist nation. -0-