SONGUN KOREA

“The geopolitical position of the country is the same as ever, but the weak country of yesterday which was trodden underfoot as a theatre of wrangling among big powers to expand the sphere of their influence, has now been turned into a proud political and military power and our people are demonstrating their dignity as an independent people whom no one dares to provoke.

 “These miraculous changes that have taken place in the destiny of our nation are not just a fortuitous event which resulted from the lapse of time but an inevitable outcome of history brought about by the great President Kim Il Sung and General Kim Jong Il, who pioneered and led the Songun revolution.”

They are some passages from the speech supreme leader Kim Jong Un of the DPRK delivered at the military parade held in celebration of the centenary of the birth of President Kim Il Sung, father of socialist Korea, in April 2012.

One century ago Korea was a weak colonial country. Its national sovereignty was cruelly infringed upon by the great powers and it had to undergo hardships of a stateless nation trampled upon by the Japanese military because it had no military strength to defend itself. The sufferings of the Korean nation were put to an end by Kim Il Sung, pioneer of the Songun revolution.

He set out on the road of struggle to save the destiny of the country and nation early in his teens. In the course of groping for the path of the Korean revolution he initiated the Juche idea that one is responsible for one’s own destiny and one has also the capacity for hewing out one’s own destiny, and clarified the fundamental principle of the Songun idea that the destiny and prosperity of the country and nation are all guaranteed by force of arms. Starting from this, he organized the guerrilla army units without state backing or a regular army, and waged a grim anti-Japanese war. In the course of the 15-year-long bloody war, he showed the truth that the national liberation struggles in colonial countries against the imperialist occupationists must be conducted by force of arms and set examples of their materialization.

He achieved the historic cause of Korea’s liberation on August 15, 1945. After liberation Kim Il Sung gave top priority to the founding of a regular army and the

building of the defence industry. Thanks to this, Korea could inflict serious defeat on the US imperialists who started the Korean war on June 25, 1950 and safeguard its national sovereignty and dignity with honour. After the war he put forward the line of simultaneously building the economy and defence and policies of turning the entire army into a cadre army, modernizing it, arming all the people and fortifying the whole country and led the efforts for their implementation, thus frustrating the constant provocations of the US imperialists.

The cause of Songun pioneered by Kim Il Sung was brilliantly inherited by Kim Jong Il. Kim Jong Il started Songun-based leadership by giving inspection to the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division of the Korean People’s Army on August 25, 1960, and launched his unique Songun politics in the late 1960s. Entering the mid-1990s Korea had to experience the harshest ordeals owing to the intensified anti-socialist offensive of the imperialists, following the collapse of socialism in several countries and the death of Kim Il Sung, and severe natural calamities. To overcome the prevailing difficulties he held higher the banner of Songun. From 1995 to December 2011, the last days of his life, he inspected 2 492 army units, which prepared the service personnel into those strong in ideas and faith, strengthened the country’ defence capabilities by giving top priority to the development of the defence industry and turned the whole country into an impregnable fortress.

The KPA has been developed into an invincible army capable of smashing the enemy’s attacks and invasion at a breath, and won one victory after another in its showdown with the US. Korea is now possessed of a strong nuclear deterrent to cope with the US’s threat of reckless nuclear preemptive strike.

Thanks to its inexhaustible might of Songun, Korea is exercising sovereignty fairly in the international arena at present and advancing along the road to independence and socialism without seeking approval of others. Korea’s Songun politics displays great strength not only in the political and military fields but also in the economic and cultural sectors. Upholding the slogan “Let us take upon ourselves both national defence and socialist construction!” the KPA is making a breakthrough in the development of the country’s economy.

With the KPA taking the lead and the people modeling after the revolutionary soldier spirit, the traditional great army-people unity of Korea reached the highest stage. Supported by the indomitable spiritual strength, Korea is working out world-startling miracles day by day in the building of a thriving nation. Korea has overcome the worst adversity and turned into an independent power from a weak colonial country. The reality of Korea is the inevitability of history brought about by Songun. It is not fortuitous that Korea is called Songun Korea.

Now Korea is led by Kim Jong Un who is identical with Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. Through the inspection of the KPA Seoul Ryu Kyong Su Guards 105th Tank Division, a symbol of Songun, on the first morning of this year, he made a solemn declaration at home and abroad his will to pursue the road of Songun. And his speech Let Us March Forward Dynamically towards the Final Victory, Holding

Higher the Banner of Songun delivered at the military parade this April made the international community reaffirm his will of Songun.