KIM IL SUNG. The Life of a Revolutionary Should Begin with Struggle and End with Struggle

Transcription

1 KIM IL SUNG The Life of a Revolutionary Should Begin with Struggle and End with Struggle Speech Made at a Banquet Given by the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea April 15, 1982 Esteemed Heads of State and foreign guests, Dear comrades and friends, Heads of State and high-ranking party and government leaders from a number of friendly countries in the world, as well as distinguished personages and many other friends from abroad, have come to our country to celebrate my birthday. This is a great honour for me, and I am deeply grateful for it. Allow me also to express my heartfelt thanks to the members of the congratulatory delegations of the Revolutionary Party for Reunification and of the south Korean people who have risked their lives to come to the northern half of the country to congratulate me, as well as to the members of the congratulatory delegations of the Korean nationals in Japan and overseas Koreans and to many other congratulatory delegations who are visiting their socialist motherland with warm patriotic feelings. Also, I would like to offer my greetings to the entire south Korean people and all overseas Koreans. My deep thanks go to our Party and the Government of the Republic, our revolutionary comrades of many years' standing, all our cadres, and all the Party members and people for having arranged various functions to congratulate me on my birthday. I have been deeply moved by the ardent, hearty congratulations extended to me by our foreign friends, our many comrades and all

2 our people. The warm affection and deep trust shown to me by revolutionary comrades and people strengthen my revolutionary resolve to respond without fail to their love and expectations by doing more work for the country and the people. For me, the happiest thing is to be loved and supported by the people, and the worthiest thing is to serve them. I wish to live on enjoying their love and support, and it is my revolutionary duty to fight for them to the last. Since I set out on the revolutionary road I have always been loved and supported by the people. It is entirely due to the great love, protection and sincere help I have received from my comrades and people that I have been able to continue with my revolutionary activities in good health until today when I celebrate my seventieth birthday. It is the workers, peasants and others who have invigorated and encouraged me and given me their trust at every difficult stage of the revolutionary struggle. It is none other than the people who have given me wisdom and taught me the ways and means of leading the revolution and construction along the right path. It is also the people who have resolutely defended the new line and policies we have put forward at each stage of the revolution and construction and carried them out by displaying heroism and a self-sacrificing spirit. The people have always been my devoted protectors, kind benefactors and excellent teachers. We have been strongly supported and loved by the people and have waged our struggle believing in and relying on them throughout the whole course of the arduous and protracted revolutionary struggle. That is why we have been able to overcome every hardship and gain brilliant victories in the revolution and construction. When we enjoy the love and support of the people, believe in their strength and rely on them we can endure any trial, however bitter, and emerge victorious from any struggle, however difficult. This is a truth we have discovered in conducting the revolutionary struggle. We grasped this priceless

3 revolutionary truth during our struggle and kept it as our unshakable revolutionary creed. This is the secret which had enabled us to hold high the revolutionary banner of Juche and lead our revolution straight to victory despite all the difficulties and complexities. More than half a century has passed since we launched the revolutionary struggle. Our revolution has advanced a long way under the banner of the Juche idea. However, our struggle is not over; we have a lot of work to do. We must reunify our divided country, achieve the complete victory of socialism, build a communist paradise in our homeland, and thereby accomplish the revolutionary cause of Juche. To fulfil this cause, we should continue our struggle without being carried away by our successes and further strengthen the unity and cohesion of our revolutionary ranks. We cannot allow ourselves to cease our struggle even for a moment. The life of a revolutionary should begin with struggle and end with struggle. The revolution should be carried on from one generation to another. Uninterrupted struggle and continuous progress is the requirement of revolution and the tenor of a revolutionary's life. Ensuring the firm unity and cohesion of ideology and will of the revolutionary ranks is the key to the victory of our future struggle to reunify the divided country and model the whole society on the Juche idea. We must firmly defend and keep strengthening the firm unity and cohesion of our revolutionary ranks, which have been achieved through the revolutionary struggle of half a century. This unity and cohesion should be based on the Juche idea and should centre on the Central Committee of the Party; they should be confirmed by a noble sense of revolutionary obligation and faith. Only unity and cohesion which centre on one pivot with one ideology and are based on a sense of revolutionary obligation and faith will last for ever and surmount all tribulations and ordeals.

4 All cadres and Party members, as well as the rest of the people, should fully equip themselves with the Juche idea and, with one ideology and purpose, rally closely around the Central Committee of the Party. When the revolutionary hard cores of our Party, all the cadres and Party members and the entire people fight on courageously, rallied, with a single heart and will, closely around the Central Committee of the Party, victory and glory will always lie ahead of us and the revolutionary cause of Juche will be carried out in a splendid fashion. Comrades and friends, Present here are Heads of State and high-ranking party and government leaders from a number of countries, as well as many others of our foreign friends. We are delighted that we are gathered here with our close comrades-in-arms and friends from many countries who are advancing shoulder to shoulder in the same ranks under the banner of independence. Many envoys of friendship have taken the trouble to come long distances from different continents and regions of the world and congratulate us. This is an unequivocal demonstration of the ardent feelings of comradeship and the noble sense of revolutionary obligation which have developed during our common struggle for independence against imperialism. I consider it a great honour and delight to have many excellent comrades-in-arms and friends like you in different parts of the world. We place a high value on our amity with and loyalty towards our international comrades-in-arms and friends and the progressive people around the world, and will strive to develop them. This is the age of independence. As the days go by, more and more nations on the globe are advancing on the road to independence and the fierce tide of independence is sweeping across all the continents.

5 We should strive to bring independence to the whole world in step with this strong trend of the times. Making the whole world independent is the unanimous desire of the peoples of all the countries who advocate selfdetermination. Humanity shares the noble common cause of wiping out imperialism and colonialism from this earth and achieving complete sovereignty for all countries and nations. Only when the whole world becomes independent can the danger of another world war be completely eliminated, a lasting universal peace guaranteed, and sovereign, prosperous new society built in every land to conform with the people's desire and ideal. If they are to achieve global independence, the peoples of all countries who champion self-determination should work together, form a solid unity and cooperate closely with one another. The might of the people lies precisely in the strength of their unity. Their united force is unconquerable, both in a single country and on a worldwide scale. If they firmly maintain their sovereignty and develop a powerful joint struggle in close unity, the peoples of the non-aligned nations and all the newly-emerging countries will be able to isolate and weaken the imperialist forces, succeed in thwarting their aggressive and interventionist moves, defend the sovereignty of their countries and nations, and realize independence throughout the world. As in the past, so also in the future, the Workers' Party of Korea and the Government of our Republic will, under the banner of independence, friendship and peace, actively promote relations of friendship and cooperation with the peoples of all lands who advocate self-determination and will make every effort to strengthen unity and solidarity among the independent forces of the world. Through the joint efforts and active struggles of the world's people in defence of self-determination, the unity and solidarity of the independent forces will become stronger on a global scale with each passing day, and the cause of independence for the whole world will reach a glorious triumph.

6 Dear comrades and friends, Availing myself of the opportunity presented by this significant gathering at which feelings of noble revolutionary comradeship and warm friendship are overflowing, I would like to pledge my wholehearted, lasting devotion to the revolutionary struggle to reunify our country independently, model the whole society on the Juche idea, and make the whole world independent; so may I propose a toast: To the long life and good health of the esteemed Heads of State here from many countries, who are our close brothers and comrades-in-arms, To the health of the high-ranking party and government leaders, eminent figures, many foreign friends, and diplomatic envoys from different countries of the world who are present here, To the health of the members of the congratulatory delegation of the Revolutionary Party for Reunification, and the south Korean people's congratulatory delegation, the valiant fighters who have come from the field of righteous battle against US imperialism and its stooges, as well as all the revolutionaries and patriots from different walks of life in south Korea, To the health of the members of the congratulatory delegation of Korean nationals in Japan, the congratulatory delegation of overseas Koreans, and all the other congratulatory delegations, who have come to their socialist homeland from Japan and other countries across oceans and continents, and all other Koreans abroad, To the health of all our cadres, Party members, workers, farmers, soldiers, working intellectuals, and the rest of our people, who are boundlessly loyal to the Party and the revolution, and To the health of all the comrades present here. Korean Friendship Association dpr.com