opinion

The history of the Korean youth movement is a proud one, in which the revolution has advanced and the dignity and honour of our state have been highly demonstrated thanks to the heroic and devoted efforts of young people. 

In the 1950s, just after the Fatherland Liberation War against invaders broke out, in less than two months (June 25-August 15, 1950) over 849 000 young people volunteered to the front and 446 young heroes were produced during the three years of the war. 

During one year after war, they reconstructed 915 coal and ore mines and other enterprises and over 10 000 hectares of crop fields, carried out 317 irrigation projects and planted well over 204 million trees. 

True to the call of the Workers’ Party of Korea, they finished 80km-long Haeju-Hasong railway construction in only 75 days, and more than 6 000 young people volunteered to the fishing sector from June to November 1959.

In those days, young people finished the large-scale Kiyang irrigation first-stage project two and a half years ahead of schedule.

In the 1960s, greeting the Fifth Congress of the Democratic Youth League, the Kanggye Youth Power Station and the project of electrification of the Pyongyang-Sinuiju railway line were completed, and nearly one hundred thousand young people volunteered to major construction sites. 

From 1961 to 1969, over 1.5 million young people volunteered to work in difficult and labour-consuming sectors of socialist construction and over 2.6 million joined more than 70 000 youth shock brigades.

In the 1970s, 3 600 youth shock brigade members constructed the new Ichon-Sepho railway line.

Young people finished electrification of the Pyongyang-Madong railway line, which had been supposed to take over two years, in less than two months, and rendered distinguished services in the projects of electrifying the Huichon-Koin and Pyongyang-Tokchon railway lines and building the Chongjin marshalling yard.

In 1978 tens of thousands of senior middle school graduates volunteered to work at farms, forming hundreds of youth sub-workteams, and over 2 000 youth sub-workteams were formed the following year.

In the 1980s, over 25 000 youth shock brigades were formed across the country, and a total of 6.1 million members of the League of Socialist Working Youth joined the shock brigades.

Young people actively contributed to completing the first stage of northern railway line project, the Kwangbok Street, Grand People’s Study House, Mangyongdae Fun Fair, Ore-dressing Plant No. 3 of the Komdok Mine, Pyongyang Department Store No. 1, Changgwang Health Complex, Changgwang Street (first stage), location street of the Korean Film Studio and other monumental edifices and factories and enterprises.

In the 1990s-2000s, the most difficult and arduous period for the country, young people built over 40km-long Youth Hero Motorway.

The July 11 youth vanguard death-defying corps in South Hamgyong Province built the Kwangmyongsong Salt Works on Kumya Bay with a yearly production capacity of tens of thousands of tons.

Young people finished the work of laying a 100km-long railway line, building 47 bridges, 14 stations, 13 tunnels, and on April 15, 1997 the line between Wonsan and Mt Kumgang was opened to traffic.

In the 2010s, after the completion of units 1 and 2 of the Paektusan Hero Youth Power Station in 2015, young people completed Unit 3 in less than half a year in 2016, which they dedicated to the Seventh Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea..

In a single day of August, when the country’s situation was escalating to the brink of war, one million young people volunteered to join or rejoin the Korean People’s Army, demonstrating their determination to repulse the enemy.

During the 200-day campaign, young people completed scores of construction projects, and equipment and machines numbering over 500 were named Chongnyon (Youth).

Entering the 2020s, until mid-July 2021 after the Eighth Congress of the WPK, nearly 10 000 young people volunteered to work at difficult and challenging sectors and thousands of others joined them after the Fourth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK. This year they built a new monument to the youth, Jonwi Street, in the capital city of Pyongyang.