Opinion

The Sixth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea stressed the need to maintain and hand down the tradition of loyalty peculiar to the Korean revolution and the tradition of patriotism unique to the country and advance the revolution on the strength of loyalty and patriotism.

Loyalty and patriotism are the traditions of the DPRK.

In the period of pioneering the Korean revolution the anti-Japanese revolutionary fighters held in high esteem Kim Il Sung as the centre of unity and leadership, safeguarded him politically, ideologically and at the cost of their lives and defeated the Japanese aggressors in all the battle zones of the anti-Japanese war to achieve the historic cause of national liberation on August 15 1945.

Following in the tradition, the Korean people heartily responded to the call of the President for contributing to the nation building, those with strength giving strength, those with money donating money and those with knowledge applying knowledge, and built a democratic, sovereign and independent state. The heightened enthusiasm of the Korean people for creating a new life was maintained through such mass movements as the general ideological mobilization movement for nation building, the emulation drive for increased production and the “patriotic rice” donation movement. 

During the Fatherland Liberation War between 1950 and 1953 to repulse the armed invasion of the US aggressors they defended the destiny of the country and nation by overpowering the enemy’s numerical and technical superiority with spiritual and moral ones.

They fought self-sacrificingly for the great leader who liberated the country and built a new world for the people and the beloved motherland and performed the miracle of war victory as they experienced to their heart’s content the pride and joy of life as masters of the country, factories and land for the first time after Korea's liberation. The war produced over 600 DPRK heroes.

Though the US asserted that the DPRK could not rise up again even after 100 years, they turned out again in hearty response to the call of President Kim Il Sung to demonstrate the true merits of the Korean people in the post-war rehabilitation, too. In the period the workers of the then Kangson Steel Works and Kim Chaek Iron Works respectively produced 120 000 tons of steel billets with the 60 000 ton-capacity blooming mill and 270 000 tons of pig iron with the 190 000 ton-capacity equipment.

Thanks to the revolutionary enthusiasm and creative activity of the Korean people to carry out the plan and intention of the Workers’ Party of Korea, remarkable achievements were brought about in the annals of history of the country. The Chollima movement was conducted in the 1950s and 1960s, there was a revolution in culture and the arts in the 1970s and the speed of the 80s was also created.

In the late 20th century they were compelled to experience the worst difficulties caused by the moves of the imperialists to isolate and stifle the country and recurrent natural disasters. But they firmly defended socialism and laid the eternal foundations for the building of a prosperous country under the wise leadership of Chairman Kim Jong Il. 

Loyalty and patriotism handed down decades after decades and in the new century have become a national trait of the DPRK. 

It is thanks to the indomitable and resilient struggle of the Korean people who devoted their all to the prosperity of the socialist homeland under the wise leadership of General Secretary Kim Jong Un that significant progress has been made in socialist construction even in the face of the harsh national crisis of last year along with the past decade.

This year, too, they will fully display their loyalty and patriotic ardour in their efforts to carry out the decision of the Sixth Plenary Meeting of the Eighth WPK Central Committee.