KIM IL SUNG
LET US SHATTER IMPERIALIST MOVES TOWARDS AGGRESSION AND WAR
AND SAFEGUARD PEACE AND INDEPENDENCE
A Speech at a Banquet in Honour of Delegates to the World Conference of Journalists against
Imperialism and for Friendship and Peace
July 3, 1983
Esteemed Delegates,
Comrades and Friends,
The World Conference of Journalists against Imperialism and for Friendship and Peace which opened amid great expectations and intense interest from progressive journalists and people the world over, is working successfully thanks to the exalted spirit of cooperation and sincere efforts of all of you delegates.
Our people are very happy that here in our capital city of Pyongyang, where the Anti-US World Journalists’ Conference was held 14 years ago, another global meeting of progressive journalists has convened to oppose imperialism, safeguard peace and strengthen friendship and solidarity among peoples.
Allow me to welcome warmly all of you delegates who have come from the various continents, bringing with you the noble ideas of anti-imperialism, friendship and peace and warm feelings of friendship for our people.
It is highly significant that progressive men and women of the world’s press have gathered together here to promote fraternity, exchange experience and discuss their tasks and action programme.
This world conference of journalists will mark an important stage in destroying imperialist manoeuvres aimed at aggression and war, defending global peace and security and achieving the people’s cause of independence.
All you journalists and people of the press from various countries attending this World Conference of Journalists against Imperialism and for Friendship and Peace, are the close friends and dependable comrades-in-arms of our people. Progressive people of the press throughout the world have stood in the ranks with our people in the fight against imperialism and for independence, and have worked actively in support of our people’s struggle for the independent, peaceful reunification of our country and the building of socialism. During this Month of Joint Struggle against US Imperialism, when our people are marking the 30th anniversary of the historic victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, numerous foreign journalist delegates and people of the press have come to our country to condemn US imperialism and raise the call for justice, peace and independence. This support brings tremendous encouragement to our people.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to the justice- and peace-loving progressive people of the world press for their positive support and encouragement for our people’s revolutionary cause.
Comrades and friends,
The world situation is more complex and tense now than ever before. Owing to the aggressive imperialist move to provoke war peace is being disturbed in many parts of the globe, the danger of a new war has increased and the sovereignty of countries and nations is being violated.
The US imperialists, who seek world hegemony, are openly resorting to “power politics”; they are increasing their armaments and reinforcing their forces of aggression on a large scale, while at the same time scheming to strengthen the aggressive military bloc of NATO, deploy new types of nuclear weapons in Europe and expand their aggressive military bases in many parts of the world, including the Indian Ocean. The US and other imperialists are intensifying their aggressive activities intended to unleash a new war in various areas of the world. In the Middle East and Southern Africa the imperialists are instigating Zionists and South African racists to increased aggression and intervention, and in Central America they are perpetrating heinous armed interventions and subversive activities against countries which have achieved national independence and chosen the road to independence against imperialism.
The US imperialists’ moves to provoke a new war are assuming a very grave and dangerous character in the Far East, which includes our country. In accordance with their aggressive Asian strategy, they are expanding their military bases in and around south Korea and shipping in a huge amount of nuclear weapons and other sophisticated means of war, while accelerating the formation of a US-Japan-south Korea triangular military alliance. The US imperialists, who have stationed armed forces of aggression numbering more than 40,000 men in south Korea and shipped in over 1,000 nuclear weapons and many other weapons of mass destruction, are now staging one large-scale war exercise after another directed against our Republic. Recently they have even been trying to deploy neutron weapons in south Korea, which has provoked the unanimous protest and denunciation of the peoples of the world. South Korea has thus now become a most dangerous powder keg and a US nuclear war base. In our country an extremely tense situation has been created which may spark off a war at any moment.
Because of the US-led imperialists’ activities, the world’s people now stand at the crossroads of war or peace, enslavement or independence. The most urgent and solemn task now confronting the progressive people throughout the world is to oppose aggression and war and safeguard peace and independence.
It is the unanimous desire of the world’s people to live peacefully in a world free from aggression and war, subjugation and oppression. Only when peace is secured can the peoples of all countries successfully apply their creative labour to building a new and happy society.
Averting war and safeguarding peace is a particularly urgent problem for the peoples of the newly-emerging countries. The political independence already achieved by these peoples is only the first step towards complete national independence and the building of a new society. Political independence can be securely safeguarded and consolidated only when it is guaranteed by economic independence. For the newly-emerging peoples to consolidate their national independence and build a new and happy society, they must eliminate the famine and poverty left behind by the colonialists and build a sound, independent national economy. The people need peace, not war, in building a new society. When a lasting world peace is guaranteed, the newly-emerging peoples will be successful in their struggle for the complete independence of their countries and the building of a new society.
World peace can be ensured and safeguarded only through the struggle against imperialism.
All the peace-loving people of the world should unite closely under the banner of independence against imperialism and wage a resolute struggle against the aggressive imperialist moves aimed at war. They should direct a particularly intense attack against the US imperialists, that main force of aggression and war, and heinous strangler of peace and independence, in order to prevent the US from recklessly invading other countries and sparking off wars. The world’s people should strive to check and frustrate the manoeuvres of the US and other imperialists to expand their stocks of armaments and reinforce their armed forces, and should compel them to withdraw their aggressive military bases and armed forces from the territory of other countries. They should also strive to break up all military blocs, to establish and expand nuclear-free peace zones in many areas of the world, and achieve general and complete disarmament.domination-ism
The world’s people should fight vigorously for freedom and independence, strive to liquidate all forms of colonialism and dominationism, achieve the ultimate and complete liberation of the nations, and cling fast to independence, thus making the whole world independent. Not until the independence of the whole world is established will the danger of war be completely banished and a durable peace guaranteed throughout the globe, and only then will humanity be able to live in happiness and contentment in a safe and prosperous world.
The progressive people of the press are righteous warriors striving to oppose all social evils and injustices and to realize the people’s aspirations and desires. They should fight determinedly against aggressive imperialist moves aimed at war and in defence of peace and independence, in order to fulfil the lofty mission and role assigned to them by history and the people at the present time.
In the hands of progressive people of the press the pen should be a mighty weapon wielded against the imperialists, and their writings should serve as denunciations of the enemies of peace. Progressive people of the press the world over should sharply expose imperialists’ activities aimed at expanding armaments and reinforcing armed forces and should scathingly condemn the unpardonable crimes of US imperialists who are bent on driving mankind into nuclear holocaust. They should expose the aggressive nature and crafty neocolonialist methods of imperialism, forcefully oppose its ideological and cultural infiltration and all manner of reactionary propaganda and decisively repel the enemy’s reactionary ideological offensive with a revolutionary counteroffensive.
They should inform the whole world of the just struggles of the peoples fighting against imperialism for peace and independence, they should raise the cry of international solidarity and make every possible effort to render positive support and encouragement to the embattled peoples.
Friendship and solidarity are the common aspirations of the peoples who are fighting for peace and independence, and a sure guarantee of victory. The progressive people of the world can fully realize their desires and ideals only when they firmly unite politically and develop close economic and technological cooperation by strengthening their bonds of friendship under the banner of anti-imperialism and independence.
Through their activities, the progressive people of the press should create favourable international conditions for the unity and cooperation of the world’s progressive peoples and give extensive publicity to the achievements and experiences of the people in the anti-imperialist struggle and the building of a new society.
The newly-emerging peoples are now achieving great successes in their endeavours to build a new society and have acquired a lot of experience and many techniques which they can exchange as they cooperate with each other. The progressive men of the press should give wide publicity to the experience gained by the people and their successes in building a new society, and thus contribute actively to the development of economic and technological interchange and cooperation among the newly-emerging nations and the establishment of a prosperous new world.
If the progressive men and women of the press in all countries are to discharge their noble mission and responsibility, they should further increase their unity and cooperation. In line with their lofty ideas of friendship, solidarity and cooperation, they should visit each other, share their experiences, strengthen their solidarity, cooperate closely and keep pace with each other in their professional activities.
It has been the consistent foreign policy of the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to fight against imperialism, safeguard peace and independence and strengthen the ties of friendship and solidarity with the peoples of all countries.
As in the past, so in the future, the Korean people will firmly adhere to their steadfast anti-imperialist stand and fight positively to oppose aggressive US imperialist activities aimed at war and to safeguard world peace and security.
Our people will actively support and encourage all the peoples who are fighting for a common goal on the anti-imperialist front. We strongly support the peoples of all countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, including those in the Middle East, Southern Africa and Central America, who are fighting to oppose imperialism and domination by all forces, to attain national independence and build a new society; we proclaim our firm solidarity with the European peoples in their struggle to ease tension and strengthen peace and security in Europe.
The struggle of the Korean people for the country’s reunification is a major link in the chain of the struggle to check and frustrate aggressive US imperialist manoeuvres aimed at war and to safeguard world peace and security. The withdrawal of US troops from south Korea and the reunification of Korea is the only way to eliminate this source of war and maintain the peace in Korea and the Far East and, in addition, bolster global peace and security.
The main obstacle to Korea’s independent, peaceful reunification at present is the occupation of south Korea by the US imperialist army of aggression and interference by the US in our internal affairs. If the US imperialists were to pull out of south Korea and stop meddling in our affairs, the people of north and south Korea would join hands and reunify the country peacefully through their own efforts. With the active support and encouragement of the progressive people of the world, we will drive the US imperialist army of aggression out of south Korea and achieve the independent, peaceful reunification of the country, thus realizing our national aspiration and, at the same time, fulfilling our important duty to the international cause of independence against imperialism.
The DPRK Government and the Korean people will strive to strengthen their unity with the peoples of the socialist and nonaligned countries and other progressive people of the world and to promote friendly and cooperative relations with all countries which are friendly towards our country.
In firm unity with their progressive foreign colleagues, the Korean people of the press will wage a resolute struggle and contribute actively to humanity’s sacred common cause of building a new world, free of imperialism, colonialism, aggression and war.
The progressive people of the press are the proud pioneers of our times, brave public and political figures. The progressive people of the world press should unite firmly under the banner of anti-imperialism, friendship and peace and vigorously pursue their revolutionary writing activities, so that the voice of justice may ring out more loudly throughout the globe.
My hearty wishes to you delegates and the progressive men and women of the press throughout the world for great success in your work, and here at this gathering overflowing with revolutionary ardour and friendship, allow me to propose a toast:
To the triumph of the cause of independence against imperialism, To the lasting peace and security of the world, To the friendship and solidarity of the world’s peace-lovers, To the health of you delegates and the world’s progressive people of the press, and:
To the health of all comrades and friends present here.
