Comrades,
In consequence of the victory won by the anti-fascist democratic forces in the Second World War, the aggressive army of the Japanese imperialists was routed and our people have realized their historic cause of national liberation. This great victory is associated with the precious blood shed by hundreds of thousands of the fine sons and daug
Our people have finally succeeded in putting an end to nearly half a century of Japanese imperialist colonial rule; they have won their freedom and liberation. A bright future awaits them; they have now the possibility of building a new, independent and prosperous Korea.
With the accomplis
What must be done to carry out this enormous task?
First of all, we must found a Marxist-Leninist party which will be able to guide the Korean revolution steadily to victory. At the same time, we must set up a people’s government to solve the question of power, the fundamental question in the revolution, and organize the people’s armed forces which will defend our country, people and revolutionary gains. These t
We must push ahead dynamically with the founding of a party, state and army, relying on the invaluable revolutionary ac
At the present stage the most important and historic task facing the Korean communists is that of founding a Korean communist party, which will be the General Staff of the Korean revolution and the vanguard detac
Without a revolutionary working-class party, a General Staff of revolution, we will not be able to rally the working people and broad sections of other democratic forces around the revolution; we will also be unable to successfully set up a people’s government or form the people’s armed forces by organizing and mobilizing the masses.
We have already laid the foundations of a unified Marxist-Leninist party in our country. At the height of the anti-Japanese armed struggle we fought fierce battles to frustrate the conspiratorial manoeuvres and subversive activities of internal and external enemies of all colours. Thus, we surmounted the fundamental weaknesses manifested in the early years of the Korean communist movement, and laid a firm organizational and ideological groundwork for the founding of a party.
In the first place, we prepared new communist core elements, who were tried and tested in the practice of the grim revolutionary struggle, enough for us to lay solid foundations today for building our party.
In the early 1930s when the destiny of our nation was at stake, our finest sons and daug
We, communists, who grew up in the flames of the anti-Japanese armed struggle, are the staunchest of all revolutionaries. We not only overcame factionalism completely–that cancer of our communist movement of the 1920s–but also armed ourselves with the progressive ideas and theories of Marxism-Leninism. We fought all adversities fiercely, unhesitatingly offering our youth and lives to implement the correct line for the Korean revolution. That is why we have enjoyed the absolute support and love of the masses and their great hope rests on us. We, communist core elements, who were tested and trained in actual revolutionary struggle and enjoy the people’s unreserved support and love, must now serve as the main force and organizational backbone in the founding of a Marxist-Leninist party in our liberated homeland.
During the anti-Japanese armed struggle the factionalist sycophants and the narrow-minded national chauvinists manoeuvred feverishly to undermine the revolutionary ranks from within, taking advantage of the Japanese imperialists’ conspiratorial machinations. We got the better of their counter-revolutionary plots and subversive activities opportunely, and closely united the revolutionary ranks with one idea and will, ensuring the Marxist-Leninist purity of the communist ranks.
This provides our future party with an important guarantee to promptly expose and crush any factional activities or subversive and sabotaging manoeuvres on the part of all kinds of class enemies and opportunists. It also ensures that the party will unyieldingly defend the unity and cohesion of the ideology and will of its ranks, the lifeblood of a Marxist-Leninist party.
Moreover, we established a firm mass foundation for the founding of a party. To do this, we patiently conducted political work among the country’s workers, peasants and many other working people during the anti-Japanese armed struggle, despite the Japanese imperialists’ rigid surveillance and brutal suppression. This was effective in arming them with revolutionary working-class ideas and training them through actual mass struggles against Japanese imperialism.
We can thus have complete faith in the development of our Party, as the true defender and representative of the Korean people’s interests. It will develop on a sound basis, having struck deep roots among the working masses and maintaining kindred ties with the people. In this way our Party will now be founded not on sand but on the foundations of the organizational and ideological preparations made during the long and hard-fought anti-Japanese armed struggle.
However, we must never rest content on these assets. Our struggle to found, consolidate and develop the Party in the liberated homeland will no doubt face just as difficult and complicated problems as those we previously had to tackle during the organizational and ideological preparations for its founding.
The vast majority of our workers are not fully prepared either organizationally or ideologically to be the leading class, because they have not had the organizational training and ideological education conducted by their revolutionary vanguard. In addition, because of nearly half a century of Japanese imperialist colonial rule, our workers, peasants and other strata of the people are still considerably infected with all sorts of obsolete ideas implanted by the Japanese imperialists. What is worse, the absurd calumnies and slanders and demagogy amassed by the Japanese imperialists and their lackeys against the Korean communists made many of our people distrust communism and prejudiced them against it. This will be a great obstacle in the path of our Party’s endeavours to fundamentally establish itself among the majority of the working masses, to win their support and trust, and to strengthen itself organizationally and ideologically in close contact with them.
We must also expect that the factionalists and the renegades of the revolution who, eager for hegemony, were engrossed in their factional strife, finally destroying the Korean revolution, will disguise themselves again as revolutionaries and try to deceive and toy with our honest working masses. What is more, the US imperialist armed forces of aggression will be stationed in the southern half of the country, south of the 38th Parallel. Taking all this into consideration, there will be many difficulties to overcome in our future activities.
It is in this context that we must found a party, establish a people’s government and carry out an anti-imperialist, anti-feudal democratic revolution and thus build a prosperous, independent and sovereign state.
How then can a Marxist-Leninist party be built in our country?
We must first found the Korean communist party, a unified working-class party, as soon as possible. This will centre around the core of communists fostered and tempered in the grim anti-Japanese armed struggle. It is true that some of the communists who worked at home may still lack organizational training and may still feel the ideological aftereffects of the factionalists. But we have a reliable core detac
The Korean communist party must in no way be an organization for only a few. It must be a mass political party which is deeply rooted among the workers, peasants and other working masses. It must be an experienced General Staff of the revolution which organizes and leads the building of a new Korea. Therefore, we must rapidly expand the Party ranks wit
Furthermore, on the basis of the organizational principle of a Marxist-Leninist party we must ensure the identity of the ideology, purpose and action of all our members. There must be no factions. We will arm all party members with Marxist-Leninist ideology and theory, establish voluntary iron discipline and hold fast to the principle of democratic centralism. In forming party organizations we must particularly preserve strict revolutionary vigilance against the subversive machinations and factional activities of political speculators and factionalists. We must expose them promptly and smash them.
We must firmly prepare cadres of our party politically and ideologically, so that it may fulfil its mission and role as the General Staff of the Korean revolution. They are its nucleus. They will be the most influential force in determining the destiny of the Korean revolution. Unless we organize and steadily expand the communist ranks of fine political cadres, we cannot raise the party’s leadership role. Nor will we be able to repulse all our enemies within and without, or successfully build a prosperous, independent and sovereign state. Therefore, our urgent task is to found the party and, at the same time, develop well-qualified party cadres who are armed with Marxist-Leninist ideology and theory and capable of defending and implementing the party’s lines and policies. Therefore, we must start by setting up a training centre for Party cadres.
If our party is to rally the broad masses around itself and fix its position of leadership, we must also set up mass organizations for different trades and strata. Without maintaining kindred ties with the broad masses, the Party cannot become a genuine revolutionary organization. It cannot play its part as the vanguard of the working class without their protection and support. The vital question of whether we win the masses over to the party and the revolution or not is decisive of the destiny of the party and the outcome of the revolution. Therefore, revolutionary organizational activity should always begin with mass organizational and political work.
Even in the gloomiest period of the Japanese imperialist colonial rule we sowed the seeds of revolution among the people. We tended the seeds carefully despite all our difficulties and saw them bear fruit; we relied on the strength of the masses and led the revolution to victory. In other words, the leading core forces of the Korean communists were also born out of the organized masses and developed with active support and protection of the people.
Hence, the formation of mass organizations, the transmission belts that link the party with the masses, will be of great significance. They will help to consolidate and develop the party organizationally and ideologically, building up the revolutionary forces and enhancing its leadership role.
In instituting mass organizations, we must, above all, organize the youth, the reserve forces of the party and the future of the revolution.
A problem vital to in our country’s destiny is to rally the youth around the party, the youth who are masters of a new society and who can be depended upon to build a wealthy, strong country. That is why we quickly marked their mission and role in the development of the revolutionary movement and paid serious attention to youth work throughout our armed struggle. Both the preparations of the organizational nucleus for the building of the party and the founding and reinforcement of the Anti-Japanese People’s Guerrilla Army were begun with the activities of the Young Communist League. We trained many youths as devoted revolutionary fig
On the basis of this experience we must now unite the broad young masses, such as young workers, peasants and students, into a democratic youth organization to form an organized political detac
To unite and organize the women, who account for half of the entire membership of our society, is important in expanding and strengthening the revolutionary forces and accelerating the construction of a new, prosperous state.
From experience gained in women’s activities during the anti-Japanese armed struggle, we know we must organize a women’s union that would embrace the broad sections of working women in conformity with the specific conditions of our country and the demands of the new situation.
The revolutionary consciousness of our women is very high, as they were subjects of multiple maltreatment and repression under the barbarous colonial rule of Japanese imperialism and the shackles of feudalism. During the anti-Japanese armed struggle the fine working women of Korea, in particular, fought as courageously as the men for the country’s liberation and the people’s honour, and for their social emancipation and freedom. The women revolutionaries, who were firmly armed with a communist world outlook and matured in strenuous ordeals, took up weapons and fought heroically, negotiating the rugged snow-covered mountains. Even the forests of bayonets behind enemy lines, the cruel tortures or the gallows did not daunt them. They held fast to their revolutionary principles and defended the honour of communists.
We must carry forward this brilliant tradition of our resourceful and brave women fig
We must also promote the formation of trade unions when building mass organizations. The role of the working class is very important in the construction of a new Korea. It must always take the lead, both in defending the revolutionary gains against subversive and sabotaging manoeuvres of all enemies within and without, and in building a prosperous, independent and sovereign state. It should guide the masses by setting a practical example. To do this we have to unite the workers into trade unions as fast as we can, and give them organizational and ideological training, enabling the working class to fulfil its historic mission of building a new, democratic Korea with honour.
To rally and organize the peasants, who account for over 80 per cent of our population, and rouse them to the revolutionary struggle is now one of the most important tasks before our communists.
Our peasants lived a subhuman life, far behind modern civilization because of the Japanese imperialists’ predatory colonial policy in our countryside, and their obscurantist policy towards our nation.
The sagacious Korean people with their 5,000-year-long history have a brilliant civilization of their own; they must develop it and join the advanced countries of the world in all the spheres of politics, the economy and culture as soon as possible. Before this can happen we must fully emancipate the peasants, who form the major part of our population, but who are the most backward, from the ideological remnants of Japanese imperialism and feudal customs. It is vital that we raise their class awareness and educate them in patriotism and collectivism, so that they will be the main force in the construction of a new country, together with the working class. To do this we must form peasants’ unions and unite all of them firmly within them.
The fundamental question in the revolution is that of power. We communists, true patriots of Korea, and the revolutionary people organized and waged the protracted anti-Japanese armed struggle to destroy Japanese imperialism, establish a genuine people’s government in the liberated homeland and build a new, prosperous Korea. In the days of fierce and bloody battles we endured all hardships, without fear of death, in order to establish the government which would bring freedom and happiness to the people in our liberated country.
Our dream to build a prosperous, independent and sovereign state, which would be governed by the people, came true at last when we accomplished our sacred task of national liberation.
So, what kind of government should we set up in the liberated homeland?
The barbarous colonial rule of Japanese imperialism hampered the development of capitalism in our country. It remained for long a colonial semi-feudal society. That is why the Korean people are still confronted with the task of carrying out an anti-imperialist, anti-feudal democratic revolution. As far as the question of power is concerned, in the light of the character and goal of our revolution at the present stage, we should found a democratic people’s republic that would represent the interests of all the Korean people.
The democratic people’s republic must be founded by the Koreans themselves. The Korean people are capable of setting up their own government and we have ric
In the early days of the anti-Japanese armed struggle, we shattered the “Leftist” line of the factionalist sycophants on settling for a “Soviet” power and set up a people’s revolutionary government, a true people’s power, in the guerrilla bases or liberated areas. We stipulated the need for setting up a people’s government in Article I of the Programme of the Association for the Restoration of the Fatherland and fought for a long time for its realization. If we now draw on this experience and maintain and implement the line of establishing a people’s government, we will succeed in setting up a people’s government of a new type in the liberated country.
To build the democratic people’s republic we must first, under the leadership of the working class, form a democratic national united front embracing various strata of the democratic forces, such as the broad masses of peasants, intellectuals and conscientious native capitalists. We will set up a people’s government on this basis. Ours is a united front to build the democratic people’s republic, so it must include the patriotic, democratic forces of all spheres and levels–workers and peasants who are the real masters of the country, working intellectuals, urban petty bourgeoisie, and conscientious native capitalists–who want to build a democratic, sovereign state, and we must see to it that no reactionary forces, such as pro-Japanese elements and traitors to the nation, infiltrate this front.
Furthermore, we must build up a people’s government around a selected core of fine patriots who will work devotedly for the country and people.
We will ensure that our people’s government, under the leadership of the working-class party, rally the workers, peasants and all other patriotic, democratic forces affiliated with the democratic national united front around itself as closely as possible. It should isolate all counter-revolutionary forces, such as the pro-Japanese elements, traitors to the nation, reactionary landlords and comprador capitalists, and serve as a powerful weapon in the class struggle against them.
In setting up a government, we communists should neither take a passive stand nor act in a conservative way. In forming a democratic national united front or establishing a people’s government, the communists must always take the initiative and play an active leadership role, as front-rankers and organizers leading various sections of the masses. We cannot neglect, even in the slig
The struggle for the establis
We must keep in mind that some will take advantage of the complicated situation created in the liberated homeland. The factionalists, who destroyed the revolution wearing the masks of communists, the nationalists who degenerated into the servants of Japanese imperialism and even the pro-Japanese agents, will make frantic efforts to seize power and satisfy their brazen political ambitions disguising themselves as patriots. Therefore, we must keep a sharp revolutionary vigilance and expose and smas
What then is the programme of action for the people’s government at the present stage? It is as follows:
1. To form a democratic national united front embracing all the patriotic, democratic forces of our country such as the workers, peasants, progressive intellectuals, conscientious native capitalists and conscientious men of religion and, on this basis, to establish a democratic people’s republic.
2. To ensure freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association and religious belief and guarantee citizens over eig
3. To confiscate and nationalize all the factories, enterprises, railways, banks, ships, farms, irrigation facilities and all the properties owned by the Japanese imperialists, pro-Japanese Koreans and traitors to the nation.
4. To confiscate the land of the Japanese nationals and reactionary pro-Japanese Korean landlords and distribute it gratis to the landless or near-landless peasants.
5. To liquidate completely the remnants of Japanese imperialism and all the elements left by it.
6. To introduce an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage system to ensure the workers’ living and provide the unemployed with jobs.
7. To make sure that men in both the cultural and technical spheres are well treated in public life and their living conditions improved.
8. To revitalize the time-honoured, brilliant national culture of the Korean people, develop our spoken and written language and introduce a system of compulsory education gradually.
9. To enforce a progressive income tax system based on the incomes and living standards of the people.
10. To abolish the financial agencies of Japanese imperialism and cancel all its usuries and credits.
11. To establis
12. To prohibit infringement upon human rights and any type of inhumane punis
13. To promote friendship with peoples and states that have dealings with the liberated Korean people and our independent country on an equal footing.
For our country to become a fully sovereign state we must organize our own powerful national army capable of defending the country and people and safeguarding the gains made in the revolution.
A country without its own national army can hardly be called a fully sovereign state. We never had a powerful national army of our own. This was one of the main reasons why our country was occupied by the Japanese imperialist aggressors. In the past the feudal rulers of the Ri dynasty kept some armed forces merely to repress the people, but they were powerless and insignificant. It was impossible with these forces to repel the Japanese imperialist regular army of aggression equipped with modern weapons.
If we do not form a powerful revolutionary army simultaneously with the establis
At present our country is in an extremely complex situation. Though the Japanese imperialists were defeated, it is reported that the armed forces of US imperialism are to occupy Korea south of the 38th Parallel. Of course, the US imperialists formally sided with the Allies in fighting against the Japanese, German and Italian fascists in the Second World War and directly participated in the war against Japan.
But we well know how the United States came into being and has expanded. US imperialism began to stretch its aggressive tentacles to our country towards the end of the 19th century. In 1905 it helped the Japanese imperialists to occupy Korea through the conclusion of a secret agreement between Katsura and Taft.
The aggressive army of US imperialism, which has long been looking out for a chance to invade our country, is going to be stationed in the southern half of Korea. This political situation demands a sharpening of our revolutionary vigilance. It also poses as a most urgent task to organize a powerful national army of our own to defend the country and people against foreign imperialist aggressors.
We must form a revolutionary regular army through our own efforts whatever the obstacles.
We have solid assets for the formation of a revolutionary regular army. In the gloomiest days of Japanese imperialist colonial rule the Korean communists organized the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, the first revolutionary people’s armed force in our country, consisting of advanced workers, peasants and patriotic youth. The members of the KPRA united as one man and fought courageously for the liberation of the homeland and the honour of the nation. Through the trying ordeals of the 15-year-long anti-Japanese armed struggle for national independence and social emancipation, the KPRA matured, to become an army of invincible iron ranks, an army of cadres, prepared politically and militarily. This means that firm foundations have already been laid for us, so that we can immediately form our revolutionary regular armed forces.
We must organize a revolutionary army with the sons and daug
The foundation of the revolutionary armed forces is a very important problem decisive to the destinies of the state and people. We who are the cadres forming the leading core, must participate directly and take the initiative in this work. We must do all we can to organize a revolutionary regular army, invincible people’s armed forces thoroughly equipped with Marxist-Leninist ideology, as soon as possible in the liberated homeland.
Comrades,
It depends largely on our role as the leading core of communists whether the t
In order to satisfactorily carry out these tasks we must first educate the workers and peasants and all other sections of the broad patriotic forces and unite them firmly on the side of the revolution; we must actively organize and mobilize the masses of the people, whose political enthusiasm has increased with the joy of liberation, in our efforts to build the nation. Only on the basis of this work and with the active support and participation of the broad masses of the people will it be possible to accomplish these t
True, our struggle to realize these tasks will probably encounter numerous unforeseen difficulties and obstacles, and we will have to tackle many complex problems. But we communists do not fear difficulties; we are revolutionary optimists who believe in final victory under any adversity. We have the revolutionary trait of carrying through our tasks to the end, no matter how difficult they may be. In the days of the grim anti-Japanese armed struggle we fought solely for the independence of the country and the liberation of the people, and we were undaunted by hardships and death, or eating and sleeping in the open air. If we work with the same indomitable spirit, we will be able to carry out any difficult task successfully.
We communists do not look to revolution for attaining any high rank, individual fame or career or wealth or pomp. We are fighting for the independence and sovereignty of the country and the freedom and happiness of the people. We are fighting for socialism and communism. Whatever work we may do and wherever we may do it, the question of rank or status must be irrelevant to us. We must conscientiously carry out our assignments, regarding them honourable. We must single-heartedly dedicate all our energy and talents to the interests of the country and people, to the interests of the revolution.
We must work, believing in and relying on the strength of the masses at all times and at all places. To do this we must go right among the people and teach them, and also try to learn from them. We will have to understand and satisfy their demands and wishes without hesitation and share life and death, the sweet and the bitter with them, thus winning their support and trust.
We have much more to learn in order to found the party, government and people’s armed forces. We cannot succeed in these tasks with revolutionary zeal alone. We must prepare thoroughly, politically, theoretically and practically. To this end, we must patiently study the advanced ideology and theory of Marxism-Leninism and make a deep study of the experiences of the Soviet Union, an advanced state, while at the same time, accumulating experience after experience in the course of our actual work.
True, it cannot be said that we are young when the experience we have gained in our revolutionary activities is considered. But no matter how long an experience we have in revolution, if we do not constantly prepare and train ourselves politically, we will become arrogant and indolent and fall behind advancing reality. We will thus be unable to play our part as revolutionary cadres and will become stragglers in the revolution. Therefore, we must seek and remedy defects in actual revolutionary work at every opportunity, strengthen comradely criticism and self-criticism, checking ourselves regularly. We will thus constantly prepare and train ourselves politically.
Not only must we take the utmost care to advance in the right direction but we must try energetically to prevent the emergence of careerists and bureaucrats among the cadres of a new Korea who will be engaged in all spheres of party and state activity.
Experience has shown that careerists ultimately degenerate into factionalists.
We must also nip any negative elements in the bud, such as arrogance, bureaucratism, subjectivism and liberalism. We must mercilessly combat all leftovers of Japanese imperialism.
In this way we will found our communist party, the vanguard detac
