No.202209 05, Sep, 2022
It can be said that one’s viewpoint and attitude towards the people defines the objective and direction of his or her politics.
Taking this into consideration, Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, enjoys the ardent love and trust of the people.
Then, what is the source of these love and trust?
The answer can be found in his boundless love for the people.
The more difficult and challenging the times are, the closer we should go to the people–this is his outlook on the people.
At the Third Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK, he said that the WPK’s sacred ideal of regarding the people as heaven is the guiding principle of practice and standard of action which requires the Party to take full responsibility of the people’s life and serve them unconditionally by putting heart and soul into it, and that the harder the times are, the deeper the Party should go among them and support them as a reliable pillar, and the more devotedly it should work for their wellbeing, sharing weal and woe with them.
In August 2020, heavy rains severely hit Taechong-ri, Unpha County, North Hwanghae Province, submerging or damaging many houses and rice fields.
On receiving a report on this, Kim Jong Un personally drove to the site.
He took immediate measures for providing foods, bedding, daily necessities and medicines to the disaster victims and supplying cement and other building materials for the rehabilitation of the region. At that time some officials suggested rebuilding 400 houses out of the 800 damaged houses and repairing the remaining 400, but he rejected their suggestion and said that all of the 800 houses should be rebuilt.
Then he stressed to the officials that they should inquire into what type of house the farmers preferred–a block with two houses or a separate house–and have their opinions fully reflected on the designs of the houses.
Several days later, the 16thMeeting of the Political Bureau of the Seventh WPK Central Committee was held.
At the meeting, Kim Jong Un saidafter briefing on the damage: The flood victims must be suffering a great deal as they are living in makeshift shelters after losing their houses and properties; in such times it is none other than our Party that should take full responsibility for them and go closer to them to share their hardship and relieve them of it.
Upholding his intention, the officials of the Central Committee of the WPK went to the flood-stricken areas and waged the rehabilitation campaign, sharing weal and woe with the victims.
A personage of a Southeast Asian country highly praised Kim Jong Un saying that the DPRK leader investigated flood damage in detail on the spot and issued an order to supply the victims with the reserve food grains and strategic materials for the President of the State Affairs and that he is the genuine people’s leader who spares nothing for them.
Kim Jong Un visited the State Emergency Epidemic Prevention Headquarters shortly after an unexpected public health crisis arose in the DPRK in May this year. Saying that our people including the elders and children might be nervous now, in particular, parents who have young children must feel more frightened and they are more fearful of their children being infected than they themselves falling victims, he said it was very important to give people confidence that they could surely win in the fight against virulent disease.
On May 15, he visited pharmacies in Pyongyang immediately after a consultative meeting of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee. The visit was very dangerous because the saleswomen of the pharmacies had just been cured of the disease.
He closely inquired into how medicines were supplied and stored, whether pharmacies were open round the clock, and what kinds of medicine the visitors wanted most and how much their prices were. Then he told the officials to correct the vulnerable points in the medicine supply system and take strong measures for transporting medicines.
Go closer to the people–this is the noble outlook on the people of Kim Jong Un who loves them most and finds the worth of working for revolution in devoted service for them.
It is quite natural that the people should ardently love, absolutely trust and follow such a great leader.
Juche Idea and the DPRK Today
Over the past 70-odd years the forces hostile towards the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have imposed unprecedentedly harsh pressure, blackmail, sanctions and blockade against it in the field of politics, the economy, military affairs and diplomacy.
Challenges facing the DPRK for the last ten years were particularly severe and demanding; other countries could not have survived them even a day. However, the challenges could not stop the country’s advance.
The secret about this is that the Korean people are thoroughly armed with the Juche idea which was created by President Kim Il Sung, founding father of the DPRK, and developed in depth by Comrade Kim Jong Il, Chairman of the DPRK National Defence Commission.
The Juche idea is the idea that the masses are the masters of the revolution and construction and have the strength to propel the revolution and construction; in other words, man is the master of his own destiny and has the strength to shape his own destiny.
The DPRK defined the idea as its guiding principle and has applied it in its state building.
Today the Korean people are arming themselves more firmly with the Juche idea and invariably maintaining the principles of independence in politics, self-reliance in the economy and self-defence in national defence under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, President of the State Affairs.
The DPRK regards independence as its lifeblood.
It works out all lines and policies in conformity with the demands and interests of its own people and its actual conditions, not following the other countries and their instructions.
The launch of Kwangmyongsong 3-2 satellite on December 12, 2012 was absolutely just in that it complied with the international law on the use of outer space for peaceful purposes.
However, some countries denounced the launch as the launch of a long-range missile and imposed international sanctions against the DPRK in an attempt to prevent it from growing stronger.
The DPRK categorically denounced and rejected the sanctions and took resolute measures against the challenges of the hostile forces.
This brought home to the international community the steadfast independent lines of the DPRK that it would not step back even an inch in its effort to achieve the prosperity of the nation and defend the supreme interest of the nation no matter who said what.
The DPRK is a country equipped with strong national defence capability which no one dares to defy.
This was well proved through the military parade held in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang on April 25 this year in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army.
The columns of the troops and mechanized units marched in fine array across the square, fully demonstrating the appearance of the country’s armed forces which had developed into an invincible army, strong in terms of ideology, morality and military technology, while recording only victories and glory in its history by inheriting the traditions of anti-Japanese struggle.
What was worthy of particular note was the cutting-edge weapons which had been developed rapidly over the recent years.
As is well known, the long-range cruise missiles, tactical guided missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, hypersonic missile Hwasong-8, SLBM, and ICBM Hwasongpho-17 are weapons which have been successfully test-fired last year and this year.
It is nothing but a miracle that the DPRK has possessed, in a matter of a few years, all the absolute weapons which had been monopolized by the nuclear powers of the world and, with this as a springboard, developed ultramodern weapons of its own style.
It is not difficult to imagine that other state-of-the-art weapons will be developed at a faster rate.
The DPRK is a country in which the people-first principle is thoroughly embodied.
The people-first principle which the country regards as its political ideal and mode of politics is the principle of believing in the people as in heaven and making selfless, devoted efforts for the good of the people.
Even though it suffered from the extreme offensive by the hostile forces, successive natural disasters and global public health crisis over the recent years, it has never stopped the work of improving the living standards of the people.
Everything was in short supply, but it has built new streets including Ryomyong Street and Songhwa Street, bases for cultural and leisure activities including Munsu Water Park, Masikryong Ski Resort, and Yangdok Hot Spring Resort, and modern medical service bases including Ryugyong Dental Hospital and Ryugyong General Ophthalmic Hospital.
This year alone tens of thousands of dwelling houses, service facilities and public buildings are to be constructed in the capital city and provinces including the Hwasong area in Pyongyang, Komdok area which is a leading mineral producing base of the country, and Ryonpho Greenhouse Farm area. It is reported that their construction will greatly contribute to the living standards of the people.
This is a clear demonstration of the validity and vitality of the line of building a self-sufficient national economy the country has maintained for several decades.
By applying the people-first principle, it is stabilizing its economy and consolidating the independent nature of the economy by its own efforts in the face of the sanctions and blockade by the hostile forces.
The international community needs to ponder its politics based on this principle once again.
The DPRK is thoroughly embodying the idea of independence, peace and friendship in its external relations.
Upholding this ideal, it is vigorously conducting external activities, positively contributing to the security of the Korean peninsula and northeast Asia as well as world peace. It is also strengthening unity and solidarity with the socialist countries and further developing the relations of friendship and cooperation with all the countries that are friendly to it on the principle of equality and mutual benefit.
Example Set by DPRK in War against Covid-19
On August 10 the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea suspended the operation of the self-instituted top-level emergency anti-epidemic system.
That day President Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs, in his speech at the National Meeting of Reviewing the Emergency Anti-Epidemic Work, declared that the Covid-19 that made inroads into the territory of the DPRK had been exterminated, and that victory had been achieved in the war for defending the life and health of its people.
World Records Seen through Figures
With the rapid increase of fever cases owing to the infiltration of the malignant virus, on May 12 the DPRK instituted a top-level emergency anti-epidemic system, taking the measure of locking up the entire country by region and by production, working and living unit. This measure was lifted 91 days later. The country, which had set the world record of being the virus-free zone for two years and three months, the longest period in the world, set another world record in containing the spread of the malignant virus and exterminating it.
In fact, the country had effectively controlled the spread of the virus well before the top-level emergency anti-epidemic system was lifted. As a result, from the fifth day since the top-level emergency anti-epidemic system was put in place, it reversed the nationwide spread of the disease to a containable, manageable and stable phase, and thus firmly stood a good chance of winning in the anti-epidemic war. The daily number of fever cases that recorded hundreds of thousands in the early days of the spread of the malignant virus decreased to less than 90 000 one month later; the number then continued to decrease, and since July 29 no suspect case was reported. In other words, it checked the spread of the virus within 80-odd days, and restored stability in its anti-epidemic work. This is another world record in containing the spread of Covid-19.
In view of the fact that the country had not vaccinated its population against the disease even once, it is really surprising that the death toll is 74, or 0.0016% of all fever cases.
During the period, more than 71 200 public health workers and over 1 148 000 hygiene activists were mobilized across the country every day for identifying and treating fever cases, while thousands of former public health workers volunteered for this effort. These are not small numbers in consideration of the fact that a system of doctors taking responsibility of the health of a certain number of households has been established and medical institutions and public health workers can be found in every corner of the country.
Contrasting Phenomena
To look back, different reactions appeared among the people throughout the world when Covid-19 began to spread. The rich people in the capitalist countries including the United States vied with one another for evacuation to islands in the oceans and uploaded the photos of their luxurious life on the Internet. Others bought goods in heaps, and even purchased weapons in anticipation of social chaos. Claiming “freedom,” some even did not wear masks and held meetings in violation of the anti-epidemic regulations like keeping social distancing. Such self-centred behaviours gave birth to indescribable sufferings and death of many people.
But in the socialist DPRK the entire population voluntarily observed the anti-epidemic rules and regulations in response to the measures taken by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea and the government. Every one regarded it as compulsory to wear mask, wash and disinfect hands and keep social distancing, and helped and led one another forward.
When the top-level emergency anti-epidemic system was put in place, Kim Jong Un personally visited the State Emergency Epidemic Prevention Headquarters and some pharmacies in Pyongyang, and donated the medicines his family had prepared to the Headquarters Committee of the WPK, asking it to send them to the needy families. Following his example, officials of the Party organizations and government organs at different levels, ministries and central institutions, to say nothing of officials of the WPK Central Committee, worked with devotion for the safety of the people, donating money, daily necessities, food grains and medicines for the families that were in need of help.
Many ordinary people, too, donated money, daily necessities and food grains they had saved to the war veterans, honoured disabled ex-soldiers and those who were experiencing difficulties in living.
Virus-Free Zone
On August 12 people throughout the DPRK, except those in the border and frontline areas, showed up without wearing masks. What does it suggest?
First, the country has physically become a virus-free zone.
So far whenever their situation got better in terms of the spread of the malignant virus, many countries lowered the level of anti-epidemic measures.
The DPRK did not follow suit. Even when there was no other fever case, the country did not get relaxed. After closely watching the anti-epidemic situation for more than ten days to be absolutely sure about the security of its people, it uninstalled the top-level emergency anti-epidemic system and then allowed its people to go about without wearing masks.
It shows that there are no infections in the territory of the country.
Second, the country is confident that it is ready to cope with any public health crisis in the future.
The country had demanded that its people wear masks compulsorily even when the virus had not made inroads into its territory for the material and technical foundations of its public health sector were weak and the anti-epidemic system was inelastic.
It achieved great victory in the anti-epidemic war on the strength of all-people resistance and all-people turnout, the unique superiority of its style of socialism and in this course gained rich experience. At present it is pushing forward with the work of strengthening the state anti-epidemic capability, including consolidating the material and technical foundations of the public health sector and establishing a well-regulated anti-epidemic system. That it has set up a higher anti-epidemic wall to prevent the infiltration of other malignant viruses and that it is confident that it can cope with any critical situation on its own–this is a dignified look of the DPRK, a virus-free zone, which has allowed its people not to wear masks.