The revolutionary career of President Kim Il Sung (1912-1994) occupying a distinguished chapter in the annals of the revolutionary movement in the 20^th century, is the one of Songun revolutionary leadership whereby importance was attached to arms and priority given to military affairs.

 

Korea liberated by arms

During Japan¡¯s military occupation of Korea (1905-1945), not a few independence champions tried to achieve the independence of the country by means of nonviolent campaigns such as petition and demonstration. Some people dreamed of achieving the independence of the country by depending on outside forces, that is, big countries.

But Kim Il Sung, in his historical speech The path of the Korean Revolution addressed in June 1930, in the early period of his revolutionary activities, suggested that armed struggle was the only way of liberating Korea. Afterward he led the anti-Japanese armed struggle for 15 years and achieved the historical cause of national liberation on August 15, 1945.

 

Party founding after building of armed forces

Some other countries regarded the preceding theory on the position and role of a party in the revolutionary struggle as absolute, founded parties before armies and waged revolutionary struggles by relying on the parties.

Unlike this, Kim Il Sung attached greater importance to the reality of Korea and the requirements of the Korean revolution than the preceding theory, and achieved the cause of army building (he founded the Korean People's Revolutionary Army on April 25, 1932).

By relying on the army, he liberated the country, and then founded the Workers¡¯ Party of Korea as the leading force of the Korean society on October 10, 1945.

 

DPRK founding after building of regular army

Soon after liberation, Kim Il Sung put primary efforts into founding a regular army despite the difficult and complex situation in which the building of a new society was under way.

Having fixed the site for the Pyongyang Institute as a military and political cadres training center in November 1945, three months later after liberation, he made sure that the Central Security Officers School and the Security Officers Training Center were built. They produced core personnel of a regular army in great numbers.

At last, in February 1948, the Korean People's Revolutionary Army was reorganized into the Korean People's Army as a modern regular army.

The regular army made the most powerful foundation for the building of the nation.

Based on the strong military foundation, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the first of its kind in the East, was founded in September that year.

 

Foundation of munitions industry before rehabilitation of civilian industry

It is widely known like a legendary story that after returning home in triumph Kim Il Sung visited the working class of the Kangson Steel Plant (the Chollima Steel Complex at present) for the purpose of rehabilitating the national economy instead of visiting Mangyongdae, his birthplace, while he saw from afar on his way to the enterprise after 20 years of his absence.

But it is little known that 7 days before, on October 2, 1945, he fixed the site for the first ordnance factory on the spot.

With the factory built, the weapons made at home came to take a big share in the military equipment of the KPA. This greatly contributed to the victory of Korea in the Fatherland Liberation War (the 1950-1953 Korean war) against the US invasion several years later.

 

Socialist construction on principle of giving priority to military affairs

The modern revisionists who were on the rise within the international communist movement in the early 1960s, afraid of the imperialists¡¯ policy of force and nuclear war threat, argued that tanks should be melted to make plows, clamoring for ¡°peaceful coexistence¡± and ¡°arms reduction¡±.

They went so far as to try to force their capitulationist policy on the parties of other socialist countries.

At that time, in December 1962, President Kim Il Sung put forward the line of building up the economy and defence simultaneously at the 5^th plenary meeting of the 4^th Central Committee of the Workers¡¯ Party of Korea.

And he saw to it that spurs were put to the work to strengthen defence power under the slogan ¡°A rifle in one hand, a sickle or hammer in other hand!¡±.

At the 21^st plenary meeting (December 1993) of the 6^th Central Committee of the WPK, the last one he attended in his lifetime, the President sincerely stressed the need to keep developing the defence industry even if the people might suffer hardships and could not be well dressed, saying that the neglect of the defence industry might reduce the Koreans again to the status of colonial slaves of the imperialists. Indeed, the Songun revolutionary leadership, the consistent one of President Kim Il Sung in his lifetime, is the invincible leadership that has guaranteed the start, progress and victory of the Korean revolution.

 

 

There's Always a Way Out

 

President Kim Il Sung (April 15, 1912-July 8, 1994), father of socialist Korea, was a great man of matchless courage and grit.

The following is one of many relevant stories.

One December day of 1992 he received the then president of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konare (the chairman of the African Union Committee at present).

Konare expressed his apprehension for socialist Korea¡¯s security as it came to be confronted with the imperialist allied forces single-handed now that the Soviet Union and other East European socialist countries had collapsed.

In fact, at that time, not a few people of the world had such apprehension.

Kim Il Sung mentioned a Korean saying "There's always a way out!" and told Konare that he had never worried in any difficult and dangerous situations in the course of leading the revolution and construction.

He went on: ¡°During the Fatherland Liberation War (the 1950-1953 Korean war), I never slept in the air-raid shelter. At night I used to drive with the headlight on to visit many places including the front line, yet I had no accident. I had fought against the Japanese imperialists for about 20 years (the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle between the mid-1920s and the mid-1940s for the liberation of Korea). Once a bullet had penetrated through my rucksack, but I didn¡ get injured. So people had called me man from Heaven.

¡°I¡¯m afraid of nothing¡±, he said with a hearty laugh.

His words just reflected his matchless courage and grit.

He then said with a smile: ¡°Of course, our circumstances are hard now.

The US imperialists are trying in every way to eliminate our socialist system, but you needn¡¯t worry about us. We have food, clothes, houses and an army. If the US imperialists invade our country, we¡¯ll fight against them. The enemies were once defeated by us in the three-year-long war (the Korean war). So they dare not attack us. My philosophy is that there¡¯s always a way out. Therefore I am never disappointed.¡±

¡°There¡¯s always a way out,¡± Konare said the saying over again, nodding in approval.

Then, looking with respect at Kim Il Sung, he said, ¡°Your Excellency, now I have realized the secret of socialist Korea¡¯s viability. Your matchless courage and grit will make socialism of Korea invincible forever¡±.