• Monday, 04 September 2023 | 07:25
• Juche Korea: 75 Years for Independence, Justice and Defense of Peace

The founding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 75 years ago, on September 9, 1948, was the ultimate victory in the Korean people’s anti-imperialist struggle for national independence, peace and social justice.

It was a landmark event in the Asian and world people’s history of struggle for a world without exploitation and high-handedness by dominating powers.

It was the result of decades of hard struggle by the Korean people against rapacious Japanese colonialism and against the US imperialists’ attempt to replace the Japanese as rulers of the entire Korean peninsula and as a bridgehead for furter aggression on the Asian continent.

It was a result of the correct guidance of the great leader president Kim Il Sung and his partisans under the banner of the Juche idea and the broadest possible national unity.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was the first workers’ and peasants’ state in the 5000 years’ history of Korea and the only independent and sovereign state in modern times on the Korean Peninsula. Its founder, General Kim Il Sung, was unanimously elected prime minister, a title he retained until 1972, when a new constitution was adopted and he became President.

The formation of the new state responded to the desire of the Korean people to become their own masters in a sovereign state and enabled them to develop their society and shape their future.

One of the first actions of the newly elected All-Korean Supreme People’s Assembly was to send a request to the two occupying powers informing them of the formation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and asking them to withdraw their troops. The Soviet side quickly responded, welcoming the formation of the republic and promising the withdrawal of Soviet troops. The U.S. refused. After the United States rejected several Soviet proposals for a simultaneous withdrawal, Soviet forces were withdrawn from Korea in December 1948. The soutern part of Korea remains occupied by the U.S. today.

Throughout its 75 years of existence, the People’s Republic of Korea, with its people firmly united as one in steel-like monolithical unity around its leader, although having endured the most extreme difficulties has remained an impregnable fortification, an invicible socialist state, gaining one victory after another in socialist construction as well as in military defence.

With its unique model of socialism, firmly rooted in the Korean people’s wishes, traditions and values, it has proven to the world that national independence and a socialist people-oriented society are not distant dreams, but a scientifically based practical reality.

With utmost respect and admiration I congratulate the Korean people and its Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea wishing them an even more victorious future, including the realization of the great vision of President Kim Il Sung – a united, independent, peaceful, prosperous Korean nation with the entire Korean people being true masters of their country.

Christer Lundgren
Chairman, Swedish-Korean Friendship Society