by New Worker
correspondent
 |
| Andy Brooks remembers Kim Jong Il |
Comrades
and friends met in London last weekend to celebrate the birthday of Democratic
Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who died at his post on 17th December 2011.
Kim Jong Il steered the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) through the difficult times that followed the
death of great leader Kim Il Sung in 1994. He devoted his entire life to
serving the Korean people in the cause of building a human-centred society, a
cause that is espoused by democratic and anti-imperialist forces the world
over.
Called by the Korean Friendship
Association (KFA), the meeting was opened by Dermot Hudson who spoke about Kim
Jong Il’s outstanding contribution to the world communist movement. Shaun
Pickford gave a detailed and in-depth presentation on Kim Jong Il’s
contribution to Juche and Culture, which is national in form and socialist in
content, and NCP leader Andy Brooks recalled fond memories of when he took part
in the commemorations in the DPRK in February 2000.
Every year the Korean people mark Kim Jong
Il’s birthday, which has long been known as the ‘Day of the Shining Star’ in
the DPRK.
Kim Jong Il was born in the midst of the
struggle against Japanese imperialism, in a Korean guerrilla camp on Mount
Paektu, on 16th February 1942. His early days were those of hardship and
struggle, which ended in victory in 1945 and the liberation of Pyongyang. Like
millions of Koreans of his generation, Kim Jong Il dedicated his life to the
Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and the socialist system that they were
determined to build in order to create a better life for the Korean people.
Kim Jong Il went to university where he
developed his ideas in the political, economic and cultural fields. Like all
Korean students, he took his turn at manual labour with the people in the
fields and on the construction sites.
Kim Jong Il developed the Juche idea,
applying it to all spheres of economic construction and for the promotion of
north–south dialogue for the independent peaceful reunification of Korea. His
modesty, faithful service, tireless work, total loyalty to Kim Il Sung and the Korean
revolution, and undoubted ability meant that when the WPK considered the
question of the succession – and this was decided long before Kim Il Sung’s
death – Kim Jong Il was the unchallenged candidate to be the successor to great
leader Kim Il Sung.
When Kim Il Sung passed away, Kim Jong Il
told the Korean people and the world that they could “expect no change from me”
and under his leadership the WPK won further victories. Natural disasters were
overcome. Imperialist diplomatic isolation was broken and the intrigues of US
imperialism exposed.
Now Kim Jong Un is following in the
footsteps of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il to lead the DPRK into the 21st
century. Democratic Korean citizens enjoy full employment, free education and
medical care, virtually free housing and a vast array of consumer goods largely
made in the DPRK itself. Democratic Korean scientists have mastered the secrets
of the atom to guarantee the DPRK’s defence and energy needs, and Korean
rockets now reach for the stars.
