The Liberator and Tender-Hearted Father of the Korean People-Marta Grelak Warsaw Juche Idea Study Group

 

July 8 marks the 30th anniversary of the passing away of the great leader President Kim Il Sung. Despite

such a long period of time that elapsed between then and now, the longing for the President is invariably

very strong among Koreans and progressives around the world. And in fact it's very understandable and

natural. It’s because he dedicated his whole life to the arduous struggle for sovereignty of Korea,

liberation and dignity of its people, as well as hard work for their happiness, and performed great exploits

for the cause of global independence and socialism. He was a great patriot and distinguished statesman,

liberator and tender-hearted father of the Korean people who loved them dearly.

The historical circumstances in which President Kim Il Sung was born, on the 15th of April 1912, were

harsh and difficult. Korea was then under Japanese military occupation, in the period of so-called “sabre

rule”. The colonial rule over it on behalf of the Japanese emperor was exercised by the "governor-

general", Japanese army officer Terauchi Masatake who two years earlier played a major part in illegal

forcing on the country "Korea-Japan Annexation Treaty". The “treaty” was the final step in the process of

depriving Korea of its sovereignty and turning it into Japanese colony. Under the colonial rule, the Korean

people were stripped of the rights to their land and its resources, language, national identity and all the

other tangible and intangible assets of their country. The Japanese occupants reduced them to the role of

slaves and treated them with oppression and terror, trying to break their will and take away their hope that

the situation can ever change.

President Kim Il Sung’s life began in such a reality and he, since his youngest age, took the extremely

tough and full of boundless devotion road of the patriotic fight for the independence and happiness of his

nation.

He was just 14 years old when he organized the Down-with-Imperialism Union, a new-type revolutionary

organization. And just 20 years old when he founded the Anti-Japanese People’s Guerrilla Army, later

reorganized into the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, the first revolutionary armed force in Korea,

and declared the anti-Japanese war.

Under his command, the KPRA, though it had no backing of a state or support of a regular army, waged

brave and tough guerrilla struggle against the formidable Kwantung Army of Japan, which had been

claiming to be the leader of Asia. During the bloody struggle for national liberation, he had to face many

indescribable hardships. He experienced heartbreaking personal tragedies in those times. He lost his both

parents and younger brother. He also lost many comrades-in-arms while breaking through the thick

encirclement of the enemy. But he led the arduous anti-Japanese war in the vanguard, overcoming all

hardships with a high sense of responsibility for the future of the country and people.

His outstanding abilities and wisdom, as well as his boundless love for the nation shocked the Japanese

imperialists. They were so deeply afraid of him that they even established a special military unit tasked

with hunting him down, but their desperate attempts bore no success. The anti-Japanese struggle of the

Korean People’s Revolutionary Army ended in victory in 1945.

When in 1946, President Kim Il Sung ensured that the Provisional People's Committee of North Korea

was inaugurated in the northern part of Korea, then organized the first democratic elections, and finally on

September 9, 1948, proclaimed the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Korean people faced a

bright future that they couldn't even dream of until recently.

Unfortunately, in 1950, imperialist allied forces led by the US waged a war against the DPRK, new

Korean state that was founded less than two years earlier. Progressives of the world deeply worried over

the destiny of the DPRK, because by common sense it was hard to imagine for the young and not well-

armed country to fight a modern war against the imperialist forces of aggression. The imperialist invaders

threw into the war millions-strong armed force and colossal amounts of deadly weapons of all kinds and

applied all sorts of most atrocious and brutal methods unprecedented in the world history of wars. This

war was in fact a confrontation between rifle and atomic bomb. However, in 1953 the world saw a

miracle. President Kim Il Sung led the struggle to victory again. Thanks to his outstanding leadership,

brilliant strategies, tactics and war methods and unity and determination of the army and the people of the

DPRK firmly rallied behind him, the country defeated US imperialists and its vassal forces.

During the arduous three-year war, he also paid very close attention to the people’s living conditions and

took warm care of war orphans. Despite the fact that it was wartime, people-oriented policies like

universal free medical care system were enforced in the country.

Saying that each of the Korean People’s Army soldiers was his precious revolutionary comrade who could

never be bartered with hundreds or thousands of enemies, he deeply care for them. Under his guidance, a

KPA regiment was dispatched to the enemy area to rescue the family of a young soldier, frontline rest

homes were established for soldiers etc.

After the war, under the wise leadership of President Kim Il Sung, a newly rebuilt country emerged

surprisingly fast from heartbreaking post-war rubbles left by US bombings. The country where people

become real masters of everything, the country with no unemployment or exploitation, but with

dynamically developing economy, free health care, free education, equal rights for women and even free

housing.

President Kim Il Sung absolutely devoted his youth and the rest of his life first to fighting for liberation

of the Korean people and then to working hard for them. He never stopped his energetic work for the

people, until his last moment.

Even Sundays and holidays were working days for him. His life was a ceaseless journey for the

development of the country and the people’s prosperity and happiness. During the period since the

liberation of Korea until 1994, he inspected more than 20 600 units, traveling more than 578 000 km of

distance for field guidance. He visited every nook and corner of the country. Always found himself among

the people, personally taking care of their lives, frankly talking with them and listening to their opinions

as he called them his teacher and the most precious beings in the world. He treated them the way a loving

father treats his sons and daughters, and, in fact, the people called him father. Although his work was

tough and exhausting and played a crucial role for the whole nation, he himself regarded it as his rest and

greatest happiness. And he always had a bright, full of warmth smile on his face, the smile that was an

expression of genuine love for the people.

On the 7th of July 1994, President Kim Il Sung was completely tied up with work. He worked from the

early morning to the late evening, even skipping his dinner. “Father leader, you should have dinner” an

anxious official said. “I have no appetite somehow. More work will give me some, perhaps.”, responded

the President. “How can you work when you have skipped a meal?”, the official insisted. “Thank you for

your care,” said the President in a soft but firm voice. “However, you know we have mountains of work to

do for the good of the people. If I rest, it will lay so much more of a burden on the shoulders of Supreme

Commander Kim Jong Il. You see he does a tremendous amount of work, holding himself responsible for

all the affairs of the country, major and minor. I cannot have a moment’s rest when he is working all night

for the people.”

The late evening changed into night, but the 82 years old President was deeply immersed in work, reading

documents and making telephone calls. The next day, an unimaginably painful and tragic news struck

Koreans; On the 8th of July, at 2 a.m., President Kim Il Sung passed away in his office while working for

the country and people.

On the occasion of this solemn and painful anniversary, I wish to express my deepest reverence and

admiration for President Kim Il Sung, his brilliant achievements and noble life and wholeheartedly pay

the highest tribute to him.

President Kim Il Sung will always live in the hearts of the Korean people and the world progressives!

I'm fully convinced that countless new victories and impressive development lay ahead of the DPRK and

its people. It is because the country is led today by the most outstanding leader of today's world, the

respected Marshal Kim Jong Un, who is brilliantly carrying forward the noble cause of President Kim Il

Sung. He is another defender and creator of the Korean people's happiness and their tender-hearted father

who is protecting their interests and selflessly working hard for them with a bright smile on his face.