• International E-seminar in Celebration of the 80th Birth Anniversary of General Kim Jong Il

DEAR fellow participants of the International Festival in Praise of Great Persons of mt. Paektu, dear readers. I would like to thank You in front of the Korean Friendship Association in Serbia for this great opportunity for us to participate in such a significant event for progressive people of the world.

Last Year, Juche 110(2021), we at the association, mourned along with Korean people decade since the tragic passing of Chairman Kim Jong Il. Listening to songs such as <<아 그리워>> we were nostalgic for his great leadership. Specificaly in myself, it reminded me of the first times I heard about the Chairman on the news.

It was when I was still a child, Chairman had in accordance with Songun Policy advanced DPRK military technology in the nuclear-detterrent department, striking fear in face of imperialists. Even though I was so young, I understood the significance of the programme and DPRK development of it and fully supported Chairmans decisions.

After all I grew up in a home of a soldier who fought US imperialists himself during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 and who taught me about the dangers for countries like ours who were not puppets of the American empire.

My father then told me about how socialist countries like China and DPRK are not going to be subjugated like our country because of their independent development of military, and especially strong emphasis on defense forces of the DPRK which our country didn’t develop as far, and how our country suffered because of dissloyal and careerist generals.

The DPRK doesn’t have that, they are all loyal to the death to their Supreme Commander he used to say. It was then I first realized the just fight of the Korean people for a peacefull, independent reunification under the leadership of Great Leader Kim Jong Il.

I was born in January 1999, a couple of months before air raids on my country started. Although I was a baby, my mother afterwards told me of the difficulties of bringing me up with bombs falling around her and my grandmother who brought her supplies and risked her life just so we could survive in such a situation.

I couldn’t help myself but draw paralleles of their experiences with those of brave Korean women who faced such and even greater difficulties under the viciousness of US imperialists in the Fatherland Liberation War.

These conclusions led me afterward to realize the similarities of Korean and Serbian peoples history and ideals of anti-imperialism and work with my heart to keep the prairie of our people’s friendship alive, hence my work in the association which I represent in this event.

Chairman has realized himself the crime commited by US imperialists in Yugoslavia, and that they are a threat to DPRK itself that US imperialists want to subjugate the DPRK like they did Yugoslavia. These realizations were represented in his works as a clear sign that Songun politics are the correct line in his era in order to combat imperialism of US savage imperialists who started posturing even more after the dissolusion of the socialist bloc led by USSR and became the “sole world superpower”.

During the bombing, the DPRK government and people were with Yugoslav people and supported them in their just war against imperialism. The DPRK Foreign Ministry at the very beginning of the military aggression, on March 26th, called upon US to end it’s military aggression before flames spread and aggravate the Balkan crises.

DPRK newspaper Rodong Sinmun has accordingly wrote several articles denouncing the aggression saying that the military aggression for spreading influence of US is concealed in sophism of “peace necessity” and that US might attack countries in the future like it did Yugoslavia (which it did).

Rodong Sinmun also carried a relevant article “US military tyranny flayed” in which it accused the US of going against the aspiration towards peace and independence of humanity, essentialy accussing US of crimes against humanity, calling it megalomaniacal and insolent.

It is interesting that in this article DPRK suggest every country should have a powerful self-reliant defense force, like the WPK which gave at the time priority to the army to be able to defend national sovereignity in creditable manner, calling world progressives to discard false hopes of US changing it’s imperialist politics and wage an anti-imperialist struggle against it. Such sentiment was echoed in a similar article “What does Yugoslav crisis show” in which “humanitarianism” of the US is condemned as a strangler of independence and sovereignity and is dismissed as state terrorist tool of US.

The article also implied about the situation of Yugoslav military shooting down the famous “invisible” bombers, pioneers of stealth technology at the time, exclaiming how heroism of a nation and its soldiers can defeat the apparent military technology supperiority of the imperialist power which is nothing but false threat.

The DPRK Foreign Minister at the time as well as Korean Democratic Lawyers Association reaffirmed DPRK stances and exclaimed the illegality of the military action under international law, specifically defying the UN Charter.

KDLA representative rightfully pointed out that the majority of the victims of the bombing are civilians and innocent people, as well as diplomatic envoys like the Chinese embassy in Belgrade which is contrary to any behaviour in accordance with international law.

General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea also condemned the raids in a similar manner, and for this the Serbian people will forever be grateful to those organizations which have proved solidarity in practice and that humanitarianism is achieved with it, rather than bombs.

The GFTU spokesperson specifically called upon the working class of Yugoslavia and expressed its support in defiance of US imperialism. The support of Korean people to Yugoslav people culminated in a public rally held in Pyongyang to protest the bombing on 8th of April  in solidarity with the Yugoslav people at which speeches were made by Yugoslav ambassador and chairman of the then Korea-Yugoslavia Friendship association which reaffirmed the friendship between Korean and Yugoslav people, as well as adopting a letter of solidarity to the President of FR Yugoslavia.

DPRK representatives at the time visited our country and expressed solidarity at meetings of the then ruling Socialist Party of Serbia and at other official events. Serbian people well remembered these acts of solidarity of Korean people under the leadership of Chairman Kim Jong Il, and in accordance immediately after the bombing, many organizations and parties held meetings, exhibitions, speeches and rallies in support of the Chairman who showed the correct line to combat imperialism in the coming century.

Coincidentally, my father passed away on the same year as the decade of the tragic demise of the Chairman, and thus, the year Juche 110 (2021) holds much tragic burden for me for those two reasons. However, this year, Juche 111(2022) is a momentous year when we celebrate 80th birth anniversary of Chairman Kim Jong Il (Day of the Shining Star), and 110th birth anniversary of the President Kim Il Sung (Day of the Sun), and as Korean people did on the moment of tragic demise, I vowed to turn sorrow into strength to further develop the friendship of our peoples and work even harder on expanding our association.

The Korean people today advance under the banner of socialism and Juche oriented army building led by the great Marshal Kim Jong Un. He has developed People’s Korea into a modern military power with advanced military technology and rocket self-defense capabilities, continuing wisely Songun politics of the Chairman by applying them to present material conditions.

With such strong military capabilities no imperialist forces dare provoke Korea whose army and people are united Single-heartedly behind their Marshal. And that is why for us at the friendship association and Serbian people Chairman Kim Jong Il will forever be a Shining Star of World Anti-imperialism.

Let us forever uphold the memory of President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il in gratitude for their contributions in solidarity for world peoples and anti-imperialist struggle!