No. 35
September 9, 2025
September 9, 1948
77th
Anniversary of Founding of
Democratic People's Republic of
Korea
Youth and student gala celebrating the 77th
anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea, Pyongyang, September 9, 2025
• Stand with Korean People to Affirm Their
Right to Be
and Achieve
Peace on Korean Peninsula!
• Kim Il Sung's Speech in Pyongyang After DPRK Was Founded
• Meeting Needs of the People Always
Number One Priority in
DPRK
DPRK-China Summit in Beijing
• Bilateral Relations Strengthened
September
9, 1948
77th Anniversary of Founding of Democratic
People's Republic of Korea
Stand with Korean People to Affirm Their Right to Be and Achieve Peace on Korean Peninsula!
Celebration in Pyongyang of 77th anniversary of the founding of the DPRK, September 9, 2025
On September 9, the Korean people are celebrating the founding of
the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The DPRK was
proclaimed founded by the legendary leader and architect of modern
Korea, Kim Il Sung, following the historic defeat of the brutal
Japanese imperialist occupiers of
Korea and the subsequent occupation of the south of the country by the
U.S. imperialists.
The Korean people, under the leadership of General Kim Il Sung and the Korean People's Army, liberated their nation on August 15, 1945, from an enemy armed with better weapons and many more forces. The defeat of the Japanese militarists also contributed enormously to helping secure the victory of the world's peoples in the Anti-Fascist War.
The victory over the Japanese was carried out with assistance of the Red Army of the Soviet Union in the final days of the military campaign to defeat Japan. Immediately following this defeat, the Korean people elected representatives to a People's Assembly, which proclaimed the founding of the Korean People's Republic on September 6, 1945.
No sooner had World War II ended than the Korean People's Republic came under the attack of the U.S. imperialists. The Korean people, who freed themselves from the Japanese occupiers without any assistance from the U.S., now found themselves treated as a defeated people. The terms of surrender signed by Japan on September 2,1945 with the U.S. stipulated that the defeated Japanese troops south of the 38th parallel -- a line the U.S. had unilaterally drawn across Korea before Japan's defeat — would surrender to the U.S., not to the Korean liberators.
On September 8, 1945, two days after the declaration of the Korean People's Republic, thousands of U.S. troops began to occupy the south of the country. The U.S. established the United States Military Government in Korea (USMGK) which outlawed the Korean People's Republic and attacked and dismantled the people's committees which were the mainstays of the war of resistance against Japan and the expression of the people's political power. U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, who committed untold crimes in Korea, declared that Korea was to be an "anti-communist bulwark." The USMGK took up where the Japanese imperialist monsters had left off.
While the U.S. continued committing crimes against the Korean people, in the north organizing was going forward to provide for the people. The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) had been founded by Kim Il Sung on October 10, 1945. Under its guidance and the leadership of Kim Il Sung, the WPK organized people's committees in the north. These committees started operations in early 1946, united as the Provisional People's Committee of north Korea. The central organization which was established was then tasked with the rapid rehabilitation of the devastated economy as the basis of providing for the people's wellbeing.
Unlike in the south, the Korean people in the north revived and asserted their 5,000-year-old culture and history which the Japanese had outlawed including forcing the Korean people to take Japanese names. Remnants of Japanese colonialism such as the forced use of the Japanese language, the outlawing of Korean culture and traditions, and other ways in which Japan subjugated the Korean people were ended. Collaborators were brought to justice and punished. Land reform, a literacy campaign, health care, education, and the beginning of a modern nation-building program took shape.
In the south, over three bloody years, through a campaign of mass terror and brutality, the illegal USMGK along with former Japanese collaborators and their armed agents targeted the Korean people's resistance against the U.S. occupation. Patriotic organizations were made illegal and hundreds of thousands of people were rounded up, tortured, killed, or imprisoned. Military massacres of innocent civilians were widespread such as in No Gun Ri and other sites.
To legitimize their rule over the Korean people, the U.S. organized a fraudulent "free" election in May 1948. Canada played a role in the United Nations Commission on Korea to supervise and legitimize these bogus elections which the vast majority of Korean people rejected and boycotted.
Following the boycotted election of May 20, 1948, the U.S. installed the anti-democratic, anti-communist stooge, Syngman Rhee, as President and proclaimed the Republic of Korea (ROK) founded on August 15, 1948. When the prospects of a united independent Korea became impossible because of the U.S., Kim Il Sung declared the founding of the DPRK on September 9, 1948, in Pyongyang at a jubilant rally of more than 1 million people.
Mass rally marks the
founding of the DPRK, September 9, 1948
Since the U.S. proclaimed the ROK and installed the dictator Syngman Rhee as their puppet in 1948, the division of Korea at the 38th parallel has been maintained by more than 28,000 U.S. troops and a puppet south Korean army. The ROK pays for hosting the second largest number of U.S. military bases in a country in the world, after Japan. This includes Camp Humphreys – the largest U.S. military base outside of the U.S. – in Pyeongtaek, located near Seoul.
For his part, President Kim Il Sung established the DPRK as the foundation and guarantor of the liberation and reunification of all Korea, which then proved its mettle by defeating the U.S. imperialists in the Fatherland Liberation War (1950-53). The U.S. and anti-communist allies, including Canada, fought under a contrived United Nations flag – one the greatest frauds the U.S. engineered following the end of World War II.
The developments in the DPRK greatly inspired the Korean people in the south and in the elections of May 1950, the candidates of the U.S.-sponsored Syngman Rhee regime were boycotted and defeated. Candidates selected by the people emerged victorious. Faced with this reality, the U.S. launched the Korean War in June 1950 to keep Korea divided and maintain their rule by force.
Under the flag of the United Nations, the U.S. recruited 17 other countries, including Canada, to participate in the slaughter of more than 4 million Korean civilians. They used chemical and biological weapons and conducted carpet bombing and use of napalm across the DPRK, resulting in massive destruction of the economy and infrastructure, including razing Pyongyang to the ground. This was done citing the pretext of collective self-defence against an attack by the north on the south, a Cold War myth. It is a myth that continues to be propagated by government and the media and in Canadian schools as if it is general knowledge rather than disinformation, much like the myth of Israeli self-defense in Gaza.
However, the U.S. has never been able to crush the Korean people. It was unable to subdue the DPRK and the Korean People's Army during the brutal Korean war. The Korean people, joined by Chinese People's Volunteers, and supported by the peace-loving peoples of the United States, Canada and the whole world, fought the aggressors and inflicted a defeat on the U.S. imperialists that they have not forgotten nor forgiven to this day.
The
DPRK forced the U.S. to sign the Korean Armistice in July 1953 which
required that the defeated U.S. forces follow-up with a permanent peace
treaty to end the Korean War. Far from signing a permanent peace
treaty, the U.S. in their anti-communist mania, installed the
anti-people policy known
as No War No Peace to pursue their on-going hostility,
bullying and sanctions against the DPRK. Imbued with the spirit of
revenge, this policy destabilizes the peace in the Asia Pacific as the
U.S. seeks to dominate the region by forcing countries to accept its
hegemony, something all
sovereign and peace-loving countries refuse to do. In this regard, the
DPRK founded by Kim Il Sung 77 years ago has never wavered. It is a
reliable ally of all peace-loving countries not only in the region but
the world. This is what the U.S., using its imperialist propaganda,
will not accept. The
U.S. forbids discussion on all matters related to war and peace founded
on the facts. Canada's positions on all matters related to the DPRK and
Korean Peninsula are similarly informed by the U.S. disinformation and
jingoistic propaganda.
The victory of the Korean people in the Fatherland Liberation War was the first humiliating defeat of the U.S. imperialists following the Second World War and inspired all the anti-colonial and anti-imperialist forces in the world.
Kim Il Sung, President of the DPRK, said at the time: "The victory of our people in the Korean War was a victory of the revolutionary people over the imperialist forces, a victory of the revolutionary army over the aggressive forces of imperialism. It proved that the people who rise up for freedom, independence, and progress, taking their destiny into their own hands under the leadership of a Marxist-Leninist party, will never be conquered by any imperialist forces of aggression. It also exposed the vulnerability and corruptness of U.S. imperialism, demonstrating to the oppressed nations of the world that U.S. imperialism is by no means an unconquerable enemy and that they too can definitely fight and defeat it."
Following the victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, the DPRK was rebuilt in record time and has continued its nation-building project despite enormous difficulties caused by the brutal sanctions regime imposed by the United States and its allies, including Canada. The DPRK bases itself on self-reliance, developed under the leadership of Kim Il Sung during the anti-Japanese guerilla war, subsequently enforced by Kim Il Sung when the DPRK set its course to build a modern nation, and then by Kim Jong Il and the WPK, up to the current day.
The Korean people faced the U.S.-engineered sanctions, the collapse of the former Soviet Union and people's democracies in eastern Europe which were its main trading partners by launching the "Arduous March" to restructure their economy. They have countered the ongoing anti-communist disinformation campaigns with their deeds. They stand firm in the face of U.S. imperialist military exercises aimed at justifying another war against the DPRK, to seize control of the entire Korean Peninsula and use it as a base against China, as well as Russia and the entire region.
Despite these enormous difficulties, the DPRK has built its nuclear self-defence capacity and affirmed its right to be, advancing its nation-building project which puts the people of the country in the centre of all matters of governance and development.
The DPRK has also built its self-defence capacity to safeguard its independence from the constant military threats and nuclear blackmail of the U.S. imperialist warmongers. In this regard, the current Carney Liberal government has continued to integrate Canada into the U.S. war machine and is engaged in provoking the DPRK through its Operation NEON in which Canadian frigates and aircraft are being used to monitor shipping in Korean waters, to uphold illegal sanctions against the DPRK.
Furthermore,
Canada participates in U.S.-led military exercises around the Korean
Peninsula as part of the U.S. so-called Indo-Pacific Strategy which is
a provocation against the Korean people and peoples of the region. This
warmongering goes against the aspirations of the Canadian people who
want Canada to be a force for peace in the world. Normalizing relations
with the DPRK would enhance peace on the Korean Peninsula as well as
contribute to peace in the world.
At this time of a historic turning point in the world, the principled stand of the DPRK in defence of its own independence, sovereignty and principles is the basis of the human-centred nation-building project, established under the leadership of President Kim Il Sung; advanced under the leadership of Kim Jong Il; and being strengthened, expanded and consolidated under the current leader, Kim Jong Un and the Workers' Party of Korea. Despite the most difficult circumstances, the rights and well-being of the people are put in first place in the DPRK. This can be seen in the rights to housing, healthcare and education being provided and in international relations with other nations and peoples based on affirming not only its right but the right of all nations and peoples to independence, self-determination, and peace.
The historic feats of the Korean people in fighting first the Japanese occupiers and then the U.S. imperialists and their partners in crime continue to inspire Canadians and peoples everywhere who are today fighting for justice and peace. For its internationalist spirit and adherence to its principles, the DPRK is justly admired by justice- and peace-loving people in Canada and the world.
With the escalation of the U.S. imperialist war preparations and the orientation of the Canadian state to increase militarization of Canada's economy and war preparations under the tutelage of the U.S., it is very important to stand with the people of the DPRK for their right to be and demand that the Canadian state, governments and institutions abandon their hostile, anti-communist policies toward the DPRK and normalize relations with that country for mutual benefit and for peace.
On the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the founding of the DPRK, the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) sent revolutionary greetings to the Workers Party of Korea, its General Secretary Kim Jong Un and people of the DPRK.
Historic Photos
Left:
Photo of Kim Il Sung with guerilla army in war against Japan. Right:
Painting of Kim Il Sung in war against Japanese militarists.
Left: Jeju Island
people's uprising took place April 3, 1948, against U.S. occupation of
the south, demanding a free and unified Korea. Right: People's
committees were established on Jeju.
Jeju uprising was
followed by brutal repression by the U.S. military and government in
south Korea in which 20 per cent of population was massacred. Photo
shows mass imprisonment of island residents.
Left: From one illegitimate act to another, U.S. General Douglas
MacArthur (left), after the U.S. divided Korea, imposes Syngman Rhee
(right) as
"president" of the southern part. Right: Rhee in turn holds bogus elections in May 1948 to codify the division.
Left:
In February 1946 the Provisional People's Committee of North Korea was
established in preparation for elections to the Peoples Assembly in
1947. Right: Kim Il Sung addresses the first session of the
DPRK’s Supreme People’s Assembly, September 10, 1948.
Celebrating founding of
the DPRK, September 9, 1948.
Refugees
flee Yongdong, south Korea, on July 26, 1950. The same day, eight miles
away at No Gun Ri, hundreds of refugees are massacred as part of
official U.S. policy.
Pyonyang in 1953 following brutal bombings by U.S. and allies in Korean war.
Demonstration in the U.S. against the Korean war.
Left: President
Kim Il Sung with KPA troops at the front during the Korean War. Right:
U.S. forces
withdraw south of the 38th parallel following
their defeat in the war.
Victory in the national
fatherland liberation war, with armistice, signed in July 1953.
Kim Il Sung's Speech in Pyongyang
After DPRK Was Founded
Kim Il Sung (left) during National Fatherland Liberation War.
On September 12, 1948 at a mass rally attended by some 1 million people, the leader of the newly founded Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Il Sung, gave a speech calling on the people to rally around their new government and build a new democratic Korea. Excerpts from the speech follow.
Dear citizens of Pyongyang,
Workers, peasants, office employees, men of culture and students, entrepreneurs, tradesmen and clergymen, the Central Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the establishment of which our people awaited so eagerly, has been founded and warmly supported and welcomed by the entire Korean people.
On behalf of the Government of the Republic I would like to offer you citizens, men and women, young and old, profound thanks for gathering here to support and welcome the Central Government of the Republic, the first of its kind in our nation's history, established amid high patriotic enthusiasm and national joy, and to express your trust in the members of the Government.
Dear friends, with the establishment of the DPRK Government a brilliant new chapter has been opened in the history of our people's struggle for the building of an independent, sovereign state. From now on, as a full-fledged nation with a government of their own our people will always be protected by this government and have dignity, rights and honour as citizens of the DPRK.
Our people were harshly ill-treated, exploited and oppressed for 36 years as colonial slaves without a country. In order not to suffer the sorrow of a stateless people ever again, the Korean people, now that they are freed from the shackles of the colonial rule of Japanese imperialism, have waged a nationwide struggle ever since the first days of liberation to build an independent, sovereign and democratic state [...]
The foundation of the DPRK and the establishment of the Central Government are the fruits of the united struggle of the north and south Korean people for the country's reunification, freedom and independence, and a great historic victory for our people. Our Republic has a bright future and a broad avenue to victory is open before our nation. The Government of the Republic will do everything in its power to assure the prosperity of our country and the happy future of our people and will justify your trust without fail.
All our victories and happiness do not come of themselves; they are only won through effort and struggle. Now, the Government of the Republic and our people have a tremendous historic task which must be carried out at all costs in the face of many difficulties. As is pointed out in the political programme of the Government of the Republic already published, we should achieve the country's reunification, freedom and independence, and should also introduce in the southern half of the country the same great democratic reforms as have been carried out in the northern half since liberation and provide our fellow countrymen there with the same freedom and happiness as the north Korean people are enjoying today [...]
In order to carry out this historic task, it will not do simply to proclaim the Republic and establish the Government of the Republic. For the reunification and prosperity of the homeland the entire Korean people should unite firmly around the Government of the Republic, uphold its policies and devote their patriotic enthusiasm and efforts to implementing them.
The puppet regime led by Syngman Rhee the traitor and south Korea's pro-Japanese elements, quislings and political profiteers are meeting with strong resistance from the people. The Korean people will never forgive this traitorous clique and will continue to fight them. The south Korean people are demanding the same democratic reforms as in north Korea and are fighting for their introduction. In accordance with its political programme, the DPRK Government will definitely introduce democratic reforms in south Korea and guarantee the south Korean people freedom, rights and happiness, too.
As history shows, a state and government established by the people themselves and enjoying their unreserved support and working for their benefit, has always been victorious. I firmly believe that our Central Government that was established by the people and is receiving their unqualified support and is working for their benefit will faithfully perform its sacred and honourable national task in the struggle for the reunification and freedom of our homeland. Let us march forward towards the triumphant construction of a democratic Korea, rallying firmly around the Government of the Republic.
Long Live the Democratic People's Republic of Korea!
Long Live the Korean People!
(Kim Il Sung, Collected Works. Vol. 4, pp.390-392)
Meeting Needs of the
People Always
Number One Priority in
DPRK
Residents in Ragwonpho
move into new houses, September 2025
The U.S. and its allies, including Canada, wage concerted campaigns of disinformation about "human rights violations" in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Even the UN Human Rights Commission has joined in this shameful activity. None speak to the evidence and all support the crippling life-threatening consequences of the sanctions against the DPRK -- a country that has refused to submit to these anti-people attacks on its right to be.
The record of how the DPRK takes care of its people speaks for itself. A good example of how meeting the needs of the people is a number one priority in the DPRK is how the country provides new housing and replaces housing affected by natural disasters.
All housing in the DPRK is state-owned and made available free to the people, along with free health care, free education up to university and other basic human rights. Among the decisions taken at the Eighth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held in January 2021 was a plan to build 50,000 new apartment units in Pyongyang, the capital of the DPRK, within five years. Providing modern housing developments suitable to the people's needs and tastes across the country was also addressed.
In the last four years several new apartment buildings have sprung up in Pyongyang, including completion of the first stage of the Songhwa Street development area in 2022. Housing developments were also completed in the Hwasong district in 2023 and 2024. This year, to mark the birth of President Kim Il Sung on April 16, known as the Day of the Sun, 10,000 more apartment units were completed.
Currently, housing construction and upgrading of existing housing
are taking place in some 190 sites across the DPRK. Since 2021, homes
for close to 150,000 families have been built in rural areas and there
is no letup in this work.
The DPRK is prone to natural disasters
such as seasonal heavy rains which cause the flooding and destruction
of homes. Unlike the abandonment of the people experienced in the U.S.,
such as in the recent flooding in Texas, or during wildfires in Canada,
or contending with heat waves in major cities in both countries, the
government of the DPRK puts the highest priority on taking emergency
measures to ensure victims of floods and other natural disasters are
housed and cared for.
For example, in the Komdok mining region in the north, the government launched an 80-day campaign following the region's devastation by Typhoon Maysak in September 2020, which swept away some 2,000 homes, 60 kilometres of road, 59 bridges and parts of the railway line.
In October 2020, a month after the typhoon, DPRK leader Kim Jong Un visited the area and inspected the reconstruction effort. He pledged that with the help of the Korean People's Army 25,000 new houses would be built in the mining area within five years as part of a plan to raise the cultural and living standards of the whole region. This goal was achieved ahead of time.
In July 2024, the areas around the Amnok River in North Pyongan Province were flooded after heavy rains. Many homes were damaged. People displaced were immediately given temporary housing in Pyongyang while the government mobilized more than 130,000 construction workers, soldiers, and other volunteers to carry out a reconstruction project to build modern dwellings to replace damaged homes. That project was completed by December 2024.
This care for the people is accomplished despite the brutal and unjust sanctions imposed by the U.S., the European Union and NATO countries including Canada. These sanctions are violations of the rights of the people of the DPRK and should be lifted. The DPRK government, however, makes no excuses and instead mobilizes the people to provide everything they themselves require.
New houses being built in rural area of the country
(With files from KCNA, MinNet.org. Photos: KCNA)
DPRK-China Summit in Beijing
Bilateral Relations Strengthened
The day after the September 3 Victory Day celebrations in Beijing to mark the 80th anniversary of the Chinese people's victory over Japanese militarism and in the world Anti-Fascist War, the leaders of China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) met to strengthen relations of friendship and mutual respect between the two neighbouring countries. Contrary to U.S. efforts to portray these relations between China and the DPRK as against the peoples, in these countries and worldwide, the summit brought forward positive developments.
Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and Chinese President, met with Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and President of the State Affairs of the DPRK. Mutual concerns were discussed with an aim to strengthen their friendship and working relations in the complex conditions in the region and internationally.
Anti-fascist and peace-loving people worldwide appreciate the deep and long-standing friendship between the peoples of Korea and China, who both made great contributions to the victory of the Anti-Fascist War. This friendship also developed in the long common battle against Japanese aggression and occupation. As President Xi brought out, the presence of the leader of the DPRK at the Victory Day celebrations represented the resolve of the DPRK to safeguard the victories of the anti-fascist forces in World War Two.
Russian President
Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and DPRK leader Kim Jong
Un at Victory Day celebration in China, September 3, 2025
The assistance rendered by China to the Korean people in the Fatherland Liberation War (1950-1953) is another example of both peoples standing together to defeat imperialism. The Chinese Volunteer Army Forces crossed the Yalu River into Korea in October 1950 after the U.S./UN aggressors approached the Chinese border, despite having been repeatedly warned not to do so. In all, some 3 million Chinese volunteers fought alongside the Korean People's Army to defeat the U.S. and the UN soldiers under its command, forcing the U.S. to sign the Korean Armistice Agreement.
The Armistice required the U.S. to withdraw its military forces from Korea, which it has refused to do, and to sign a permanent peace treaty which it has also refused to do. Instead, it continues to occupy south Korea with the aim of blocking reunification – a demand of the Korean people south and north — and threatening China. In these conditions friendly relations between China and the DPRK are crucial to furthering the cause of peace.
At the Summit, President Xi said that the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government highly value the traditional friendship between the two countries and are ready to build and strengthen China-DPRK relations. To do so, the two countries plan to hold high-level exchanges and share experience in Party and state governance and enhance their relations of mutual respect and understanding. President Xi also said the two countries will enhance strategic coordination regarding international and regional affairs to contribute to maintaining peace in the Korean Peninsula and the region.
The DPRK's President Kim Jong Un said that the older generation of DPRK and Chinese leaders forged a profound bond in the war of resistance against the Japanese which the two countries will maintain and pass down through the generations. He affirmed that no matter how complicated the international situation, the friendship between the DPRK and China will remain steadfast, and that the DPRK will continuously deepen and develop these working relations. This will include mutually beneficial economic and trade relations with China and exchanges at various levels between the two parties and governments on matters of mutual concern.
(With files from Xinhua.)
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