President Kim Il Sung during the war, making a radio address in 1950, and signing the Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953.

On October 23, 1953, Kim Il Sung, President of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) addressed the officers and men of Unit No. 256 of the Korean People’s Army, a unit that distinguished itself in the front lines of the Korean War. In his speech, he outlined the factors that contributed to victory in the Korean War, known in the DPRK as the Fatherland Liberation War, and what the Korean people learned in fighting it, which has held the people of Korea in good stead till today. Posted below are excerpts of that speech, entitled “On the Historic Victory in the Fatherland Liberation War and the Tasks of the People’s Army.”

Comrades, on behalf of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the Government of the Republic and the Supreme Headquarters, I would like to offer my warm thanks to the officers and men of Unit No. 256 who fought heroically at the front for a long time after the outbreak of the war.

As you know, the Korean war ended in our victory. It is true that we failed to wipe out the enemy and we have not yet reunified the country. However, we defeated the huge armed forces of U.S. imperialism, the ringleader of world imperialism, and its 15 satellite countries, and forced them to sign the Armistice Agreement as we demanded. This is a great victory for us. What are the victories we achieved in the arduous three-year war?

First, the Korean people and the People’s Army, through their heroic struggle, repulsed the enemy’s invasion and defended the democratic base in the northern half of Korea with honour. Taking advantage of the favourable conditions created by the presence of the Soviet army following liberation, we established the democratic base in the north and carried out tremendous work in all spheres-political, economic, cultural and military.

We formed the Workers’ Party with 800,000 members, social organizations such as the Democratic Youth League, trade unions, Peasants’ Union and Women’s Union, which have a membership of several million, drew broad sections of the masses in the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, and rallied them firmly around the Party and Government. We built the Party strongly and cemented the unity between the Party and the masses, thereby preparing a solid political force.

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Because we set up the democratic base in good time and strengthened the People’s Army, we could defeat the invaders from the 16 countries headed by U.S. imperialism and secure victory in the war. Had we fought the war only with the Syngman Rhee puppet army, not with the troops of U.S. imperialism and its satellites, we would have vanquished it and achieved the country’s reunification. To repel the invasion of U.S. imperialism and its satellites and defend the democratic base, our people and People’s Army fought heroically, never yielding to difficulties and trials. We have firm belief that as long as there are large numbers of Party members who have a high degree of political awareness and are tempered like steel, and the people who are rallied firmly around the Party, and as long as we have the solid democratic base, we can defeat any enemy invasion in future.

Second, in the Korean war the Korean people and the People’s Army not only inflicted a military defeat upon the enemy but also caused him a severe political setback. The Korean war laid bare the brutal nature of imperialism to the world, and shattered the myth of the “might” of U.S. imperialism to pieces. In fact, earlier some people had an illusion about the “might” and “humanitarianism” of U.S. imperialism. Through the Korean war, however, the people of the world not only realized clearly that the U.S. imperialists were the most heinous savages but also came to believe more firmly that if a people fought to the last bravely, arms in hands, they would be able to defeat them.

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U.S. imperialism played no part whatsoever in the liberation of Korea. The Soviet army, together with the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, vanquished the Japanese imperialist Kwantung Army of one million, and emancipated Korea, while the U.S. imperialists did not do anything. The U.S. imperialists who landed in south Korea without as much as firing a shot, were brazen enough to advertise themselves as the “liberator” of the south Korean people. This deceptive trick could not work long. The Korean war laid bare the aggressive nature of U.S. imperialism and smashed to pieces the illusion which some people had cherished about it in the past.

By using germ weapons and resorting to all sorts of atrocities in the Korean war, the U.S. imperialists exposed to the people all over the world their viciousness surpassing that of the Hitlerites and the Japanese imperialists. In the Korean war they fully revealed not only their bestiality and viciousness but also their vulnerability […] The U.S. imperialists looked down upon us as “small country,” but they sustained an ignominious defeat in the Korean war. The heroic struggle of the Korean people against U.S. imperialism has become the banner and model of the oppressed people all over the world in their national-liberation struggle. We proved to the people of the world that if they fight valiantly like Koreans they can beat back the aggression of any imperialists and free themselves from their yoke […] After the Korean war, the struggle against the colonial rule of the U.S.-led imperialists has gained in scope in many Southeast Asian countries, including Malaya, Indonesia and Viet Nam, and the rest of the world, and the colonial system is crumbling beyond retrieve.

Third, the Korean people, the People’s Army, Party and government bodies, social organizations and their officials were tempered, and they gained rich experience in the three years of the war. This is one of the greatest victories we achieved. In the midst of the flames of war, our people, Party members and cadres were tempered like steel. If we call the Korean people of yesterday unbeaten “pig iron,” we can describe the Korean people of today as “special steel” hardened in an electric furnace.

Through battles, our officers came to know how to command modernized units skillfully and accumulated a wealth of experience for organizing and commanding offensive and defensive battles and retreating efficiently. Our Party and Government gained the priceless experience of working out scientific strategy and tactics for leading the army skilfully in war against a strong enemy, of stabilizing the people’s living and meeting the demands of the front satisfactorily even under wartime conditions and of organizing transport properly at night in spite of difficulties caused by the bombing of enemy planes. We suffered tremendous losses because of the enemy’s bombing, but we gained a rich experience in anti-aircraft actions.

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We are guided by the Workers’ Party of Korea; we are not hired for money, but equipped with the indomitable will and all-conquering Marxist-Leninist ideas. Therefore, we are firmly convinced through our own experience that we can surmount any difficulty and secure victory in war. When faced with the slightest danger, the enemy, however, is out of wits and thrown into confusion beyond retrieve.

Even if the U.S. imperialists ignite another world war, we have nothing to fear. Then, the situation will be more advantageous for us, because the enemy will have to disperse and fight in many parts of the world, not just in Korea. If war breaks out in the future, our people tempered in the severe three-year war, will dig better air-raid shelters and be more efficient in evacuation, and our drivers will drive their vehicles without lights at night as far as they want. That is how we were tempered and we gained rich experience in the war. This experience we gained is priceless; it is valuable wealth and great asset for staunchly defending our country.

Fourth, the justness of our people’s fighting aim and their self-sacrificing struggle have greatly raised our country’s external position and prestige, and we made a great contribution to the cause of safeguarding universal peace and security. We won many friends everywhere in the world and enjoyed support and sympathy from the people all over the world. This is a great victory for us.

Never before in our nation’s history have we enjoyed such support and sympathy of the people of the whole world nor has our international prestige risen so high as today.

[Kim Il Sung identified three factors which were decisive in achieving victory:]

First, our people of today are not the Koreans of yesterday but the awakened people of a new Korea who had regained their country and sovereignty. Our people of today are not those people who remained unawakened and backward over 500 years under the domination of the corrupt feudal ruling classes of the Ri dynasty […] Following liberation we strove not to repeat the sorrow and humiliation we had suffered for half a century as colonial slaves of Japanese imperialism, as a stateless people. We strove to make our country rich and strong. We set up our own people’s power and carried out democratic reforms by our own efforts. In five years after liberation, we brought about a great change in the political, economic, cultural and other fields, and established a powerful democratic base […]

Second, the Korean people could secure victory because they had the Workers’ Party of Korea, their leading and guiding force, which is equipped firmly with Marxist-Leninist theory. The Workers’ Party of Korea put forward correct strategic policies and mobilized the people to obtain victory in each period and at each stage of the war. The members of the Workers’ Party of Korea advanced in the van when charging, and in retreat they brought up the rear, checking the enemy’s pursuit. They also took the lead in performing every difficult task in the factories and in the villages. We have a million Party members at present. One million Party members equipped with Marxist-Leninist thought are a great force.

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Third, we could obtain victory because we enjoyed the support and encouragement of the international democratic forces. Had we been isolated in the war, we could not have won the war. Because all these factors favoured us, we could secure victory in the Fatherland Liberation War, and we will do in future as well. Now that we have emerged victorious from the war, we are confronted with new tremendous tasks. The most important revolutionary task before us is to achieve the peaceful reunification of the country while consolidating our victory. In order to achieve the peaceful reunification, we should first strengthen the democratic base, which is the fountainhead and stronghold of our revolution. For strengthening of the democratic base we should, above all, restore the war-ravaged industry and agriculture so that solid foundations can be laid for a self-reliant economy and the people’s deteriorated lives be stabilized as soon as possible.

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