THE ROAD TRAVELLED BY THE WORKERS' PARTY OF KOREA
The Road Travelled by the Workers' Party of KoreaThe Workers' Party of Korea which was founded on October 10th originally as the Communist Party of North Korea by the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung and is led today by the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il is a Juche type party totally different to both bourgeois parties such as Tory and New Labour and also to the former ruling parties of the socialist countries. It is different because it is rooted the popular masses. It was not formed as a result of a sudden decision but its formation was a process that actually spanned several decades starting with the formation of the Down With Imperialism Union on October 17th 1926 by the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung.Indeed the process did not come to an on October 10th 1945 but a further merger of parties took place in 1946 between the Communist Party of North Korea and the New Democratic Party to form the Workers' Party of North Korea.This prevented the forces of the working masses being split . In 1949 the Workers' Party of North Korea merged with the Workers' Party of South Korea to form a unified party for the whole of Korea the Workers Party of Korea. Indeed the road travelled by the Workers' Party of Korea since October 10th 1945 has been one of continuous struggle, development and consolidation .The WPK roots are in the Anti-Japanese armed struggle which was waged for 20 years under the command of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung. He formed the Down With Imperialism Union as the starting point of the anti Japanese armed struggle .The DIU is the historical root of the WPK.It was the first communist revolutionary organisation which organically combined the struggle for national liberation and independence with the struggle for class emancipation. Thus the two were fused together. The great leader comrade Kim Il Sung strove to build a revolutionary movement with a new generation of young revolutionary fighters untainted with factionalism. Both the Korean nationalist movement and communist movement had suffered badly from as well as flunkeyism (that is the tendency to be submissive towards great powers).The Korean Communist Party had been dissolved in 1928 only 3 years after it was formed owing to the incessant factionalism. Even after this tragic event the factionalist persisted in forming their own “Party Reconstruction bureaus” The great leader comrade Kim Il Sung instead of relying on existing factions which were largely drawn from people of petty bourgeois,middle class and ruined gentry origin who indulged in empty talk divorced from the masses ,formed a communist nucleus from revolutionary anti- imperialist youth and went deep down amongst the popular masses. In Korea revolutionary armed forces were formed before the party was formed.This was a unique line quite unprecedented. as other countries formed the party first and then the armed forces or guerrilla forces. Party organisations were formed in the Korean Peoples Revolutionary Army .The Homeland Party Working Committee was established inside Korea and later party organisations were established in the Association for Restoration of the Fatherland and the Korean National Liberation Union . The process that started with the formation of the Down With Imperialism Union culminated in the formation of the WPK as the CPNK on October 10th 1945.The WPK was founded around a nuclei of communist revolutionaries tempered in the fiery furnace of the anti Japanese armed struggle. Founding the party was not easy going owing to the occupation of south Korea by the US imperialists and Korea’s division as well the brutal suppression of the south Korean revolutionary movement by the US imperialists and Syngham Rhee puppet clique. Also the WPK faced the enemy within,the factionalists. Pak Hong Yong an inveterate factionalist and CIA agent tried to disrupt the formation of the WPK.Also Right and Left opportunists created confusion by putting forward incorrect theories .The Rightists wanted to create a bourgeois republic(and even wanted to have south Korean puppet fascist as their the president) and Leftists wanted an instant socialist revolution and abolition of private property. The great leader comrade Kim Il Sung smashed the moves of the factionalists and cemented the unity of the new party.Later in 1949 the Workers Party of North Korea and Workers Party of South Korea merged to form a single party.This basically summarises briefly the history of the foundation of the WPK. The great leader comrade Kim Il Sung said “WE MAY CALL IT THE WORKING PEOPLES PARTY OR LABOUR PARTY BUT I THINK IT MOST FITTING TO NAME IT THE WORKERS' PARTY” I wonder whether he the British Labour Party in mind when he opposed using the name Labour party. This brings me back to my original starting point about the WPK being different from bourgeois ruling parties and and the former ruling parties of the former socialist countries and indeed leftist parties in imperialist countries. Bourgeois ruling parties in the first instance do not represent the popular masses but sections of the ruling class or those who support the ruling class.The WPK represents the the workers,peasants and working intellectuals- it includes the writing bush in its party symbol to represent the intellectuals. Bourgeois ruling parties are basically electoral machines geared to winning parliamentary seats and salaries and have career politicians. They simply persuade people to put a X on a little bit of paper every 5 years but they cannot mobilise ,lead or organise the people.They do not enjoy the genuine love and trust of the people and are increasing regarded with contempt. Leftist parties in imperialist countries put themselves forward as alternative parties but they are isolated from the masses of people and based on small sections of the middle class. The former ruling parties in the socialist countries such as the CPSU, SED, PUWP HSWP etc started with good intentions-to build socialism,and this should not be slighted or underestimated by anyone however such parties fell into bureaucratism particularly after 1956 and this contributed to the frustration of socialism in these countries. The WPK is a party of an entirely different type.It is rooted firmly in the popular masses.It has always fought against bureaucracy.Both the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung and the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il always argued against bureacracy identifying as an anti popular ruling method associated with capitalist society. The WPK adopted the Chongsan Ri method and Chongsan Ri spirit in which the leader and cadres go deep amongst the masses uniting them.The higher leadership helps lower level units and priority is given to political work.This is explemified by the continuous field or on the spot guidance of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il which is even commented by the imperialist media.Also cadres must perform one day of manual work per week. Some people like to talk about ‘reform’ but the DPRK does not need to reform anything as it reformed everything along revolutionary lines a long time ago. The WPK was defined by both the great leader comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il as the Mother party.This is a unique Juche orientated concept unprecedented in world political history.The WPK looks after everyone like a mother,people are provided with jobs,food,housing, education and health care and even do not have to pay tax. The people and the party,the WPK,are welded into an iron unity.Society in the DPRK froms an integral harmonious whole.People are united around the leader and party in elections in the DPRK 99.98 per cent of electors vote and vote 100% for the candidates.This is unknown in capitalist societies. None of the WPK achievements has come about without a struggle and indeed the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung several times referred to the need to combine the class line with the mass line,particularly at the 1966 conference of the WPK. The WPK has unceasingly struggled against imperialism and class enemies.It has always opposed modern revisionism. It defeated several counter revolutionary factional cliques- the Pak Hon Yon clique in 1953,the August 1956 factionalists who were backed by big power chauvinists and revisionists and the 1967 factional incident. The WPK is proudly know throughout the world,from Sao Paulo Vladistock,for its struggle for socialism for example te Pyongyang Declaration and the WPK struggle against imperialism. The WPK has travelled a long road to become a model revolutionary party.All this is due to the leadership of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung sun of Juche and the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il sun of Songun! LONG LIVE THE WPK LONG LIVE SONGUN LONG LIVE JUCHE DOWN WITH IMPERIALISM AND MODERN REVISIONISM LONG LIVE THE GREAT LEADER COMRADE KIM JONG IL Dermot Hudson October 17th Recommended reading "The Workers Party of Korea is a Juche Type Revolutionary Party that has inherited the the Glorious Tradition of the DIU" Kim Jong Il "On the Historical Experience of Building the Workers' Party of Korea"-Kim Il Sung |