Mikhail Zemskov, former editor-in-chief of the Russian newspaper Patriot, wrote in an article:
The Korean people are innovative creators for the present and future of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and heroes of labour and national defence. It is the great Juche idea that has given full play to their energy, wisdom and creative potentiality, thus enabling them to be effective one hundredfold in practice. The outstanding artist of creation, produced in this life-giving flower garden of the Juche idea, is Kim Jong Il, the supreme leader of the DPRK. Today, the whole world, in other words, not only friends of the Korean people but also their hostile forces recognize that he is a world-class politician who makes great contributions to opening the road of mankind in the 21st century.
As he wrote, Kim Jong Il (1942-2011) was recognized as an unexcelled statesman, accomplished, broad-minded and versatile, by not only friends of his socialist country but also statesmen of the US.
By energetically conducting ideological and theoretical activities with extraordinary passion and ability to explore, Kim Jong Il ensured that the Juche idea shone more brilliantly as a great ideology guiding the era of independence.
He developed and enriched the idea, authored by President Kim Il Sung, by elucidating such issues as the one of consciousness of man, the one of the position of the masses as the driving force of social movement, the one of the role of the leader in the revolutionary struggle of the working class, the one of the leader being in inseparable relationship with the party and the masses, the one of the strategy and tactics of the revolution and the one of accomplishing the people’s cause of independence.
When the Western countries were fussing about the “end of socialism” by taking advantage of the collapse of socialism in the Soviet Union and other eastern European countries, he dealt a decisive blow at them.
He declared:
Socialism is a science. Socialism has been frustrated in a number of countries, but scientific socialism is as alive as ever in the minds of the people. The crumbling of socialism in various countries does not mean the failure of socialism as science but the bankruptcy of opportunism which has corrupted socialism. Although socialism is temporarily experiencing a heartrending setback because of opportunism, it will without fail be revived and win ultimate victory for its scientific accuracy and truth.
Under the leadership of Kim Jong Il, an incarnation of firm faith in socialism, the Korean people displayed their unchangeable loyalty to socialism and the cause of independence, holding higher the banner of the Juche idea.
In the face of worst-ever hardships caused by the disappearance of the international socialist market, relentless isolate-and-stifle manoeuvres by the allied imperialist forces, the greatest national sorrow over the death of President Kim Il Sung (1912-1994) and the unprecedented harsh natural disasters, Kim Jong Il did not waver or yield but worked a miracle of turning the misfortune into blessing.
What was the secret of the miracle?
“A miracle is not an accidental gift from Heaven; it is something inevitable bestowed by the people”
This is an aphorism by Kim Jong Il.
The DPRK leadership roused the people to defending socialism, and the people shared will and destiny with the leadership.
The hostile forces calculated that the country’s social unity would be cracked and its leadership would change its line as time went by, and intensified their politico-military offensive.
However, the Korean people rallied behind the Workers’ Party of Korea more firmly and the leadership responded to the US hard line with a harder line, putting the enemy on the defensive.
Americans were astonished, for no other country in the world had ever approached them in that way until then. They conducted simulation of a war in Korea, but the result was the defeat of the US.
The American politicians and military experts recognized the result.
A senior research fellow at Harvard University said: In north Korea Kim Jong Il, who has a firm faith in the communist ideals, leads the country and there are his followers, a political force, that can exert a great political impact on this planet.
A five-star general said: I can’t believe that the US can win in a new Korean war; it is difficult for the US to expect victory in the war.
The US could not but promise that it would not have recourse to arms against the DPRK but respect its sovereignty, ensure denuclearization, peace and security on the Korean peninsula, support the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea, and it would build light-water reactors in the DPRK.
US President Bill Clinton sent the letter, in which he assured the US commitments under the DPRK-US Agreed Framework, and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Pyongyang and met Kim Jong Il.
Amid the international prestige and dignity of the DPRK rising remarkably at the change point of the centuries, meetings between Kim Jong Il and Putin were held in Pyongyang and Moscow, opening a new era of comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, and many member states of the EU established diplomatic relations with the DPRK.
During those days, thanks to Songun politics administered by Kim Jong Il the Korean People’s Army was strengthened in terms of the standard of its military hardware, unity, organization, discipline and combat capability, most importantly in terms of the service personnel’s ideological faith and fighting spirit. The KPA displayed to the full its dignity as an invincible armed force which no one would dare to attack.
CIA experts also recognized it.
Dmitri Yazov, former Soviet defence minister, said that Kim Jong Il won victory and safeguarded global peace without firing even a gunshot.
February 16 this year is the 80th anniversary of the birth of Kim Jong Il, who still enjoys praise of the people all over the world as an outstanding politician.
