Eighth Congress of the WPK, Enthusiastic Congress

Gennadi Astakhov

Tynda Association for the Study of the Juche Idea in Russia

The Eighth Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea is called a proud congress held under extraordinary zeal of participants.

Comrade Kim Jong Un, the General Secretary of the WPK, said in his closing address.

“There have been many important Party-wide political meetings including congress so far and the participants have shown immense enthusiasm every time as they received the policies and ideas of the Party Central Committee, but I see for the first time such an extraordinary zeal for participation as in the Eighth Party Congress, in which all the participants are so interested and immersed in the discussion of issues.”

It is because the Eighth Congress of the WPK was held in a very important and crucial period in the course of the strengthening and development of the WPK and the building of Korean style socialism.

Every delegate discussed issues on a high level.

Comrade Kim Jong Un said that in the whole period of the congress all the delegates took part in all sincerity in the discussion of issues with the highest degree of Party consciousness and the highest sense of responsibility, positively offered their constructive opinions and reached a consensus in their opinions, thereby giving full play to the militant features of the Party that works, fights and advances.

He said that every delegate made a positive and serious study of all issues discussed as they racked their brains and felt anxious over the issues by combining them with the success and failure of the revolutionary work and the destiny of themselves and their children and enthusiastically participated in the strenuous work of the congress.

Comrade Kim Jong Un’s high appraisal of the congress won the sympathy of millions of the Party members and the working people in the DPRK, brought up under the care of Comrade Kim Il Sung, the eternal President of the DPRK and the benevolent father of the nation.

We will soon celebrate the Day of the Sun when Comrade Kim Il Sung was born. The Korean people deeply keep in mind his behests that it is necessary to believe in the people as in heaven and serve them.

“We serve the people!”—this is one of the slogans set forth by the WPK.

The Party regards it as a rule of its activity to place the people’s demand and interests above others and solve all problems in conformity with their demand and interests.

After the country was liberated from military occupation of the Japanese imperialists (on August 15, 1945), the WPK enforced the agrarian reform as a part of the anti-imperialist, anti-feudal democratic revolution, thus meeting centuries-old desire of the peasants who wanted to have their own lands. It also enforced nationalization of major industries to set up the workers as masters of factories. With the proclamation of the Law on Sex Equality, women could enjoy equal rights with men.

Even in the period when the country was in difficulties and even one ton of steel was so precious, the Party determined to destroy boldly a furnace that was harmful to life and health of the workers. It built wonderfully the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital for women and infants. Such facts should be considered with intention.

The WPK takes responsible care of the people’s life.

The Party firmly holds fast to the principle of defending the people’s interests and serving them faithfully in its activity, thus enjoying their absolute support and trust.

For the last tens of years, the Party has consistently enforced the popular policies including the universal free compulsory education, free medical care and building dwelling houses at the state expense to provide the people with them gratis. It is unbelievable but it is true that the tax system was already abolished in this country almost 40 years ago.

All these are inconceivable without the WPK leaders’ correct view on the people. The great leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il regarded “The people are God” as their motto and worked devotedly for the well-being of the people. That is why the people call the WPK a motherly party.

A foreigner once asked President Kim Il Sung how the DPRK made up for a loss caused by providing pupils of the country with uniforms free of charge. Then Comrade Kim Il Sung said that it was not a loss in the efforts made for the people and that the more the loss, the better. Once he was informed that gold was deposited in the Mt. Myohyang area, a famous scenic spot in the DPRK. Comrade Kim Il Sung did not agree with the proposal of developing a gold mine there because he could never tolerate damaging the natural beauty of the country and the cultural recreation area of the people.

Comrade Kim Jong Il, always saying in his lifetime that even unprofitable work was should be done if it is for the good of the people, stressed that the economic value should not be considered in the work for the people.

Giving field guidance to the construction site of Samsu Power Station located in the northern part of the country, he said that new dwelling houses should be built before its construction to provide them to the people in the to-be-flooded area. The slogan “We serve the people!” was also set forth by Comrade Kim Jong Il.

Today Comrade Kim Jong Un, the General Secretary of the WPK, carries forward successfully the cause of Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il to do his best for the good of the people.

All his thinking and activities are to make the people, who have supported the Party faithfully breaking through all upheavals of history, enjoy all benefits of socialism without tightening their belts anymore. Once he put his handwriting of serving the people on a document which was submitted to him. He often says… First of all, we should promote conveniences of the people. We should treat them warmly. We should make more people visit us. We should spare nothing for the people. Work once begun must be finished as a wonderful gift for the people.

When he visited families of workers and educators who had moved into new houses in Changjon Street located in the centre of Pyongyang, he inquired in detail of their living conditions and talked with them in a friendly manner. He said that giving top and absolute priority to the people’s convenience and directing all policies of the Party and the state to the good of the people is the Korean-style socialist system. He had photos with them and presented them with daily necessities wishing their happiness.

He never tolerates any slightest encroachment on the people’s interests. Looking around a pleasure ground, he criticized officials for its poor operation by saying that the officials who are lack of the spirit of making selfless, devoted efforts for the good of the people cannot work according to the Party’s intention. He said that pleasure ground was a place for the people to rest but officials did not feel repentant without the slightest compunction, although there were tens of thousands of officials. He said that such officials were not needed as they failed to value the people.

Now the WPK, led by Comrade Kim Jong Un, does everything to provide the people with all benefits of socialism at an early date by applying his noble spirit of making selfless, devoted efforts for the good of the people and upholding the slogan “We serve the people!”

Comrade Kim Jong Un, the General Secretary of the WPK, said that all the delegates devoted all their mind to deciding the most correct and powerful orientation of the struggle and the strategy and tactics during the Eighth Congress of the WPK with heavy responsibility for progress and development of the revolutionary work. He said that he was deeply impressed and greatly encouraged by them and he felt very grateful for this.

General Secretary Kim Jong Un in his report said that the Party Central Committee uninterruptedly carried on the struggle to eliminate all kinds of anti-people factors laying obstacles in realizing it while making intensive efforts to make the people-first principle apply the Party and state activities.

The report analyzed the scrupulous political offensive waged by the Party Central Committee to consider the people-first principle as a firm political climate of the state and as a Party climate and national climate.

It is of special significance in the work of the Party Central Committee to consolidate the politico-ideological position that it carried out more intensively the education in revolutionary tradition as required by the period of inheriting and developing the revolutionary cause of Juche.

It is one of the important successes achieved during the period under review that the Party Central Committee ensured that the entire Party and the whole society established a climate of equipping themselves with the great revolutionary tradition of Mt Paektu and overcoming difficulties and opening up the way of advance with the indomitable fighting spirit based on the great tradition, the fighting spirit displayed by the anti-Japanese guerrillas, and thereby ensured that the noble fighting spirit and mettle of the Korean revolutionaries were firmly inherited.

There are many above-mentioned successes in this country that built a self-defensive nuclear missile shield by its own strength and where people are full of delight in life.