Significance of Eighth Congress of Workers’ Party of Korea

Alfonso Galdi

Dear Comrades,

For the first time I have the honor of participating in a debate to deepen the study and knowledge of the Juche idea.

For this opportunity I am grateful to the Workers’ Party of Korea and its esteemed leaders, whose high skills and competences I have already been able to appreciate in previous political meetings.

I want to emphasize the high value of the report by Comrade Kim Jong Un delivered on the occasion of the 8 th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, which, based on the founding principles of the Idea, opened new perspectives for the development and application of the Juche idea.

The great political quality of this exhibition is also revealed by the sincere observation of the problems encountered in the past, which are positively acquired as an experience on which to improve future policies.

The task of achieving this improvement is clearly assigned to all components of the Korean Socialist Society, which, as we know, is based on the doctrine of the people as a fundamental question, as well as the main decisive political modality for the survival or the ruin of the Party and victory or the failure of Socialism.

In this key, a fundamental role is reserved by the Central Committee of the WPK to the People's Army, called to fulfill its national duty to firmly protect the country not only from military threats but also from sudden non-military threats.

In this scheme the superiority and vitality of Korean-style Socialism centered on the popular masses clearly emerges.

These are expressed through the struggle to accelerate the Socialist Construction, improving the capacity for self-development and self-sufficiency.

I believe the development of international relations that Comrade Kim Jong Un has recently conducted with other countries, such as China and Russia, is of great value, in line with the rapid changes in international scenarios, which see these countries advance in the political and economic fields and military to the detriment of the USA.

From the aforementioned perspective of the development of International Socialism, appears the strengthening of relations with countries such as Vietnam and Cuba, to which, albeit each with its own characteristics, Korea appears linked by the common anti-imperialist struggle and by experience in Socialist construction. However, I believe that Korea’s greatest success in international politics lies in its position as the country standing face to face with the superpower - the United States. Only to those who are unfamiliar with the value and determination of the Korean people, the Workers’ Party and the Leader who leads it, could it seem impossible that a relatively small country could assume such a strategic and decisive position in the fight against imperialism. However, this remains an extraordinary result, achieved only thanks to the deterrent constituted by the strength and valor of the People's Army.

The love of the Korean people for independence can also be read in the great economic, industrial and social effort employed in the military. This, however, should not be read as a propensity for aggression, but rather as an active defense of peace. This determination, moreover, unites the Korean vision also to our history, since even the Ancient Romans knew the strategic value of deterrence and affirmed, in Latin, "si pacem vis para bellum", which means “if you want peace, prepare for war.”

Moreover, as long as the imperialists exist on earth and the danger of a war of aggression by hostile forces against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Revolutionary Armed Forces will have to continue to increase their defense capacity, in line with the evolution of the international scenario.

This principle was clearly expressed by Comrade Kim Jong Un, who, in his speech, solemnly reiterated the need for the constant strengthening of national defense capabilities, placing them as a cornerstone for the existence of the State and a solid guarantee of defense of dignity and the security of the country, the people and peace.

No less noteworthy are the positions taken in on economic development. The detailed analysis of the successes and problems encountered in the implementation of the program adopted following the 7 th Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea, made it possible to improve the planning of future strategies, also in light of the great difficulties present today due to the serious and protracted global public health crisis. The Central Committee of the WPK has elaborated, on this analytical basis, the strategy for the national economic development over the next five years. It is very interesting to note how this plan, without forgetting the need to reserve important resources for national defense, aims above all at improving people's living standards. The political and economic design clearly provided the guidelines for the development and increase of production, in application of the principles of Socialism and holding up the slogan “Forward to a new victory!”

As indicated by Comrade Kim Jong Un, the development plan also involves science and technology, seen as a prerequisite for achieving prosperity, strength and self-sufficiency.

Similar attention is paid to the theoretical elaboration, placed at the basis of the construction of socialist culture. In this sense, the need to invest forces and resources in education, public health, literature and art, all aspects that characterize the revolutionary character of the Korean people, was underlined.

The project necessarily involves every single component of the Society, who is personally called to create and develop the new noble and civil life of Socialist Korea, until the objectives of this new phase are fully achieved.

Finally, great attention was paid to the problem of the reunification of the Korean homeland, unjustly divided by the imperialist powers.

Comrade Kim Jong Un announced that, despite the great diplomatic effort put in place, inter-Korean relations are experiencing a moment of stalemate, comparable to the situation present at the time before the publication of the Panmunjom Declaration and that the dream of national reunification it is made more distant. However, no effort will fail to achieve this fundamental objective, always however in full compliance with the principle of independence in external relations, given that the first task of the diplomacy of the People's Democratic Republic is the protection of the sovereignty of the country and the prestige of the state, and the Workers’ Party of Korea to defend the majesty of our Party, increase national prestige and defend the interests of the state.

On the basis of what has been briefly explained, I believe that the experience offered by the Workers’ Party of Korea and the DPRK will make other countries of the world, each according to their own characteristics and particularities, greatly benefit from study of His work.

I close my speech by honoring the birthday of Eternal President Kim Il Sung and rejoicing at the introduction of the new term Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, which will best summarize the reference to the great works of the two great and late Supreme Guides of the Korean People.