Workers' Party of Korea
by Kim Su Ik

Esteemed Chairperson,
Dear Comrades and friends,

First of all, I should like on behalf of the Central
Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea to bring warm
congratulations to this international meeting of communist
and workers' parties to find in our common struggle a way
to successfully cope with the imperialist manoeuvres of
�globalisation� and anti-socialism.

I have also the great honour to convey my heartfelt
fraternal greetings to all the delegates and participants
present at this Conference and express sincere gratitude to
the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece and
its entire party members and supporters, who have spared no
effort in successfully hosting this meeting.

Today US-led imperialist aligned forces are still further
resorting to blatant interference in the internal affairs
of other nations to secure a mono-polar world prevailed
with capitalist neo-liberalism by obliterating the
socialist idea and all the progressive social achievements
obtained by the arduous struggle of the working peoples
since the Socialist Revolution of October.

What is worse, they are not hesitating to carry out, if
necessary, a highhanded policy of aggression and war in
order to achieve their ambition of domination over the
world under the cloak of �globalisation�, �New World Order�
and �Human Rights�, thereby roughly violating sovereignty
of other nations.

The �globalisation� being clamoured for by the imperialists
is none other than the unipolar domination of capitalism
over the world and their �New World Order� means forcing
the whole world to accept the Western value system and
economic method exactly as they are and to meekly obey
them. The �human rights� they chant like monks intoning
their prayers are nothing more than flowery words to find
excuses to interfere in the internal affairs of other
nations.

When socialism collapsed in many countries including the
Soviet Union, the arch-enemy of the US, and the Warsam Pack
broke up in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, the US and
the other western powers exulted so much as to declare the
�end of the Cold War� and the advent of �peace age�.

But its attitude and policies have not changed. On the
contrary, the US poses as the �sole superpower� of the
world and tries to dominate the world by force of arms.

The US-led NATO's war against Yugoslavia, sovereign state,
last year is a clear evidence showing the methods and
craftiness, arrogance and aggressive character of the
imperialists striving to achieve world domination.

After the end of the Gold War the US, which defined its
aggressive Asia strategy as essential to its universal
strategy, has regarded the Korean peninsula as well as the
Blkan peninsula as the key strategic stronghold from the
viewpoint of its geopolitical importance.

This year marks 55th anniversary of the US occupation of
south Korea under the cloak of the �liberators� after the
Second World War.

Since then our Party and government have made every sincere
efforts to put an end to the strategy of the national
division imposed by the outside forces.

Especially it was of great importance that president Kim Il
Sung initiated a proposal reunify the country by
establishing a confederal state, leaving the different
ideas and social systems as they are in the north and south
as one nation at the 6th Congress of the WPK in October
1980.

Since then this proposal have enjoyed active supports from
the Korean people but also world progressive peoples as a
just and realistic way of the reunification acceptable to
everyone.

Besides we have invariably maintained the firm attitude to
reunify the country by Koreans themselves without relying
on the outside forces. But our rational proposal of
establishment of confederal state has not been realised up
to now for the scores of years due to the obstructive
manoeuvres of the separatists at home and abroad.

We can say it is very lucky, being rather late, that the
North-south Joint Declaration, a historic document for the
country's reunification, was signed by Comrade Kim Jong Il,
General Secretary of our Party and President Kim Dae Jung
in Pyongyang last week, just one week ago.

The summit meeting of the north and south, the first of
division history of the far more than of century, is a
historic event of weighty importance in promoting mutual
understanding and developing inter-Korean relations and
achieving peaceful reunification, of which main contents
are as follows:

Firstly, the north and south agreed to solve the question
of the country's reunification independently by the
concerted efforts of the Korean nation responsible for it.

Secondly, the north and south, recognising that a proposal
for federation of lower stage advanced by the north side
and a proposal for confederation put forth by the south
side for the reunification of the country have elements in
common, agreed to work for the reunification in this
direction in the future.

Thirdly, the north and south agreed to settle humanitarian
issues, including exchange of visiting groups of separated
families and relatives and the issue of unconverted long
term prisoners, as early as possible on the occasion of the
August 15 this year.

Fourthly, the north and south agreed to promote the
balanced development of the national economy through
economic co-operation and build mutual confidence by
activating co-operation and exchanges in all fields,
social, cultural, sports and public health, environmental
and so on.

Fifthly, the north and south agreed to hold dialogues
between the authorities as soon as possible to implement
the above-mentioned agreed points in the near future.

President Kim Dae Jung cordially invited Chairman Kim Jong
Il of the DPRK National Defence Commission to visit Seoul
and Chairman Kim Jong Il agreed to visit Seoul at an
appropriate time in the future.

The historic declaration is really very valuable fruit for
the entire Korean people to achieve through the arduous and
protracted struggle for the country's reunification.

What is the most important success in the joint declaration
of the two summits is that they came to the full agreement
to reunify the country by the Korean people themselves
without recourse to outside forces.

Of course it is a just first step for the reunification. We
should expect there might be still many difficulties and
obstacles on the road ahead of the Korean people's struggle
for the country's reunification due to the presumable
machinations of the separatists at home and abroad.

Nobody can justify himself of stationing foreign troops in
other country.

The United States should discard the anachronistic Korean
policy and remove their troops from south Korea.

The keynote of the US strategy towards Korea is to
eliminate socialist Korea by force and include the whole
Korean peninsula in its sphere of the influence.

Therefore, the US haw always maintained the biggest armed
forces in the world in and around south Korea, staging
world-largest scaled military exercise throughout the year.

The so-called �suspicion of underground nuclear facilities�
and the �ballistic missile threat� are the dramas
artificially fabricated by the US in recent years in order
to mislead world public opinion, while they are further
strengthening military threat, economic blockade and
falsehood political propaganda against the DPRK.

In the period of the Cold War, the US insisted that the
presence of its troops in south Korea was necessary to
check southward advance of the Soviet Union.

Afterward, when such a threat has not existed since the
Soviet Union broke up, they tried to justify the stationing
their troops in south Korea under the pretext of a
fictitious �southward invasion from the north�, and
allegedly �suspicion of nuclear�.

As you know, our government showed its magnanimity and
sincerity to allow the US investigation team to look round
the allegedly suspicious underground facilities just in
order to prove our uprightness (integrity).

After their investigations of two times they could not but
recognise it was the facilities not for the nuclear weapon,
but the peaceful purpose.

Furthermore, today, when the north-south joint declaration
has been signed by the summits, they are not in the
position to find any excuse to station their troops in
south Korea.

Some days ago the US, who was very puzzled by the
unexpected positive result of the north-south summit
meeting, imprudently announced to maintain to station their
troops in south Korea even after Korea's reunification. How
arrogant they are!

The US, however, are seriously miscalculating. Thy will be
surely driven out of south Korea sooner or later with the
united effort of the entire Korean people amid active
support and solidarity of the progressive peoples over the
world.

To the end the occupation of south Korea by US troops and
to realise the Korea's reunification is a most urgent
demand which can no longer be postponed, not only from the
viewpoint of the Koreans' ever-increasing aspiration for
the reunification of the nation, but also from the
viewpoint of the peace and security of the world including
Asia.

An important way to avert the danger of war in the Korean
peninsula and to preserve lasting peace and security in
Korea is to replace the unstable Armistice Agreement with a
peace agreement and to establish a peace mechanism.

For this purpose, in April 1994, the DPRK government
proposed to establish a new peace mechanism which would
help stop any arms build-up or recurrence of war and help
guarantee lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.

If the US sincerely wants peace, peaceful reunification and
security on the Korean peninsula it should respond to the
reasonable proposal of the DPRK to conclude a peace treaty
between the DPRK and the US, the two parties directly
concerned of the Armistice Agreement of the Korean War.

The constant and sincere efforts of the DPRK to put an end
to the occupation of the US troops of south Korea and to
reunify the country independently and peacefully are
enjoying great sympathy and support from the progressive
political parties and organisations throughout the world.

Availing myself of this opportunity, on behalf of the
Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, I have
the honour to express heartfelt gratitude to the
progressive parties and peoples, including the Communist
Party of Greece, for their sincere solidarity and active
supports to the Korean people's struggle for socialism and
reunification.

Our struggle for socialism and reunification and against
imperialism is as difficult as ever, but it is a just cause
and we will win final victory amid active support and
solidarity from the world progressive peoples.

Our struggle is the just cause to build a new peaceful and
democratic world where all the working people are free from
the capitalist exploitation and oppression, and the social
justness is fully guaranteed through friendship and
co-operation among the nation without aggression and war.

Comrade Kim Jong IL, the General Secretary of the Workers'
Party of Korea and great leader of the Korean people, said
as follows:

�Aggression and plunder are the real nature of imperialism.
No matter how the international situation may change, the
dominationist ambition of the imperialists will not
change�.

Without struggling against the present machinations towards
world domination on the part of the imperialists, it would
be inconceivable to ensure the independent development of
countries and nations nor would it be possible to think
about the building a new democratic and impartial world.

Today the US-led imperialists are blustering, but already
they are doomed to failure. The victory of scientific
socialism, the future of the mankind, is a truth.

We highly appraise and actively support to the affirmative
initiatives and endeavours of the Communist Party of Greece
to further strengthen the unity and joint actions among the
progressive parties in the common struggle for socialism
and against imperialism.

Firmly convinced that the current meeting will be a
historic gathering which makes a practical contribution to
strengthening the friendship, co-operation and common
actions among the progressive parties and peoples of the
world, who are struggling in order to frustrate the
imperialist manoeuvres of aggression and interference and
to build a new prosperous world peaceful and democratic,
once again I would like to sincerely congratulate this
meeting.

Our party and people, as in the past in the future too,
will be faithful to the international duty and mission of
the era by further strengthening the international unity
and solidarity with the progressive parties and peoples of
the world on the basis of independence and equality, peace
and friendship and basis of independence and equality,
peace and friendship and mutual benefits holding high the
banner of socialism and anti-imperialism.

Long live the international solidarity, friendship and
unity among the world progressive parties and peoples for
anti-imperialism and socialism!
Thank you for your attention.