Organized by the Preparatory Committee for celebrating the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Fatherland Liberation War and the 75th anniversary of the founding of the DPR of Korea
Date; July 21, 2023
1. Theme; “Significance of the Victorious War of the DPRK and what the history of 70 Years Later inspires”
2. Participants;
Moderator; Comrade Newton Balenzi
Comrade Mayambala Lawrence, Country Director, Ugandan National Committee for the study of Juche idea
Comrade Daniel Rugarama, Chairman of the Ugandan National Executive Committee, PAM and Deputy country director, Ugandan National Committee for the study of Juche idea
Mr. Martin MuKasa, Chairperson, Uganda-DPRK Friendship Association, Mrs. Kyeyune Justin, Deputy chairperson of the Friendship Association, Mr. Mateke, Secretary of the Friendship Association, Comrade Newton Balenzi, Secretary General of Ugandan Chapter, African Committee for Friendship and solidarity with the Korean people, MPs, Members of NRM, Juche idea adherents and members of PAM etc.,
3. Discussion
The world progressive people together with the Korean people mark the 70th anniversary of the Victory of the Korean people in the Fatherland Liberation War (1950-1953) on 27th of July 2023.
The victory is etched in the world history of war.
Why is the victory of the Korean people etched in the world history of war?
What is significance of the victory of the Korean people in the Fatherland Liberation War?
It is considerably well known that defending global peace and security is the common desire and aspiration of humankind.
In line with the above point of view let us find out the why the victory of the Korean people is etched in the world history of war and what significance of the victory of the Korean people in the Fatherland Liberation War is from the following tales of the history.
And in particular, it is also so important to think deeply about “what brings a country’s sovereignty and dignity and genuine peace”.
It would be useful for us to find out and conclude the answers through the following facts and history.
4. Background information
Legendary Tales of the Victorious War and 70 Years Later
July 27, 2023 marks the 70th anniversary of the victory of the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the Fatherland Liberation War (1950-1953). The victory is etched in the world history of war.
Legendary Tales of the Victorious War
In 1950 the Korean war, the fiercest war since the Second World War, broke out.
At that time no one ever thought that the DPRK, founded two years before, would defeat the United States, which had been boasting of being the “strongest” in the world with a history of victory in 110 wars since its founding.
As the world media described, the war was a confrontation between rifle and atomic bomb.
But the result of the war turned out to be the opposite. The DPRK, a small country in the East, created a miracle by defeating the multinational forces, which pounced upon a country in the name of the United Nations for the first time in the world.
After switching over to an immediate counteroffensive, the Korean People’s Amy drove the enemy to the end of south Korea within a little over a month.
On the other hand, the United States hurled into the Korean front its forces armed with the latest weapons–one-third of its ground force, one-fifth of its air force, most of its Pacific Fleet–as well as the troops of 15 of its vassal states, south Korean puppet army and even the remnants of the former Japanese army; the military budget during the war totalled USD164 billion. This notwithstanding, it sustained a loss nearly 2.3 times greater than that it had suffered in the four-year war in the Pacific, and signed an armistice agreement.
By defeating the enemy, who were superior in terms of number of troops and technical equipment, by dint of their ideological and spiritual, strategic and tactical superiority, the Korean people defended the freedom and independence of their country and frustrated the US attempt to dominate the world with the Korean peninsula as a springboard, defending global peace and security.
Mark Clark, commander of the US Far East Command who had signed the armistice agreement, said that the north Korean army could win victory thanks to outstanding command of General Kim Il Sung, who had achieved great exploits in the resistance of many years against the Japanese army until the defeat of Japan in the Second World War.
70 Years Later
Seventy years have elapsed since ceasefire was achieved on the Korean peninsula. But the peninsula still remains as one of the hottest spots in the world.
After the armistice agreement was reached, the United States implemented none of the items of the agreement and tenaciously pursued a hostile policy against the DPRK, driving the situation on the peninsula to the brink of war. It deployed nukes in south Korea, imposing undisguised and direct nuclear threat on the DPRK.
Entering the 21st century, it has put the DPRK on the list of targets of its preemptive nuclear strike, and staged nuclear war games every year in the areas near the country by mobilizing large forces including its strategic nuclear assets.
A country without an effective self-defence capability will inevitably be at the mercy of external military threats and, worse still, be unable to safeguard the existence of its own and of its people. This is an immutable law shown by the human history.
Over the past 70 years after the war, the DPRK had to overcome manifold difficulties in developing its economy and improving the living standards of its people because of the long-drawn-out military threat, sanctions and blockade.
The best option for the DPRK for both durable peace and further acceleration of building itself into a powerful socialist country was the line of simultaneously promoting economic construction and building up its nuclear forces.
The line of simultaneously promoting the two fronts was put forward at the March 2013 Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
True to the new strategic line, the defence scientists displayed their indomitable will in developing strategic weapon systems of their own style.
Within a few years the DPRK manufactured innovative versions of ICBM, thus making its military strength irreversible.
In April last and 12 July, ICBM of Hwasongpho-18 type made its appearance, demonstrating the level of development of the country’s strategic forces.
Display of military equipment at military parades held every year in the country is a proof of its military strength which the others could not belittle.
With this, the DPRK could frustrate the machinations of the hostile forces, who were trying to drag it to their arms race by aggravating the situation on the Korean peninsula, and speed up its economic construction.
This can be testified by the demonstration of the potential of its self-supporting economy, like setting up structures that reflect its people’s dreams and ideals and opening a new era of rural rejuvenation amidst severe difficulties like harsh sanctions, global healthcare crisis and successive natural disasters.
In the present world, where confrontation of strength is the order of the day, the country’s sovereignty and dignity and genuine peace can be assured only by an overwhelming defence capability–this is the creed of Kim Jong Un, President of the State Affairs of the DPRK.
In April last year in the speech at the military parade held in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army, Kim Jong Un said: We should continuously grow stronger; there is no satisfaction or accomplishment in cultivating strength for defending ourselves, and, whoever we confront, our military supremacy should be more secure.
The 70-year-long postwar history of the DPRK, in which it defended its sovereignty and dignity and the safety and happiness of its people, further highlights the meaning of the 70th anniversary of victory in the war in the 1950s.
5. Comments left by participants
In 1950 the Korean war, the fiercest war since the Second World War, broke out.
At that time no one ever thought that the DPRK, founded two years before, would defeat the United States, which had been boasting of being the “strongest” in the world with a history of victory in 110 wars since its founding.
As the world media described, the war was a confrontation between rifle and atomic bomb.
By defeating the enemy, who were superior in terms of number of troops and technical equipment, by dint of their ideological and spiritual, strategic and tactical superiority, the Korean people defended the freedom and independence of their country and frustrated the US attempt to dominate the world with the Korean peninsula as a springboard, defending global peace and security.
A country without an effective self-defence capability will inevitably be at the mercy of external military threats and, worse still, be unable to safeguard the existence of its own and of its people. This is an immutable law shown by the human history.
Over the past 70 years after the war, the DPRK had to overcome manifold difficulties in developing its economy and improving the living standards of its people because of the long-drawn-out military threat, sanctions and blockade.
The best option for the DPRK for both durable peace and further acceleration of building itself into a powerful socialist country was the line of simultaneously promoting economic construction and building up its nuclear forces.
The line of simultaneously promoting the two fronts was put forward at the March 2013 Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea.
True to the new strategic line, the defence scientists displayed their indomitable will in developing strategic weapon systems of their own style.
Within a few years the DPRK manufactured innovative versions of ICBM, thus making its military strength irreversible.
In April last and 12 July, ICBM of Hwasongpho-18 type made its appearance, demonstrating the level of development of the country’s strategic forces.
Display of military equipment at military parades held every year in the country is a proof of its military strength which the others could not belittle.
With this, the DPRK could frustrate the machinations of the hostile forces, who were trying to drag it to their arms race by aggravating the situation on the Korean peninsula, and speed up its economic construction.
This can be testified by the demonstration of the potential of its self-supporting economy, like setting up structures that reflect its people’s dreams and ideals and opening a new era of rural rejuvenation amidst severe difficulties like harsh sanctions, global healthcare crisis and successive natural disasters.
In the present world, where confrontation of strength is the order of the day, the country’s sovereignty and dignity and genuine peace can be assured only by an overwhelming defence capability–this is the creed of Kim Jong Un, President of the State Affairs of the DPRK.
In April last year in the speech at the military parade held in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People’s Army, Kim Jong Un said: We should continuously grow stronger; there is no satisfaction or accomplishment in cultivating strength for defending ourselves, and, whoever we confront, our military supremacy should be more secure.
The 70-year-long postwar history of the DPRK, in which it defended its sovereignty and dignity and the safety and happiness of its people, further highlights the meaning of the 70th anniversary of victory in the war in the 1950s.
A country’s sovereignty and dignity and genuine peace can never be assured by a word or a begging.
It can be assured only by an overwhelming defence capability. This is an absolute truth proved in the case of example of the DPRK.
In conclusion, the DPRK under the wise leadership of H.E. Kim Jong Un will be ever-victorious as in the past and so also future too.
By,
Newton Balenzi
Moderator, Seminar
Organising Secretary, Uganda National Committee for the Study of Juche Idea, Secretary General of Ugandan Chapter, African Committee for Friendship and solidarity with the Korean people, Head Administration, Uganda Chapter-PAM
