THE PATH OF THE KOREAN REVOLUTION

Report to the Meeting of Leading Personnel of the Young Communist League and the Anti-Imperialist Youth League Held at Kalun June 30, 1930

The Period of 1910-1945 was a very difficult time in the history of Korea. The Japanese imperialists were in occupation. The young Kim Il Sung was doing everything he could to lead the revolution along the right path. He saw that the imperialists of the world were getting more and more aggressive due to the growing might of the Soviet Union. Japan was intensifying its plunder of Korea and preparing to invade the Asian Continent. Tens of thousands of Koreans had been thrown in prison by the Japanese. Key industries and resources were being plundered.

Kim Il Sung realized the importance of fighting back against the Japanese, or else all of Korean society would perish. Dock workers, textile workers, coal miners, people of all the major cities had been holding May Day strikes. However, the more resistance the Korean people showed, the more brutal the repression became. The Korean Communist Party was dissolved in 1928 and the true revolutionaries became disorganized. The brilliant Kim Il Sung started devising the correct strategy and tactics to create a popular revolution against the evil oppressors. He correctly criticized the various communist parties in Korea, such as ML Group, Tuesday Group and North Wind Association, as not setting down firm roots among the masses deep enough to overcome the occupying forces.

In this paper, Kim Il Sung stated that the two most important revolutionary tasks at that time were to fight against the Japanese imperialists and struggle to abolish feudal relations between peasants and the feudal landlords. In his brilliant foresight he also stated that after liberation and independence were won, a government must be formed to protect the interests of the workers, peasants, and the broad masses of people. The only way to defeat the Japanese imperialists is through armed struggle. Peaceful means will never be successful in winning the Korean people their independence. Imperialist aggressors will always resort to brutal violence, therefore the revolutionary forces must be armed. At this point, the great leader calls for the creation of the Korean Revolutionary Army to crush the Japanese. It was important for all anti-Japanese patriotic forces to join together against the common enemy. He also called for the creation of a new revolutionary communist party, and to learn the lessons of the failed Korean Communist Party.

MEMORABLE QUOTES

"Experience shows that in order to lead the revolution to victory, one must go among the masses of people and organize them, and solve all problems arising in the course of the revolution independently on one's own responsibility in accord with the actual conditions, instead of relying on others."

"We must not mark time after carrying out the anti-Imperialist, anti-Feudal democratic revolution, but press on with the revolution to build a socialist and communist society and, further, carry through world revolution too."