Music politics in north Korea-Driving force of Songun cause

Today north Korea is known to the world as the country where the unique modes of government are created and applied. In this country where Songun politics is the focus of world attention music politics is also attracting attention.

Music politics regards music as one of the powerful weapons of revolution and powerfully inspires the people to the revolution and construction. In other words, it encourages the people in the revolution and construction by stimulating their ideological consciousness and emotions by force of music.

Giving his ceaseless field guidance to the army units to strengthen the Korean people’s Army as the pillar of the country and the core force of the Songun revolution, Kim Jong Il sees the amateur art performance of the soldiers.   

He named the soldiers’ revolutionary and optimistic way of life the “revolutionary soldiers’ culture” and leads the whole society to learn after them. Under his leadership, the KPA State Merited Chorus has now become a bugler of the times having the power of a volley of gunfire to vigorously encourage the army and people to the accomplishment of Songun cause. Leading newspapers of the country including the Nodong Sinmun, the organ of the WPK Central Committee, carry new songs almost everyday, which represent the Party’s political ideas and intentions. The people in this country sing the songs, keeping step with the Party in support of Songun politics.

The might and vitality of the music have already been proved in practice in socialist Korea.

Music in north Korea is making a great contribution to strengthening the single-hearted unity of the north Korean society where the army and people are firmly united around the leadership.

The unity which is one of the basic factors in the victory of the revolution can be strongest only when the consistency of emotions and feelings as well as the ideology and faith are ensured.

North Korea’s single-hearted unity, which is regarded as more powerful than the nuclear weapon, has been further strengthened by music politics. Through the songs, the north Korean people come to know the idea, intention and the noble spiritual world of their leader, and share ideas and feelings with their leader while singing the songs. In retrospect in the mid-90s of last century when President Kim Il Sung (1912-1994), the founder of the socialist Korea, passed away and the whole country was in the sea of bloody tears, the north Koreans were able to overcome their grief and stand up again encouraged by songs. Singing the song such as “The leader will always be with us,” “We give our pledge” and “Hold the red flag high!” the north Korean people resolved on defending to the last the socialist Korea which is associated with the life of the President and on making it more prosperous. Singing the songs including “I want to meet him,” “I yearn for him” and “We believe in him as in Heaven” that represent their reverence for and trust in leader Kim Jong Il who is continuing his inspections to the front to defend the nation from the offensive of the US to strangle north Korea, they supported their leader with one mind and formed one family having him as the father of the socialist grand family.

When a wrecked ship was engulfed in high waves, the 13 crewmen sang together the song “No motherland without you” shoulder to shoulder, yearning for a sight of their leader. And 50,000 young people who had completed the 40km-long Youth Hero Motorway by crushing the rock with hammer and carrying the soil on their back sang in chorus the song “Where are you, dear General?” in tears. Their images speak eloquently of what a powerful force the single-hearted unity of north Korea will display, the unity which is further strengthened by songs.

In north Korea, music encourages soldiers and people to overcome all kinds of trials and difficulties with optimism.

In giving power and courage to the people to go through difficulties and trials, songs display greater force than any speeches, slogans, or millions of tons of provisions.

At the close of the 20^th century, when socialism of north Korea was at the crossroads of life and death due to the desperate offensive of the imperialist allied forces headed by the US, songs like “Peace is guaranteed by our arms,” “Our family is the soldiers’ family” and “Army-people arirang” sounded in the country to make the army and people rise as one in the struggle to defend socialism. When their existence was threatened by the severe economic difficulties and food shortages, they, singing the songs of “Socialism is ours” and “Push ahead through the thorny path in high spirits!”, heroically overcame the difficulties and trials. Today, among the songs which the north Korean people like to sing are “Higher and quicker,” “A girl at a gallop” and “Arirang of prosperity.” These songs contain the will of the people to accomplish the cause of building the great prosperous powerful nation as soon as possible by advancing faster than others.

By the music politics, the revolutionary spirit prevails in the whole country and the Songun cause is more vigorously promoted. It is the reality of north Korean society today.

Leader Kim Jong Il who provided the unique political mode by an organic combination of music and politics must be the most outstanding statesman of the present world. As it is led by the leader, the Songun cause of north Korea will win victory after victory with songs. 

Koreans responsible for peace on the Korean Peninsula

All the Korean people want their country reunified. Now they are striving to achieve independent reunification under the idea of “by our nation itself.” But there remains an obstacle in the way of Korean reunification and the Korean people are exposed to the danger of nuclear war.

In March this year US troops staged RSOI and Foal Eagle joint military exercises, large-scale war games against north Korea, in and around south Korea. These military drills were geared to launching a preemptive nuclear strike on north Korea.

The current developments show that the US is the root cause of war and peace breaker and that launching a peace campaign against war is an urgent task for the Korean people.

The Korean people have to defend peace on the Korean Peninsula. If war breaks out in this land, it will no doubt be a nuclear war that will devastate the south and north of Korea. So the south and north of Korea share the same interests in launching the peace campaign, and the overseas Koreans are no exception.

The Korean people should bolster up cooperation in the peace campaign. Inter-Korean cooperation is the powerful weapon for winning the peace campaign for security of the country. The Korean nation should be faithful to the idea “by our nation itself,” the spirit of the June 16 South-North Joint Declaration, and transcend the differences in ideology, ideal, political view and creed in order to join efforts to protect themselves from catastrophe and defend peace.

Alliance with aggressive foreign forces is a treacherous act that goes against the present trend towards independent reunification, peace against war and great national unity.

It is a lesson taught by history that a weaker nation is deprived of its pride and sovereignty by the invaders and exposed to war catastrophe. It is backed up by the act that in recent years the US invaded sovereign states in violation of the UN Charter and international law. Great force with which to face tough challenge with tougher step serves as a deterrent to invaders and can defend national dignity and sovereignty and maintain peace and security.

Songun politics, which has demonstrated its might in the decade-long face-off between north Korea and the US, ensures national sovereignty and peace.

Only when the Korean people in the south, north and abroad join efforts to launch a patriotic movement for independent reunification, peace against war and great national unity under the banner of the June 15 Joint Declaration can they defend peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Hurdle to inter-Korean reconciliation

Most recently, a US special envoy in charge of the north Korean human rights issues published a draft report on the Kaesong Industrial Zone (KIZ) after his visit to south Korea. In his report, he tried to find fault with the development of KIZ, talking about “transparency,” which implied the US intention to tighten control of south Korea and impede inter-Korean economic cooperation. He even took issue with north Korea’s “human rights abuses,” adding that the KIZ development may affect the US human rights campaign.

The report revealed the US attempt to reverse the trend towards reconciliation and reunification on the Korean Peninsula and to remain hostile toward north Korea.

This sparked a barrage of protest in south Korea. The locals called him a narrow-minded man with poor sensitivity.

Following its own dominationist interests, the US is now trying to hinder cooperation between the south and the north of Korea, cool down south Koreans’ enthusiasm towards reunification and stir up anti-north Korean confrontation among them.

It does not want to see the Korean Peninsula reunified in the present June 15 reunification era. It is the US that hindered positive development in south-north relations, claiming that inter-Korean relations should not precede the warming up of north Korea-US relations, and blocked the re-links of railways and roads between the two parts of Korea.

As an American professor known as an expert in the Korean Peninsula issue, disclosed that the Bush administration opposed the present south Korean President, openly supporting the Grand National Party during the 2002 presidential elections in south Korea. The reason was that the coming to power by the conservative forces, a group of pro-US sycophants, would enable the US to control south Korea in all domains including politics, the economy and military affairs and in case they failed it might result in a rapid increase in anti-US progressive forces and badly influence its control of south Korea. In fact, GNP’s failure to take power and the emergence of the June 15 reunification forces as the main agent for social reform and progressive movement in south Korea have ushered in a new trend towards anti-US independence.

It is not accidental that the south Korean media commented the US hindrance of south-north economic cooperation is a stumbling block in inter-Korean relations as well as to the development of KIZ.

The US is now putting pressure on the south Korean authorities, arguing that economic cooperation brings difficulties to making north Korea abandon its nuclear program.

A south Korean diplomat grumbled that now that they had agreed on all the US proposals including the troop dispatch to Iraq, strategic flexibility and transfer of the Yognsan military base the Americans were urging them to do more what they wanted.

Facts show that it is hard to expect positive development on the Korean Peninsula as long as the US obstructs the advance of the June 15 reunification era and inter-Korean economic ties.

Anti-US struggle is the main task of June 15 reunification era

The entire Koreans are glorifying the era of June 15 reunification with the successes achieved in the three-point patriotic movement under the uplifted banner of “By our nation itself.” However, the US still remains in its moves against reunification.

Recalling the last 6 years since the publication of the June 15 South-North Joint Declaration, the Korean people are convinced that their cherished desire for national reunification can be realized only through a struggle against the US.

The US is stooping to any infamy to check the progress of the era of June 15 reunification, becoming evermore hostile towards north Korea.

The US moves to provoke a war on the Korean Peninsula pose a grave threat to the era of June 15 reunification.

Paying lip service to the peace and reunification of the Korean Peninsula, the US bellicose forces have stepped up the moves to provoke a war against north Korea on the basis of the military doctrine calling for preemptive nuclear attack. Even after the publication of the June 15 joint declaration, the US frantically staged provocative nuclear war exercises against north Korea, steadily modifying and supplementing their war scenarios against north Korea from “OPLAN 5027” to “CONPLAN,” “OPLAN 5030,” “New OPLAN 5026,” “OPLAN 5027-04,” “OPLAN 5029” and “OPLAN 8022-02”. The nuclear war exercises against north Korea with the mobilization of troops every year have further grown in their scale than those held in the period when the inter-Korean confrontation was acute. The fact alone clearly reveals the anti-reunification nature of the US.

Precisely for this reason the peace on the Korean Peninsula has been exposed to a constant threat and a brake has been put on the inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation for the last six years.

All the Koreans in the south, the north and overseas should more bravely turn out in the struggle for independence against the US, well aware of the fact that without the struggle against the US, the main obstacle to the advance of the era of June 15 reunification, it is impossible to defend sovereignty and the right to existence nor is it possible to achieve national reunification.