[2018-02-17]



Today the DPRK service personnel and people celebrate the Day of the Shining Star, one of greatest national holidays.
On this significant day they look back on the immortal revolutionary career of Chairman Kim Jong Il, who dedicated his whole life to the benefit of the country and people like a candlelight. He lives on as the eternal leader of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the Korean people and the sun of Juche.
His over-half-a-century-long revolutionary leadership is shining as a sacred history of having maintained the red flag of the revolution. The Chairman wisely led the revolution and construction with outstanding ideology and distinguished leadership despite the political turmoils of the 20th and 21st centuries, with firm confidence in the victory of the socialist cause of Juche pioneered on Mt Paektu.
He conducted energetic ideological and theoretical activities to illuminate the path towards the victory of Korean-style socialism.
From his early years these activities focused on putting socialism on a new scientific basis. He authored many works during the decades-long revolutionary leadership, including On Some Problems of the Ideological Foundation of Socialism, The Historical Lesson in Building Socialism and the General Line of Our Party and Socialism Is a Science. They are still regarded as a great programme for the building of socialism for their rich and profound ideas and theories and originality and scientific accuracy. It was thanks to his activities that the historical limitations of the existing socialist theories were overcome, Juche-based view on the position and role of man, people-centred socio-historical principles and other thoughts and theories newly formulated and the scientific accuracy and invincibility of Korean-style socialism fully demonstrated.
His ideology and line were the militant banner which enabled the Korean revolution to advance along the road of socialism unswervingly in any tempest of history and the indomitable faith implanted by the Chairman was the major source of encouragement to the Korean people, who became the strongest in spiritual strength and performers of heroic feats.
The Chairman built up the political and military might of socialist Korea in every way with outstanding leadership.
Single-minded unity was his revolutionary philosophy and Songun was his revolutionary practice. Under his energetic leadership the WPK maintained its dignity as a revolutionary party in which the ideological and leadership system of the leader has been established, a motherly party which serves the masses of the people forming a harmonious whole with them, and an invincible one with steel-strong discipline and combat power. The Chairman put forward the military buildup as an important affair decisive of the rise and fall of the country, developed the People’s Army into a revolutionary army of the Party boundlessly faithful to the cause of the leader, and built up the country’s defence industry to be a powerful arsenal of the revolution which can make any latest military hardware at its will. The chronicle of his Songun revolution is engraved in gold letters in the history of the country.
In particular, he built the one and only youth power in the world by holding fast to attaching importance to youth as a strategic line during the whole period of his revolutionary leadership. It is another great feat he performed for the brilliant future of the country and revolution.
The powerful political and military might he solidified by devoting his all is the foremost state power and the most powerful weapon of socialist Korea.
The daring spirit of Juche Korea, which advances like a storm with all its service personnel and people forming citadels and shields in hundreds and thousands of folds to safeguard the Party Central Committee and mercilessly frustrating the high-handedness and tyranny of the imperialists with the treasured nuclear sword of justice, is inconceivable apart from the Songun revolutionary exploits of the Chairman. The reality that the imperialists’ anti-socialist moves have gone to the extremes and lots of people of foreign countries wander the streets and even migrate to other countries in search of living clearly proves that the dignity and bright future of a country or nation rest on the unity and cohesion of the Party and revolutionary ranks and strong arms.
The Chairman also laid solid foundations for the building of a socialist power with burning patriotic devotion.
He unfolded the greatest blueprint for national prosperity in the history of the country and wisely led the efforts to put it into reality.
He continued his forced march of field inspection tour all his life for the building of a socialist power, covering over 669 840 km, the equivalent of a travel round the earth nearly 17 times. With the noble view on life “Let us live not merely for today but for tomorrow!” he worked day and night, even on holidays and on his birthdays, and it was an immortal heroic epic of the peerless patriot. He always found himself on a long journey for the prosperity of the country with superhuman will and gave the Korean people wisdom and valour to foil the imperialists’ economic blockade with the strategy of self-reliance. Under his energetic leadership the torch of a new revolutionary upsurge was kindled and an eye-opening reality unfolded on this land, in which the ideal and dreams of the people really come true.
Now the DPRK is advancing dynamically by dint of self-reliance and self-development even under the harshest-ever sanctions and pressure by the US and its vassal forces. The solid foundations of the self-supporting economy, an army of scientific and technical personnel, priceless fighting experience and models of the times the Chairman had provided with great efforts by foreseeing the distant future of the country serve as the invaluable asset for the building of a socialist power and a source of energy to make a great leap higher and faster towards the peak of final victory.
Chairman Kim Jong Il is, indeed, the eternal sun of Juche Korea who performed undying exploits on behalf of the country and nation, the times and history.

Choe Jong Ran