Workers’ Party of Korea

  Contribution to the International Communist Seminar

"The World Socialist Revolution in the Conditions of Imperialist Globalization"

Brussels, 2-4 May 2001

First of all, allow me to sincerely thank the members of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Belgium for having invited us at this seminar and to salute their efforts for the success of this seminar. We have just entered the 21st century, and humanity sees itself confronted with the effects of the globalization of the imperialists. Actually, with the slogan of globalization, the imperialists embark on a reactionary policy aimed at countering and suppressing the national identity and the culture of States and nations. Societal progress and the strengthening of linkages and exchanges between the nations allow certainly for the multiplication of the common aspects of their lives, but only, this presupposes the independent and original development of each nation that is at its origin. Given the fact that each nations fashions its destiny according to its ideology and regime, there cannot be a unification of the world in the political, economic and cultural fields. This globalization imposed by the imperialists has the objective to transform the world in a world of the Western type, which boils down to submitting and assimilating all nations. Under the impact of this savage globalization of the imperialists, the developing countries are getting ever more impoverished and unemployment is worsening in several countries, thus causing the continuing impoverishment and enrichment on both ends of the world order. The genius and the nice habits of a nation have completely disappeared in a number of countries, where foreign powers are in charge and where the national identity and dignity are trampled without mercy. The fact that armed conflicts and nationality disputes are taking place everywhere, causing so much catastrophes and suffering, is due to the misdeeds of globalization. In his work entitled "Adhering to the Juche spirit and to the national identity in revolution and development", the Secretary General of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Comrade Kim Jong Il put forward the ways and means to frustrate the acts of domination committed by the imperialists under the aegis of globalization, and to assure the autonomous development of countries and nations. Each country disposes of the sovereign and inviolable right to judge its own course and to solve under its own responsibility all problems that may crop up in the course of its destiny. The revolutionary party and people are called upon to push back the external interference and pressure and to solve their problems according to their needs and interests and in line with their own judgments and decisions. Not letting prevail one’s judgments and convictions and letting oneself be influenced by external forces is to follow, in other words, the path of enslavement and of the ruining of the country. The nation-states are presumed to clearly discern the danger that goes with the policies of national destruction perpetrated by the imperialists under the guise of globalization, and to categorically discard the reactionary theories that attempt to justify those policies. Our party and our people are proud to have chosen their own revolutionary option, in complete independence, according to their own convictions; and to have advanced the socialist cause. To confront imperialist globalization, it is important to array the necessary political, economic and military forces capable of guaranteeing the spirit of independence and national identity. As we consider putting together strong economic and military capabilities as a fundamental necessity for the construction of an independent and sovereign State, we have engaged in an intense fight for this. If one wants to foil the machinations of imperialist globalization, it is equally important to engage in an intense fight to dispel all illusions regarding imperialism and to counter its policy of aggression and plunder. The sorry reality of the countries and nations that have nurtured illusions in the imperialists is there to clearly show us that, whatever twists and turns the international situation may take, the imperialists’ nature of aggression and plunder and their ambition to dominate remain unchanged. With the coming to power of the Bush administration, the United States are trying to put up a system of missile defense, under the pretext of a supposed threat coming from our country. It is an open expression of their ambition to dominate that they aim at frustrating the reconciliation and cooperation between the North and the South, perpetuating the presence of US troops in South Korea and finally strangling our republic. In this new century, the world should no longer be a place of dictates, of arbitrariness and of imperialist domination. As we are concerned, we are committed to safeguarding our national sovereignty and dignity, these achievements of our blood, by taking up the challenges posed by imperialism. The promotion of peace and stability in the world and the independent development of the countries imply the strengthening of international solidarity and the cooperation between progressive parties and peoples. Independence, peace and friendship remain the ideals in the foreign policy of our party, allowing us to strengthen international solidarity and to contribute our share to the great work of world emancipation. Now and in the future, our Party will continue to struggle for the promotion of the links and the cooperation with the peoples of the world, and to install an just international order.