It is Necessary to Keep the Principle of Self-reliance in Defense

In order to ensure independence and prosperity of a country, it is necessary to strengthen military power as well as politics and economy.

The issue of military affairs is very important one concerning the destiny of the country. Those countries that neglected military affairs were subjugated, so the people regarded military affairs as the most important affairs among the state affairs.

What, then, is necessary for a country to defend itself?

The principle of self-reliance in defense clarified by the Juche idea gives correct answer to this question.

General Secretary Kim Jong Il said:

Implementing the principle of self-reliant defense means defending one’s country by one’s own efforts.

In other words, this means that the people in each country build powerful military power to defend the country by themselves and solve all the theoretical and practical problems arising in the building of military power and military activities in the interests of the people and according to the specific conditions of the country.

This principle has three contents; one is to make the building of military power and military activities serve the defending of the country, second one is to make the defending of the country depend on the strength of the people and on their own military power, third one is to solve all problems arising in the building of military power and military activities in the interests of the people and according to the specific conditions of the country.

It is one of the important contents in keeping this principle to make the building of military power and military activities serve the defending of the country.

This means to make the building of military power and military activities become means to defend one’s sovereignty and people’s independent and creative life.

It is the prior requirement in realizing independence in military fields to make the military affairs defend the security and interests of the country and people.

The people’s demand and interests in the field of military field is to provide military guarantee for the people to lead independent and creative life as true masters, free from subjugation of other countries.

This demand and interests come from their independence and the expression of their independence.

It is possible to defend independence in military field, when the building of military power and military activities serve defending the demand and interests of the people and defending the sovereignty of the country.

Another contents of the principle of self-reliance in defense is to make the defending of the country depend on the strength of the people and on their own military power.

Like in all other affairs, the masters of the military affairs are the party and people in that country, and it is the people who build military power and defend the country. No other nation can replace the masters in defending the country.

The party and people in each country can get or give help from and to fraternal and friendly countries in defending the country from imperialists’ invasion.

Such support and cooperation are important in defending the independence and sovereignty from the imperialists’ invasion but they are no more than additional role, and the main is the strength of one’s own.

When one’s strength is prepared, external assistance can be useful. It is impossible to repudiate foreign invaders under the condition that each country’s internal force and its own defending power are not prepared, however big the foreign assistance is. It is therefore important to build one’s own strong military power to defend oneself and on that basis solve all problems arising in military affairs, finding the defending power in the strength of one’s own people.

The third contents of the principle is to solve all problems arising in the building of military affairs and military activities in the interests of the people and according to the specific conditions of the country.

Each country has different political, economic and military potentials and different armed equipment, topographical conditions and specific conditions.

This being the situation, it is necessary to solve all problems arising in the building of military affairs and military activities by one’s own decision and according to the specific situation. If not so, it is impossible to build strong military power and avoid turns and twists in the war for defending the country.

In order to defend the country by oneself, it is necessary to solve all problems arising in the building of military affairs and military activities in the interests of the people and according to the specific conditions of the country.

To defend oneself by one’s own strength is the principle and standpoint of self-reliant defense.

Why, then, is it necessary to maintain the principle of self-reliance in defense?

That is because to ensure self-reliance in defense is the fundamental principle for building independent sovereign state.

As all the countries cannot win at the same time in the revolution, those countries that won the revolution earlier than others should build a new society under the condition that the imperialists remain.

Imperialism is the root and cause of invasion and war.

Between 1900 and 1938, there have been 24 wars. World War 1, the invasion of Poland by Hitler and Germany bringing World War 2, and in the last 60 years there have been a lot of wars. The root and cause is imperialism, which keeps aggression and plunder as life.

Even today when the cold war ended, the imperialists resort to the power politics, bringing about the second cold war.

In 2000, the total amount of the world military expenditure was 842 billion dollars out of which the USA took 268 billion dollars, Japan 30 billion 315 million dollars, France 29 billion 329 million dollars, Germany 23 billion 145 million dollars, so the Western imperialists took 610 billion dollars.

If the imperialists have no intention to make war, why do they increase military expenditure?

They not only increase military expenditure but also instigate their puppets to make war and directly interfere with arms whenever they have chance.

This is well proved by the fact that the US imperialists provoked Gulf War, air raid on Yugoslavia, armed invasion against Afghanistan and Iraq after the “September 11 incident”.

How is it possible to build independent sovereign state without one’s own powerful military power as long as the imperialists, the root and cause of war and aggression, exist?

To defend oneself is the nature of man.

A country should have means to defend itself. It is possible to be independent sovereign state, when it has self-reliant military power to defend its sovereignty, people and territory from the imperialists’ aggression. Herein lies important reason why it is necessary to adhere to the principle of self-reliance in defense.

That is also because self-reliant defense is the military guarantee for political independence and economic self-sufficiency.

Only with self-reliant military power, is it possible to defend political independence.

In the past, many countries were deprived of their country, because they had not military power strong enough to defend themselves.

This is also proved by the historical fact that Korean people had to suffer from disasters and misfortunes by the foreign aggressors because they had not its military power to defend itself.

As a matter of fact, Korea was strong in Koguryo Dynasty.

Koguryo that was known as the ever strong country in the East had 300 thousand strong army. The Koguryo armymen and people who were educated since young days in patriotism and learned military arts defeated hundreds of thousands or millions of enemy invaders, displaying its high dignity.

But the feudal rulers in the Ri Dynasty made corrupted politics, regarding it as peaceful period, thus considerably weakening overall state and military power.

Li Song Gye who became the first king of the Ri Dynasty after overthrowing Koryo Dynasty with arms feared about coup and resorted to the politics of stressing literary men and neglecting military men.

Therefore, in the Ri Dynasty, state power was weakened and in the end of the dynasty the country was in a very poor status.

With poor military power, the feudal rulers had to open the door to the imperialists who invaded with a few guns aboard the ship.

Due to the policy of stressing literary people and neglecting military people, the country became weaker and weaker and at last in 1907, it’s army was dismissed tragically by force by the Japanese imperialists.

So, the Korean people lost its national army and its royal palace was guarded by Japanese aggressive army, eventually being deprived of the country.

Like this, apart from self-defensive military power, political independence is inconceivable.

Self-defensive military power is necessary for economic self-sufficiency, too.

The building of independent national economy requires peaceful condition, which is guaranteed by military power.

Peace cannot be maintained by begging. It can be kept only by the struggle against imperialism. It is useless to fight against imperialism only with empty talks. For instance, in order to provide peaceful condition for economic construction, it is necessary to have powerful self-defensive military power to destroy imperialists’ war moves. Peace is maintained only by arms of justice.

Thanks to the army-based politics originally created and implemented by General Secretary Kim Jong Il, in Korea the people rose in the building of powerful socialist country learning after the revolutionary spirit of soldiers, fighting traits and work style created by the People’s Army, frustrating tricks of the imperialist allied forces.

Practical fighting experience of the Korean people who defended the Juche cause of socialism, overcoming trials proves that the army-based politics that solves all problems on the principle of giving priority to military affairs and pushes ahead with the overall cause of socialism regarding the People’s Army as pillar of the revolution and depending on it, is the main guarantee for the victorious advance of socialism against imperialist provocative moves.

To adhere to the principle of self-reliance in defense–herein lies correct way to defending dignity, sovereignty and revolutionary achievements under the condition in which imperialists’ aggressive maneuvers become extremely vicious.