Kim Jong Il and the DPRK
The North Korean leader remembered in Cuba
On February 16, 2024, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel posted on his X social media account a remembrance of Kim Jong Il, on the occasion of the 82nd anniversary of the North Korean leader’s birth. Díaz-Canel wrote that we remember his legacy, and we send warm greetings to the Party, the government, and the noble people of the DPRK. The Cuban President also reaffirmed the historic relation of friendship and solidarity between Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Cuban Minister of Foreign Relations Bruno Rodríguez also posted on his X account. He described the relations of friendship, cooperation, and mutual support between the two countries as historic and invariable, based in the legacy of the fraternal relation between the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, and the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung, as he is known in Korea, who was the father of Kim Jong Il.
The Cuban press reported on the postings in Prensa Latina and Granma. The Granma article notes that Kim Jong Il was born on February 16, 1942, a date that the DPRK consecrates as the Day of the Star Light, in recognition of Kim’s invaluable contributions to the independence and national sovereignty of the DPRK.
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My commentary of November 30, 2021, summarizes the socialist manifesto of Kim Jung Il, delivered on March 31, 1982, entitled “On the Juche Idea.” The Juche Idea was originally formulated by Kim Il Sung, and the manifesto was presented by Kim Jung Il on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung. The manifesto is a comprehensive analysis that situates the emergence of the Korean Revolution in the context of a national liberation movement against Japanese imperialism and an anti-feudal democratic revolution. It formulates fundamental principles and concepts, including: the destiny of the human being; the independence, creativity, and intelligence of human beings; and the role of the masses as the subject of history and as the motive force of social change and of scientific and technological progress. It sees the Korean Revolution as pertaining to the international anti-imperialist struggle of the neocolonized peoples for independence and equality among nations.
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My commentary of December 3, 2021, further explains the arguments and reasoning of the 1982 manifesto. The commentary focuses on the goals of a people’s revolution after it has attained political power: ideological independence, political independence, economic self-sufficiency, and self-reliance in defense.
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My commentary of December 7, 2021, reviews the fundamental facts of Korean history, drawing upon the known University of Chicago historian Bruce Cummings. It describes the ideological and political civil war in Korea unfolding from 1930 to 1945 between, on the one side, Korean anti-imperialists aligned with Chinese communists and, on the other side, Korean collaborators with Japanese and American imperialisms. From 1945 to 1950, with the educational aid of people’s committees formed throughout Korea, the anti-imperialists attained greater support among the people. However, the political issues were not resolved by the Korean War, which converted the political/ideological division into an endless geographical divide.
The December 7 commentary includes critique of Cummings, who does not appreciate the role of exceptional leadership in revolutionary struggles, nor does he understand the role of political power in triumphant revolutions.
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