Benevolent Liberator of Korea

Comrade Kim Il Sung (1912-1994)

The military occupation of Korea by the Japanese imperialists from 1905 to 1945 caused indelible sufferings to the Korean people.

During the occupation the Japanese imperialists plundered Korea of its precious cultural relics and resources such as gold, silver, copper and other nonferrous metals, coal, timber, grains, livestock and all other things. They tried to obliterate even its language and forced Koreans to change their names in Japanese style. This met with a soaring indignation and vehement protest of the Korean people. But they mercilessly put down the resistance of the Korean people with arms. The barbarous sabre-rattling of the Japanese imperialists who committed massacre and arson everywhere in Korea reduced the country to a living hell.

In this period of national agony, Comrade Kim Il Sung (1912-1994) inspired the Korean people with a hope of national resurrection.

He embarked on the road of revolution in his teens to win back his country. He formed a revolutionary organization called the Down-with-Imperialism Union with young like-minded people of a new generation in October 1926 and advanced the line of armed struggle against the Japanese imperialists in December 1931.

He founded the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army in April 1932, and dealt telling blows to the Japanese imperialists with his ever-changing art of warfare and tactics in northeast China and the northern mountainous border areas of Korea for over ten years.

In June 1937 a large unit of the KPRA led by him made a surprise attack on Pochonbo in the northern frontier of Korea. He made a rallying speech before the locals, which inspired the Korean people with confidence in national liberation. With the battle as an occasion, his name became a token of hope and admiration among the Korean people.

He made full preparations to liberate the country through an all-people armed uprising in tandem with the general offensive of the KPRA and issued an order for general offensive for national liberation on August 9, 1945.

The KPRA units broke through the “impregnable” areas along the Tuman River. Some units landed in Korea from the sea in cooperation with the Soviet army and advanced into the homeland while liberating the areas under occupation. Simultaneously with the KPRA’s general offensive, the people from all walks of life rose against the Japanese, supporting the advance of the KPRA in every way.

At long last Japan declared its unconditional surrender on August 15. This marked an end to the Japanese military occupation of Korea for more than 40 years, and the Korean people greeted the day of national liberation.

Kim Il Sung was the benevolent liberator who opened the way to a new life for the Korean nation and provided them with a happy life.