We are very pleased to take part in the 3rd International Conference of Asian Political Parties which is underway at a time when the increasing number of people are calling for independence and peace.

May I, first of all, express my deep thanks to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Organizing Committee of the Conference for all the preparations they have made to make this conference possible and for inviting our delegation to it.

Through this international forum on “Exchange, Cooperation, and Development,” political parties in Asia will share their views on issues of common concern. And I am sure that the conference of this kind is in the interests of the Asian people and is of great significance in helping ensure peace and security in Asian and the world.

Independent development, security, and prosperity are common aspiration and desire of political parties and people of Asia.

The great leader President Kim Il Sung said:

“Building an independent, peaceful, and prosperous new Asia is the common aspiration of the Asian people. In order to realize the common cause of mankind for an independent new world free of domination, subjugation, aggression and war, the Asian people should, first and foremost, make Asia independent.”

Mankind has been ushered into the new century with a fresh hope. However, due to the power politics on the part of the imperialists that rely on strength, national sovereignty and peace are in great jeopardy in many countries of Asia and the rest of the world.

In order to ensure peace and security in a country and region across the board, it is important for all the Asian countries to unfold even more vigorous joint efforts to preclude aggression and war while maintaining independent stand against the highhanded and unilateral policies of the imperialists.

Asia with its inexhaustible natural resources and favorable conditions for economic development is now becoming the main target of infiltration by the outside forces.

Legacies of the past era still remain in Asia as well as foreign military bases, a threat to peace and security.

All political parties aspiring after independent development and peace in Asia should not tolerate but remain vigilant against any attempt to take hold of Asia.

The masters of Asia are the Asians themselves. Therefore, when the political parties and peoples of Asia unite firmly under the principles of independence, equality, and mutual benefit in conformity with their common demands and interests, our onward movement for peace, security and prosperity in our region will be further accelerated.

Ensuring endurable peace and security in the Korean peninsula — one of the hot spots of the world — and in Northeast Asia is of great significance in the struggle for development and prosperity in Asia as a whole.

The Workers’ Party of Korea has all along made strenuous efforts to secure peace and stability in this region and thereby contributed to the peace and prosperity of Asia.

On the Korean peninsula today, we are witnessing a great change in inter-Korean relations progressing under the banner of “By Our Nation Itself” spelt out in the historic North-South Joint Declaration of June 15, 2000.

The unofficial visit to the People’s Republic of China last April by General Kim Jong Il and the second DPRK-Japan summit meeting held in Pyongyang in May are a significant contribution to efforts for peace, stability, and common prosperity in Asia.

We are exercising maximum patience and flexibility in our effort to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula peacefully through negotiations.

The final destination we would like to arrive at in the nuclear issue is beyond doubt a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. As confidence is lacking between our country and the U.S., we believe that package settlement based on simultaneous actions is the only realistic and down-to-earth solution of the nuclear problem.

We should be committed to the principle of respecting the sovereignty and equality and we must not tolerate any selfish moves to infringe upon the sovereignty of other countries.

The Korean people regard independence as their life and soul. We are afire with strong determination not to allow any attempt of the outside forces to encroach upon our sovereignty.

The Songun (military-first) politics pursued by the great leader of the Korean people Kim Jong Il reflecting the changed international environment and the requirements of the times is the all-mighty strategic line and a mode of politics to be always adhered to until the realization of the independent cause of mankind.

It is thanks to the Songun politics that we have been able, against all odds, to maintain our single-hearted unity, jealously defend and advance our cause, and are today marching confidently along the path of building a great powerful and prosperous country.

By holding fast to the Juche character and national identity throughout the course of its revolutionary struggle, the Workers’ Party of Korea is standing firm on the path of its own choice, crushing all sorts of challenge posed by outside forces.

Our party stands opposed to any outside forces trespassing on our Juche character. Our party saw to it that our people assume the attitude of a master to the revolution and construction and preserve and further develop the fine national characteristics of the Korean nation. Our people, resourceful and courageous, cherishing justice and truth, have turned these fine qualities into important contributing factors for achieving the independent development of the country.

Experiences in our party’s struggle for the nation’s independent development and prosperity show:

First, all problems arising in party building and activities must be resolved in one’s own way from the Juche perspective.

We, the Workers’ Party and people of Korea take pride in the fact that in advancing our revolutionary cause we have relied on our own strong political, economic and military forces, choosing the path of revolution independently on the basis of our conviction and resolving all problems in our own way on the basis of our independent judgment.

Second, the party should be built into a mass party premised on the broad spectrum of masses.

Our Party, based itself on the Juche revolutionary principle that the masters of revolution and construction are the popular masses and they are the very motive force of revolution and construction, has forged close kinship with the popular masses and has victoriously advanced our cause in reliance on the inexhaustible strength of the masses.

Today our party has been built into an invincible party commanding the undivided support and confidence of the masses and the party and masses, in the same boat, are welded together into a single socio-political organism. This is the successful outcome of the line of building a mass party and the leadership of the great leader President Kim Il Sung and General Kim Jong Il. And this constitutes a firm guarantee for all victories we have achieved and will achieve.

Third, the effort to cement the unity and cohesion of the party should be undertaken without let as the cardinal task in party building.

The vitality and the invincible might of the party hinge on the party’s unity and cohesion. Our party has already brought about the organizational and ideological unity and based on this, waged continuous struggle to realize the single-hearted unity of the entire membership of the party and whole society, and thereby firmly defending people-oriented socialist system even in such complex situation as today while vigorously carrying forward our cause.

I wish to embrace this opportunity to express my sincere appreciations and gratitude to you, distinguished delegates and to all political parties you are representing, for extending active support and solidarity to the just cause of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the Korean people.

The Workers’ Party of Korea, guided by its foreign policy ideals of independence, peace and friendship, will work for a more active exchange and cooperation with all political parties of Asia following the principles of independence and equality, peace and friendship, and mutual benefit and thereby discharge its mission in the struggle to build an independent, peaceful and prosperous Asia.

The cause of Asian political parties for security and prosperity in Asia will be accomplished without fail.