Joint Statement, June 15th 2011
June 15 marks the 11th anniversary of the historic North-South Joint Declaration signed between Chairman Kim Jong Il of the National Defence Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and President Kim Dae Jung of the Republic of Korea in the year 2000. On this occasion, our parties and organisations reaffirm their support for the principles laid out in this historic document. It is a document that belongs not only to the Korean people, but also to all peace-loving people of the world. The peaceful and independent reunification of Korea is the desire of all the progressive forces worldwide, in opposition to the crimes of Anglo-US imperialism which wishes to maintain the status quo of division and tension on the Korean peninsula.
The June 15 North-South Joint Declaration was an historic landmark in the struggle of the Korean people to reunify their homeland forcibly divided by the US imperialists following World War Two. The Declaration opened up a new era for independence, peace, reconciliation and reunification on the Korean peninsula until the US-sponsored anti-national, anti-communist and retrogressive Lee Myung Bak regime in the south began to sabotage its spirit and principles.
The anniversary of the Joint Declaration this year is marked at a time when the intrigues of the US and the south Korean puppet regime are becoming increasingly dangerous as they work together to isolate and criminalise the DPRK and the movement for national reunification. This includes jailing reunification activists in the south under the fascist National Security Law, and carrying out one provocation after another such as the joint US-south Korean military exercises aimed at invading the DPRK and bringing the Korean peninsula ever closer to a cataclysmic nuclear war.
It is a fact that the US cannot forgive the DPRK for being the first country following the Second World War to defeat it on the battlefield, setting an example for all nations and people who aspire for independence and self-determination. Its revenge seeking against the DPRK continues unabated to this day.
In the face of these intrigues and betrayals by the US and the Lee Myung Bak regime, the DPRK has steadfastly upheld the principles laid out in the June 15 Joint Declaration. The DPRK has carried forward the struggle under the banner of “By the Nation Itself”. That is, the Korean people themselves must settle the issue of Korean reunification, peacefully and without outside interference. By upholding these principles, the DPRK has provided the Korean people with the political leadership that has enabled them to find their bearings in spite of the threats and grave dangers posed by US imperialism and the traitorous Lee regime.
We would also like to take this opportunity to hail the 47th anniversary on June 19 of the start of the work of General Secretary Comrade Kim Jong Il at the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea. The WPK is imbued with the concern for the whole of society, serving to unite the people around the cause of independence and socialism, in contrast to the bestiality and brutality of imperialism which stands for war and reaction. Those who take up responsibility for revolutionary leadership are greatly to be cherished, and it is a great testament to quality of leadership of Comrade Kim Jong Il that he has taken up this responsibility within the Central Committee of the WPK for these past 47 years.
Our parties and organisations once again reaffirm our steadfast opposition to all warmongering against the DPRK and the Korean people. We pledge our support for the Korean people’s movement for reunification, independence and peace, and to the leadership of Comrade Kim Jong Il and his Songun (army-first) politics, and that of the WPK, which is proudly and successfully carrying forward the historic cause of the June 15 Declaration.
Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist)
European Regional Society for the Study of the Juche Idea
Juche Idea Study Group of England
UK Korean Friendship Association
New Communist Party of Britain
Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist)
Socialist Labour Party
