Was the Korean War also for "Koreans for Koreans"? by Hwang Jang-yop

I will translate as often as I can the lecture series of Mr. Hwang Jang-yop, who is the top-ranking NK defector in South Korea. There is a lot to learn from his lectures.

Sincerely,
Sin-U Nam


Was the Korean War also for “Koreans for Koreans”?
Hwang Jang-yop – Free NK Radio lecture series
January 16, 2008

Today, I want to address the issue of “Koreans for Koreans (Uri Minjok Kiri in Korean),” that the pro-North Korea leftists constantly talk about here in South Korea. I tell you again that the basic characteristics of the North Korean dictatorship are self-interests, violence, and deception, all combined together.

Kim Jong-il is the ultimate personification of self-interests and violence. He lies and deceives all the time. Millions of people died in North Korea from systematic starvation, and the entire country turned into a vast prison. Hundreds of thousands people escaped to China and became homeless refugees with no way out. And yet, Kim Jong-il does not care about these people. He has no intention to open up and reform the country.

This proves that Kim Jong-il is totally selfish inside out. He claims that his policy works very well and that North Korea is a strong military power in the world. North Korean defectors know very well that Kim Jong-il is a selfish egotist, he is a man of extreme violence, and he deceives and lies all the time. We lived under him.

We saw what he did and how he lied all the time when we lived in North Korea. Here in South Korea, many actually listen to his lies and agree with the propaganda by the NK regime that Koreans should be for Koreans.

We, the North Korean defectors, should let the truth out. What does this mean, “Koreans for Koreans”? They say that only Koreans should work for reunification for Koreans. Does it mean that Koreans for Koreans should reunify the country under democracy? Or, under one-man absolute dictatorship? We must confront them with this question first.

Kim Jong-il crushed democracy in North Korea completely, and established his one-man absolute rule instead. There has been no change in North Korea. The pro-NK leftists in South Korea repeat that North Korea has changed. Markets popped up in North Korea everywhere and expanded recently? What markets? Kim Jong-il had no choice but to let the markets be, only for the time being. He has not given up an inch on his one-man absolute dictatorship.

Reunification by “Koreans for Koreans only”? What about the absolute one-man dictatorship in North Korea? Don’t they have to open up and reform first before reunification? Like China, at least? Reunification under one-man absolute dictatorship is not reunification by “Koreans for Koreans only.” Reunification without democracy is not reunification by “Koreans for Koreans” only.

Let us talk about the claim by some people that we have to reunify the country by way of open market economy. How can we reunify with a bankrupt system of socialistic economy under complete government control? That of North Korea is not even a socialistic economy. It is a dictatorship economy under one-man’s absolute control. There is no economic system in North Korea whatsoever.

Suppose a brother who wasted and lost all his fortune, now a beggar, comes to his rich brother and demands to share everything with him. He is not a brother, but a robber. He is not sincere, but wants to rob his own brother.

The pro-NK leftists in South Korea talk about economic cooperation with Kim Jong-il. This is a white lie. What is there to cooperate with North Korea? What is there to get from North Korea in return to our aid to NK? Absolutely nothing! The truth is that we have been helping them with economic free aid. There has been no mutual cooperation, only one-way free aid from the South to the North. This is not a trade.

That there are some small illegal markets in North Korea does not mean there is an open market economy in North Korea. There are markets even in socialistic economy, but not in North Korea. In open market economy, one should be allowed to own lands, build his home on his land, and cultivate the land for his family, and sell the produce in the open markets. If there is open market economy in North Korea, you could say there had been open markets all along, even in the era of Roman Empire.

Those who want to cooperate with Kim Jong-il under the slogan of “Koreans for Koreans” are all liars. We have to advocate the freedom of thoughts, freedom of religion, and freedom of press, before we talk about reunification. Reunification with and under the ideological slavery of Kim Jong-il is not the reunification we want.

Ideological slavery! That is what North Korea has! Where is freedom of thoughts in North Korea? Kim Jong-il rules North Koreans with Absolute One-Man ideology. Freedom of religion? Freedom of press? All the press in North Korea is propaganda machine for Kim Jong-il. They all worship and print how great their Leader is and how great a General Kim Jong-il is. This is freedom of press? The press lies to and enslaves ideologically all North Koreans.

No, there is no free press in North Korea. They are all propaganda machine. Do we want this kind of reunification? Koreans for Koreans? Is Kim Jong-il for peace, or for military dictatorship? That is what we should ask first. Peaceful reunification for peace, or, reunification under military dictatorship of Kim Jong-il? We have to ask.

Kim Jong-il talks about peace only to mislead and deceive South Koreans. Publicly, he advances his Military-First policy. He wants to maintain his military dictatorship. What is his policy of Military-First? To strengthen his military power, to arm his military with nuclear warheads, to keep producing the weapons of mass destruction, and to keep his absolute military dictatorship. That is his Military-First policy.

Kim Jong-il advances and promotes without shame that his Military-First policy and ideology are the best for his country and for his people. Never in history, there was such a dictator who openly declared military dictatorship the way Kim Jong-il did.

We, the NK defectors, escaped to South Korea and now we live free. Nobody in South Korea wants another war. In fact, they are all so afraid of another war in the Korean peninsula. Do you know how many troops Kim Jong-il has in North Korea? The NK regime hides the number as top secret, but I know for a fact they had 1.7 million active duty soldiers in 1990. Add the national guards in reserve; they had a total of 2 million troops in North Korea when I was there. I do not believe they reduced the number of troops after I left North Korea.

Here in South Korea, the young people complain about the length of active service being too long. They all want to shorten the military service less than the current 2 years of service.

In North Korea, they serve between 10 to 13 years of active duty. North Korean regime threatens us often they would annihilate South Korea with its military might. They threatened, before the presidential election in South Korea, that they would start a nuclear war against us if the opposition party won the election. What more threat do we want from North Korea, if this is not a direct threat? In North Korea, the young people, even after the long military service, are being sent to coal mines to work, not their homes. Even the college students are being trained in military discipline more than in academics. North Korean regime with its Military-First policy has destroyed the lives of all young people in North Korea.

So, is this the peace we want with North Korea? There is a war going on everyday in North Korea. What war? People in North Korea who want peace and happiness are fighting everyday against the Kim Jong-il regime. This is a war between the Dictator and the People in North Korea.

Lastly, the pro-NK leftists in South Korea continue to try to undermine the historical alliance between South Korea and the U.S. We cannot think about the well-being of South Korea without the alliance with the U.S. Why are they not against the alliance between North Korea and China, if they are against any foreign influence?

North Korean regime calls Russia their friend. They call the U.S. warmongers. This is their way of double-talk, “Koreans for Koreans.” Did they murder millions of Koreans during the Korean War because they were “Koreans for Koreans”? Were we not all Koreans during the October Revolution? They waged class war even among us, Koreans. We, North Korean defectors, went through all of this firsthand. We have to let the South Korean people know the truth.

Who is right? Who is wrong? We have to let the world know.