Politics

In his reminiscences With the Century, President Kim Il Sung wrote: 

“In the history of our Party the Down-with-Imperialism Union is recognized as the root of the Party, and the formation of the DIU as a starting-point or the genesis of the Korean communist movement and the Korean revolution. From this root came the programme of our Party, the principles for building our Party and its activities, and the backbone for its foundation. With the formation of the DIU our revolution advanced on the basis of the principle of independence.”

The Down-with-Imperialism Union (DIU) is a genuine revolutionary organization of a new type formed by the President who set out on the road of revolution in his early years with a determination to liberate the country from the Japanese imperialists.

In the 1920s, the nationalist movement and the early communist movement of Korea for saving the country from the distress of the Japanese imperialists’ military occupation ended in failure as they failed to put down roots among the masses of the people.

Based on a scientific analysis of the situation, Comrade Kim Il Sung, who was studying at Hwasong Uisuk School in his teens at that time, determined to advance along a new road of revolution quite different from the previous movements and made energetic activities to form a genuine revolutionary organization of a new type from the standpoint of independence by going among the masses of the people and relying on their strength.

At the school, there were many young men who were strong in anti-Japanese sentiments and ready to devote themselves to the independence of Korea.

On October 10 1926, he convened a preliminary meeting to form a new organization with such hardcore members and clarified the necessity of forming a revolutionary organization, its name, character and fighting programme and the norms of its activities.

On October 17, a week later, he formed the DIU with the passionate young people of the new generation in China’s Huadian.

The DIU’s immediate task was to down with Japanese imperialism, the sworn enemy of the Korean people, and achieve the liberation and independence of Korea, and its final objective was to build socialism in Korea and, further, destroy all imperialism and build communism throughout the world.

It was a pure, fresh political organism of a new type created in the throes of history by young people of the new generation aspiring to socialism for the realization of Korea’s liberation and class emancipation under the ideal of anti-imperialism, independence and sovereignty, and a revolutionary organization of a new type that was totally different from the conventional organizations.

The DIU’s programme served as the basis of that of the Workers’ Party of Korea, the principle of independence set forth by the DIU became that for building the Party and its activities, and the revolutionaries of the new generation trained by the DIU became the backbone for founding the Party.

With the formation of the DIU, the Korean revolution could follow the road of independent development with a clear fighting goal and strategy and the Korean people, as makers of history, could take on the responsibility for their destiny and carve out their own future by themselves.