Leading newspapers of the DPRK Rodong Sinmun, Josoninmingun and Chongnyonjonwi carried a joint editorial titled "Let's glorify this year as a year of proud victory through revolutionary offensive on all fronts of building a great prosperous powerful nation!" on the occasion of the New Year Juche 93 (2004).
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The joint editorial has been issued on every New Year's Day since Juche 84 (1995) as a substitute for the New Year's address of President Kim Il Sung after his demise. It reviews proud successes of the year and sets forth militant tasks to be fulfilled by all Party members, servicepersons and people in the new year. Pointing to the successes achieved last year, the joint editorial says that Juche 92 (2003) was a year of heroic struggle in which the dignity and might of the DPRK were demonstrated to the world and a year of proud victory in which the sovereignty of the nation and socialism were defended despite the tense situation.
The editorial says: Last year the single-hearted unity with the headquarters of the revolution as a centre and our own style state political system were consolidated more steel-strong and the self-supporting national economic potential grew stronger while the socialist cultural life was brought into fuller bloom. Last year our army and people fully demonstrated heroic stamina by waging a life and death struggle for independence and justice. Recalling that a decade has passed since the army and people of the DPRK started a death-defying struggle to accomplish the cause of the President, the joint editorial says that in this period the absolute authority of the headquarters of the Korean revolution led by Kim Jong Il, steadfastness of its leadership system and its invincible political caliber have been displayed before the world. Calling for paving a wide avenue for a fresh victory in the building of a great prosperous powerful nation to make this year a significant year to bring about a turn in accomplishing the revolutionary cause of the Party, the joint editorial says: "Let us reach a high stage of the country's prosperity, true to the great Comrade Kim Il Sung's idea and cause!" This is the slogan we should put up in our advance this year. The general task for the Party, the army and youth this year is to conduct a revolutionary offensive to attain a higher goal in building a great prosperous powerful nation on the three fronts of politics and ideology, anti-imperialism and military affairs and economy and science.
Underscoring the need to exert utmost efforts for strengthening the front of anti-imperialism and military affairs, the editorial calls for giving top priority to increasing the military muscle. The enemies will suffer inescapable blows if they impose a war of any form upon the DPRK anytime, it warns. The editorial calls for a vigorous struggle this year under the slogan "Let us make rapid progress in the economy and science and technology and thus increase the national power in every way!"
Turning to the issue of national reunification, the editorial notes: "Let us pave a wide avenue for independent reunification through national cooperation under the banner of our nation-first spirit!" This is the slogan all Koreans in the north and the south and overseas should put up in the movement for reunification this year. It is our invariable principled stand to seek a negotiated peaceful solution to the nuclear issue between the DPRK and the U.S. We will always react with the toughest stand to the U.S. hard-line policy of completely denying and threatening the dignified idea and system of our style. We will in the future, too, develop our relations with various countries of the world in the idea of independence, peace and friendship and make positive efforts to build a new peaceful and independent world. |