Alexander Mostov | DPRK International Solidarity Group (Russia)

Respected and dear comrade delegates,

Allow me, on behalf of the Central Committee of the DPRK International Solidarity Group, to greet all those gathered in this hall. I address you as the Director of the 4th Administrative Department of our organisation, but first and foremost as one of the many who have dedicated their lives to the noble cause of solidarity with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

We live in difficult times, when US imperialism and its satellites, faced with an insoluble internal crisis and the loss of global hegemony, have unleashed an aggression that has already engulfed Eastern Europe. The world is burning, and in this flame, an age old truth is becoming crystal clear: a people without genuine independence inevitably falls victim.

The Juche philosophy, created by the Great Leader Comrade Kim Il Sung during the years of the anti Japanese partisan struggle and scientifically substantiated by the Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong Il, is not merely a national idea of Korea. It is a universal principle of self reliance, proclaiming that man is the master of his own destiny and that the masses of the people are the masters of their country.

Independence in politics, self reliance in the economy, self reliance in defence―these are the three pillars of a truly sovereign, independent state.

Today, when imperialism is trying to deprive peoples of the right to independence, to subordinate them to the rule of transnational capital and turn them into cannon fodder for its wars, the significance of self reliance only increases.

Why is the role of the DPRK so important in the anti imperialist struggle? The point is that under the proven leadership of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un, it has become the most consistent embodiment of the principle of self reliance.

The political independence of the DPRK is manifested in the fact that it never yields to the domination of the great powers, does not bow to threats and does not sell its sovereignty. Economic self reliance has made it possible, even under the harshest sanctions, to build a socialist economy that guarantees free education, free healthcare and a dignified life for all citizens. Self reliance in defence has turned the DPRK into a powerful nuclear power armed with hydrogen bombs and hypersonic weapons.

Today’s DPRK shows that self reliance does not contradict international solidarity, but on the contrary serves as its foundation. After all, only a truly independent state can be a reliable ally.

The signing in June 2024 of the historic Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Russia revived allied relations far surpassing those that existed between the Soviet Union and the DPRK in 1961. The unbreakable ties with China, sealed by the treaty of Comrade Kim Il Sung and Comrade Zhou Enlai and confirmed at the highest level in 2019, remain invariably strong.

Juche Korea, waging a just struggle against the domination of imperialism, together with China and Russia, forms the core of the world anti imperialist camp. These countries draw their strength from self reliance―the right and ability to go their own way without obeying the dictates of Washington.

In the current circumstances, our organisation has a special mission. We do not merely disseminate truthful information about the DPRK. We show that self reliance is not an “exotic feature of Korea” but a pressing necessity for all who do not wish to be crushed by the imperialist machine. We fight against the lies of the Western media, which try to portray independent policies as “isolation” and self reliant economies as “backwardness”.

In reality, it is the rejection of self reliance and falling into debt bondage to the International Monetary Fund that turn countries into colonies. We see this in the tragic example of many states, such as Ukraine, which, having lost its sovereignty, was ultimately turned into a battlefield for the interests of US imperialism. We see this in the example of the Republic of Korea, where behind the mask of formal independence lies complete subordination to the US bayonet and transnational capital, while the people have been plunged into the so called “hellish Chosun”.

This brings us to why the World Anti Imperialist Platform is so important to us.

On 29 April this year, the DPRK International Solidarity Group, by signing the Paris Declaration, became a full member of the Platform. We did this consciously, seeing it not merely as a discussion forum or a network for exchanging views. We see in it the prototype of a new Comintern―a revolutionary headquarters that coordinated the struggle of the communist and anti fascist forces of the whole world.

Today, the World Anti-Imperialist Platform, uniting some 80 parties and organisations and waging an irreconcilable struggle not only against imperialist aggression but also against opportunism and revisionism within the workers’ movement, is assuming precisely this role. This Platform is becoming the locomotive that gathers together the scattered detachments of anti imperialists, develops a unified strategy and tactics, exposes pseudo left theories such as the so called “imperialist pyramid”, and mobilises the masses for a decisive battle. At the heart of this strategy, in our view, should lie the principle of self reliance. For only a party armed with the idea of self reliance, only a people conscious of being the masters of their own destiny, can triumph in the anti imperialist war.

History has taught us a costly lesson. The First World War led to the victory of the October Revolution. The Second World War ended with the formation of the world socialist system. And the Third World War, which is an anti imperialist war, must inevitably end with the final collapse of imperialism and the advent of an era when the peoples of the whole world will become the true masters of their own destiny. There is no doubt that the World Anti-Imperialist Platform―the Comintern of the 21st century―is rallying progressive humanity in this struggle.

Let us strengthen the unity of the anti imperialist forces!

Let the Platform―the Comintern of the new era―develop and expand!

Let us raise the banner of self reliance even higher!