This year, on December 24, we will celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Madame Kim Jong Suk, a great figure in Korean history. This is an opportunity to recall this extraordinary figure and show why it is so important.
We live in times of the flood of the Western ‘decadent mode of life’, where the role models of heroes of everyday life are created by values far removed from such moral and social values as patriotism, dedication to others or revolutionary spirit and strength to fight evil created by man for man through exploitation in the capitalist system. It is in present times, when the American way of life and culture, which is aggressively imposed everywhere and promotes an easy and pleasant life, has long forgotten about promoting such values as dedication, devotion to the family and patriotism with love of the homeland. These values have been replaced by the promotion of an easy and rich life, and a selfish and idle concern for one’s own individual needs without regard for anything or anyone.
All these false and worthless patterns are contradicted by the unique figure of Madam Kim Jong Suk and achievements of her glorious life.
Over the decades, the model of the real woman has been distorted by feminist movements. Militant feminism, brought by Western culture, promoted the figure of a model woman as an aggressive warrior and enemy to man, also who opposed everything that is in line with the old patterns and model of the traditional family and the role of women in it. Looking at the life of Madam Kim Jong Suk, we can learn that the greatness of a woman is created not in her combative and aggressive attitude of protesting and questioning everything in traditional patterns, but in her silent and heroic daily sacrifice for her family and patriotic devotion, which, contrary to feminist schemes do not need publicity and fame. Her militancy is expressed to fight in the patriotic struggles, not in aggressive attitude to man as a different sex with hostility to an ideal role of good wife with mother to children, which is rather happiness than burdensome and disliked duty, as Western feminist movements try to portray.
Madame Kim Jong Suk was born in a poor family in a country under the yoke of Japanese occupation, from the first years of her life she experienced the oppression and worries of everyday life in that difficult time for the Korean nation.
Madame Kim Jong Suk’s life was short but full of imperishable and everlasting values. In the life of Madame Kim Jong Suk, the guiding idea and principle was self – sacrifice and putting the interests of others, the interests of the family and the revolution ahead of oneself.
No one knows how many sleepless nights and how many worries and tears Kim Jong Suk left on the mountain trails of the forests of guerrilla camps. In the daily life of Madame Kim Jong Suk, it was not easy to combine the responsibilities of caring for children and family with the revolutionary struggle for liberation. No one will know how many hard days Madame Kim Jong Suk, together with her child, future leader Comrade Kim Jong Il and her husband, President Kim Il Sung, had to survive in a difficult situation, living in a guerrilla camp, sharing the worries and difficulties of everyday life with other guerrillas of the revolutionary army.
She quickly distinguished herself as a high – skilled guerrilla fighter with an iron will, especially as a great militant soldier. She has repeatedly defended the life of the great leader, Comrade Kim Il Sung many times.
So, the greatness of Madame Kim Jong Suk’s character and achievements, is not only expressed as an exemplary mother and wife, but also as a combative and disciplined soldier. In many guerrilla battles against the Japanese invaders, she defended the life of her husband and leader of the Korean revolution, Comrade Kim Il Sung with others comrades in bloody battles.
An example of a life full of sacrifice and patriotism, a life devoted to the revolution, is an example of how to create a new socialist man and how to instill in him new features, social features for the service of others. These features, expressed in a deep love of the motherland and readiness to make any sacrifices, to give one’s life for the defense and service of the motherland if necessary, are cultivated and instilled in new generations of Korean young revolutionaries from the ‘Mangyongdae Revolutionary School’ and ‘Kang Pan Sok Revolutionary School’, which were recently visited twice by Dear Marshal Kim Jong Un. The values that the schools of young revolutionaries took over from Madame Kim Jong Suk are true communist principles, the principles of a highly educated, honest, progressive man, it is love for the socialist motherland and proletarian internationalism with sensitivity to the harm of others, it is proletarian friendship, camaraderie, humanitarianism, love of socialist work and readiness to sacrifice one’s life for the good of the homeland. Implanting and cultivating these very qualities, these wonderful qualities, is the most important element of communist upbringing and giving respectful recognition with tribute to the achievements of Madame Kim Jong Suk’s life.
Madame Kim Jong Suk’s activities after the liberation from Japanese occupation were focused on creating a new model of woman in the socialist system of the new country and its process of transformation in building a socialist society. The Korean – style of socialism based on the Juche idea. This is the role of a fully liberated and truly valuable individual in a modeled by Juche society, with full equal rights and in her glorious, not servile as claimed by bourgeois feminist canons role, the role as a great and fully of family – devoted love mothers and first protectors of families. Active role in socialist feminist movement, brought her to foundation for Korean Democratic Women’s Union in November 18th, 1945 where she was also very active on the international arena, supported liberation of oppressed and exploited women in Asia and all on the world.
Thanks to the great work and effort that Madame Kim Jong Suk, made in her heroic life to contribute to the socialist construction of the DPRK, the women of Korea of Juche, have a great share in the implementation of extra – planned commitments to improve the economic production results in their workplaces and full empowerment in political, economi and socio -political life of the country. Korean women, learning from the unparalleled example of the heroic life of Madame Kim Jong Suk, enrich their own lives, which become noble and great in sacrifice for others, for the good of the whole nation.
Madame Kim Jong Suk’s life is an inexhaustible treasury of creative thoughts and initiatives for the fight for a better, fairer world. It is a life thoroughly imbued with deep love and care for one’s country, for other people, fervent patriotism. The life and example of Madame Kim Jong suk teaches us how to live a deep, ideological life – that is, to live the social affairs of all. Only living in such matters, if all thoughts are directed towards glorifying our nation even more, raising the economic and military power of our homeland even higher, if, like Madame Kim Jong Suk, we devote all our strength to the fight for the complete victory of communism and this great idea will dominate your consciousness, then I have no doubt that we will become the same heroes as Madame Kim Jong Suk.
Therefore, we should remember such heroic role models as Madame Kim Jong Suk. Her life of sacrifice and devotion to the socialist revolution alongside her family will never be forgotten and is shining precious with guideless and best example, inspiration for all women in the world.
(This article is reproduced from “People’s Korea Today ” , the magazine of the Korean Friendship Association UK )
