Pyongyang, October 8 (KCNA) -- A special communique of the Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee and Central Military Commission was issued today, which declared that the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il has been elected to be General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea.
The special communique reads in full:

Special communique
of the Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee
and Central Military Commission

The WPK organisations of the Korean People's Army, provinces (municipalities), ministries, national institutions and other bodies with the function of provincial Party organisation have held conferences while the Party members, servicemen and other people throughout the country are making vigorous efforts for victory in the Juche socialist cause, full of high political enthusiasm and firm revolutionary confidence.
The conferences discussed "on recommending the great leader of our Party and people comrade Kim Jong Il as General Secretary of our Party" and adopted resolutions on recommending him as General Secretary of our Party with unanimous approval.
The adoption of these resolutions reflecting the unanimous will and desire of the Party members, servicemen and all other people came at a historic time when our Party and people entered a new era of the Juche revolution. This is a historic event of great importance in the development of our Party and revolution.
As was unanimously pointed out at the conferences, comrade Kim Jong Il is the most faithful successor to the Juche revolution, the Supreme Commander of our revolutionary armed forces and the great leader of our Party and people.

He defined the completion of the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung's cause as his lifelong mission from the first period of his revolutionary activities and has led the Party, the army and the people with his outstanding ideology and leadership and performed immortal exploits for the Party and the revolution, the country and the people.
The history of his leadership of our Party has been an arduous and difficult period when the internal and external situations of the revolution were very complicated and the Party and the revolution were faced with unprecedentedly difficult and vast tasks. At a grim period of fierce class struggle between socialism and capitalism in long-drawn-out confrontation with the allied forces of world imperialism, comrade Kim Jong Il guided our Party in the van always as the closest comrade and most faithful helper to comrade Kim Il Sung, defended the banner of the revolution, the banner of socialism, turned misfortune into blessing and adversity into favorable conditions and led our revolution and construction straight to constant upswing and brilliant victory.
With his clairvoyant wisdom and energetic ideological and theoretical activities, he put the Juche idea in an integral system, developed it in depth comprehensively, exalted the revolutionary idea of our Party as the undying revolutionary banner of the age of independence, gave perfect scientific and theoretical answers to the pressing issues arising in the revolution and construction and, thus, provided a powerful ideological and theoretical weapon for victory in our revolution.
He was the first in history to propound the original idea that the working-class Party should be the Party of the leader and put it into reality, with the result that radical changes have taken place in Party building, activity and work as a whole, our Party has developed into the Juche-type revolutionary Party founded by comrade Kim Il Sung both in name and in practice and the Party's fighting efficiency and leadership have risen remarkably for progress in the revolution and construction.
He laid down the Juche-based line of army building, commanded the revolutionary armed forces, strengthened our People's Army into the true army of the Party and the leader and an invincible revolutionary army that reliably defends the Party and socialism by force of arms and converted the DPRK into an impregnable fortress where all people are armed and the whole country is fortified.
He put forward a new line of modelling the whole society on the Juche idea, consolidated the singlehearted unity of our revolutionary ranks as invincible one through vigorous ideological, technical and cultural revolutions and opened a new history of great change and brilliant efflorescence in economic construction and cultural development as a whole.
With the perfect traits of the people's leader, he always shared weal and woe with the people, pursued popular politics, benevolent politics, turned the entire nation into a grand revolutionary family closely united around the Party and the leader and did all parental favors to provide all our people with a worthy and happy life.
His traits as the distinguished leader of the Party and the people and as a tested statesman have been noticed more clearly since our people had the bitterest state funeral.
After comrade Kim Il Sung passed away, he led the Party, the army and the people, overcoming the great pains, manifold trials and difficulties with indomitable revolutionary will in the evermore rigorous situation. Thus, he has firmly defended the blood of Juche of our Party and saved the destiny of the Party and revolution, country and nation.
He led our Party to conduct all its activities consistently to uphold comrade Kim Il Sung, the founder of the Party and the father of socialist Korea, and fulfil his instructions. He made sure that comrade Kim Il Sung can always be with our people in the form of eternal life and his revolutionary life and great exploits can shine long along with the Juche Era and Sun's Day, the symbols of the age of independence.
Under comrade Kim Jong Il's leadership, our Party members and people have cherished the firm faith and will to venerate the great comrade Kim Il Sung as the eternal leader of our Party and people and as the Sun of Juche for all ages, arm themselves more firmly with his revolutionary ideas and accomplish the Juche revolution as indicated by him.
In the acute situation of the country, comrade Kim Jong Il consolidated the political and ideological position of our revolution and, at the same time, directed greater energies to strengthening the People's Army, the pillar of our revolution and the main force for the completion of the Juche revolution, and led the Party, the army and the people to rise up under the banner of self-reliance, overcome the economic blockade of imperialists and repeated natural disasters and bring about a turn in socialist economic construction.
In the van of the all-Party, all-people socialist march,he has triumphantly led the Party, army and people with energetic activities, overcoming all hardships singlehandedly. As a result, our revolution is now in the period of a new turn.
Under his tested leadership and with the singlehearted unity of the leader, the Party and the masses, the invincible military power and the might of the independent national economy, we have smashed all challenges of the imperialists and other reactionaries and their moves to isolate and stifle the country and defended and consolidated the sovereignty of the country in all the political, military and diplomatic fields. It is really a miracle that we have exalted the dignity and honor of Korea, the homeland of Juche, defending socialism by ourselves and ceaselessly advancing it in trials.
Comrade Kim Jong Il, with ardent patriotism, has shaped proper policies for national reunification in line with the three charters of reunification, provided by comrade Kim Il Sung, wisely guiding the efforts for thoroughly implementing his earnest requests for national reunification. The whole nation, desirous of the country's reunification and everlasting prosperity, pins great expectation on comrade Kim Jong Il. All the Koreans in the north, south and overseas are striving hard to reunify the country without fail in our generation, closely united under the banner of great national unity.
Comrade Kim Jong Il has further enhanced the international prestige of our Party and republic by establishing Juche and independence in relations with other countries in line with the idea of independence, peace and friendship. He has also powerfully encouraged other peoples in their efforts for building a new world without aggression, war, domination and subjugation, a world free and peaceful.
The last three years were, indeed, a period of a heroic struggle and proud victory. In the period all our Party members and people, under his leadership, reliably defended our position of revolution and further developed our socialism, undergoing all manner of difficulties and trials with indomitable faith and will in the rigorous war minus shooting against the imperialist reactionaries around the world.
Guided by comrade Kim Jong Il, we have laid strong political and ideological foundations for successfully accomplishing the cause of comrade Kim Il Sung and provided a definite guarantee for creditably defending our revolution and our socialist homeland, increasing the country's economic power, promoting national reunification and making a greater contribution to the acceleration of the international revolutionary cause.
Absolute is the trust of our Party, army and people in comrade Kim Jong Il and very high is their pride, ardor and spirit in continuing the revolution with him as the leader of the nation and the tender-hearted teacher.
Over the past seven decades since the Korean revolution was started, our people have entrusted all their destiny and future to their leaders and faithfully followed them and the Party. It is their noble tradition.
The adoption of resolutions on recommending comrade Kim Jong Il as General Secretary of our Party at Party conferences was an expression of the unshakable faith and will of our people, who have carried forward the noble tradition, to have him at the top of the Party and the revolution and achieve a closer unity of the whole Party, army and people around the Party centre, thus accomplishing comrade Kim Il Sung's cause, the revolutionary cause of Juche.
All the participants in the conferences, who recommended him as General Secretary of our Party, reflecting the unanimous desire of the Party members, servicemen and all other people, were pleased to voice willingness to devotedly defend the headquarters of the revolution headed by him and continue advancing along the road of Juche under the Party's leadership.
The WPK Central Committee and Central Military Commission solemnly declare that comrade Kim Jong Il has been officially elected to be General Secretary of our Party as desired by the whole Party as he has strengthened and developed our Party to be an invincible, veteran revolutionary Party which enjoys full support and trust from all the people, has trained our people as an independent people with indomitable faith and will and has opened a new era of the Kim Il Sung nation's prosperity, with tireless revolutionary activities over the past 30 odd years.
The Korean revolution, which is dynamically advancing along the road of Juche under the leadership of comrade Kim Jong Il, will win the final victory without fail, overcoming all trials and hardships. And our country will be reunified at no distant date and the 70 million fellow countrymen will enjoy genuine freedom and prosperity in the homeland of Juche.

The Workers' Party of Korea Central Committee
and Central Military Commission

October 8, Juche 86 (1997).