Today, many developing countries over the world are striving to achieve new development in all fields of social life including science and technology, economy and culture as required by the 21st century.

However, the socio-economic progress and development by the developing countries are restrained, to no less extent, owing to the old international economic order which flows from the previous century and the unilateral high-handedness and arbitrariness and the indiscriminate sanctions which go against the trend of the era, and it now comes as a historical task of the humankind aspiring after sovereignty, peace and prosperity to tackle this problem.

The great Comrade Kim Il Sung is a veteran statesman, who from early half a century ago wisely led the non-aligned and other developing countries into destroying the old international order and building a new international order based on independence, as well as developing South-South cooperation in several fields including politics, economy and culture on the principle of collective self-reliance.

The immortal exploits performed by the great Comrade Kim Il Sung in the development of South-South cooperation are daily taken deeper into the hearts of the world progressive peoples aspiring to build new societies where there are no domination and subordination, and sovereignty and equality are guaranteed.

On the occasion of the 108th birth anniversary of the great Comrade Kim Il Sung , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea hereby issues a commemorative article in order to convey forever the immortal exploits of the Great Leader, who dynamically propelled the trend of global independence by setting the living examples of South-South cooperation.

The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung said as follows.

“An important task at the moment in the struggle for global independence is for the non-aligned and all other developing countries to effect South-South cooperation to achieve their economic self-reliance and consolidate their national independence.”

The idea of the great Comrade Kim Il Sung on South-South cooperation had long been put into practice.

Comrade Kim Il Sung ensured that the economic and cultural cooperation along with the political bonds were strengthened with the developing countries already in the early 1970s. He said that we should help the newly independent countries even though our life is not enough and provided sincere assistance to the peoples of those countries in their efforts for building the states in various fields.

Entering the 1980s, the great Comrade Kim Il Sung took measures to hold in Pyongyang several international meetings of great significance for achieving economic self-support of the non-aligned countries and made sure that the meetings would serve as important occasions for promoting realization of the South-South cooperation.

The Symposium of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries on Increasing Food and Agricultural Production was held in August, Juche 70(1981) in Pyongyang, followed by the First Conference of Ministers of Education and Culture of Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries in September, Juche 72(1983) and the Extraordinary Ministerial Conference of Non-Aligned Countries on South-South Cooperation in June, Juche 76(1987).

The speeches delivered by the great Comrade Kim Il Sung at these meetings – “Non-Aligned and Developing Countries Should Solve the Agricultural Problem through their Own Efforts” , “For the Development of the National Culture of the Newly-Emerging Countries” and “Let Us Develop South-South Cooperation” – served as precious guiding principles for the developing countries to hold fast to in their efforts for building new independent societies.

The great Comrade Kim Il Sung took measures to actively mount economic and technical cooperation and exchange for comprehensively expanding and developing South-South cooperation.

Guided and instructed by the great Comrade Kim Jong Il , who held devotedly to the great Comrade Kim Il Sung ’s lofty wishes, the DPRK government set up agricultural science research institutes in Tanzania and Guinea and experimental farms in other neighbouring African countries, and dispatched qualified agricultural scientists of the DPRK to those countries. The DPRK government also sent specialists and equipment and materials required for carrying out irrigation projects in over 30 countries including Mali, Benin, the Democratic Yemen and Guyana, and trained technicians and experts of many countries in the DPRK.

It also expanded and developed South-South cooperation in various fields including industry, education, public health to literature and arts, thus establishing over 30 factories in 22 countries and dispatching many specialists to several countries including Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Algeria and Libya to sincerely aid their Party and state building, economic management, creation of national culture, and medical service.

During this period, the number of Korean technicians and specialists dispatched to the developing countries in the spirit of South-South cooperation totalled up to over 5,000 in more than 50 countries.

South-South cooperation, which had been vigorously carried out on a worldwide scale under the energetic guidance of the great Comrade Kim Il Sung and Comrade Kim Jong Il , gave great encouragement to the peoples’ struggle in the non-aligned and other developing countries that were embarking on the road to building new societies, and served as a powerful impetus in further strengthening unity and cooperation of the anti-imperialist, independent forces and accelerating global independence.

At present, South-South cooperation has become a strategy of collective self-reliance for economic independence and self-support of the developing countries, and it is being undertaken in nearly all fields of politics, economy and culture in an all-round, extensive and profound way through regional and continental organizations.

It is the invariable position of foreign policy of the DPRK to continue to succeed and develop the historic traditions of South-South cooperation which have been established by the great Comrade Kim Il Sung and Comrade Kim Jong Il .

Under the wise leadership of Comrade Kim Jong Un , Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, the government of the DPRK will, as ever, continue to further strengthen friendly and cooperative ties with the developing countries of the world and actively strive to establish new international economic relations based on justice, equality and fairness.