Man should not only maintain the principle of independence and adopt the creative method but also give full play to the might of ideology to hew out his destiny successfully.

As ideological consciousness plays a decisive role in human activity, the best way of carving out human destiny is to enhance the might of ideology. The strength of ideology is inexhaustible and its power is greater than any material and technical means like atomic bomb.

Chairman Kim Jong Il said:

"The popular masses' consciousness of independence plays a decisive role in the revolutionary movement. Therefore, in the revolution and construction one must place the main stress on ideology and give priority over all work to the remoulding of ideology, the political work, which is aimed at raising the consciousness and activeness of the masses."

In the late 20th century, the DPRK was compelled to make an Arduous March due to the imperialist's moves to isolate and stifle it and recurrent natural disasters. It was so trying that other countries might have yielded to difficulties, but the DPRK not only endured hardships but built many structures of lasting value. Among them, there is a large Anbyon Youth Power Station erected by the service personnel of the Korean People's Army. The world community doubted if the DPRK could carry out such a gigantic project, saying it would be a victory and miracle if only the country could remain alive, and the enemies dubbed the projected power station a "paper power plant". What constructed the power plant like a miracle was the might of ideology called the revolutionary soldier spirit, not any sophisticated technical means.

The soldier-builders, who undertook the project true to the order of Supreme Commander Kim Jong Il, fully displayed matchless devotion, boldness and the self-sacrificing spirit, chanting the slogan of faith "Let us not look at the blue sky of the country before implementing the order of the respected Supreme Commander!" In the whole period of the project they stayed at the construction site in the face of 128 collapsed sections, some 3 700 spots exposed to the risk of accident and waist-deep water. Some of them who were wounded by accident during the blasting did not leave their workplace but continued to work and some others who were trapped in a pit by cave-in for several days without a drop of drinking water asked the fellow soldiers outside, who tried to send in rice-balls through pneumatic tube, to send them compressed air to continue their work. The completion of the power plant whose workload was over twice as much as that of the project for the West Sea Barrage, a landmark in the world history of barrage construction, was a miracle of miracles worked by dint of the indomitable mentality.

This clearly tells that people can overcome any hardships and trials and conquer any fortress when they give full play to the might of ideology, the spiritual strength.

Such indomitable mentality as the revolutionary soldier spirit is man greatest power in the world and man strong in spirit is the strongest in the universe.

This might of ideology, the spiritual strength, is limitless, but it is not exhibited of its own accord.

In order to give full play to the power in carving out the destiny of the popular masses, country and nation, it necessary to give steady precedence to remoulding the people's ideology above anything else. Only when they have a firm determination to hold their destiny in their hands and shape it by their own efforts can they fulfil their role as the master of their destiny. Positive activities for destiny control can never be expected from those steeped in slavish mentality.

The following fact shows that when the people collapsed ideologically and mentally, the destiny of a country comes to ruin.

Iraq crumbled like a wet mud wall a little after the US started a war in March 2003. This is because the Iraqi army and people were beaten ideologically and mentally by the US crafty psychological warfare, not because they were short of modern weapons. During the Iraq war the US scattered 28 million leaflets and sent out programmes for 17 hours every day in five frequencies through the broadcasting station set up with huge money and by mobilizing special operations aircraft. Through the leaflets and broadcasts, the American propagandized that the Iraqis will be killed if they do not oppose the Saddam regime and welcome the US and that the US is fighting to "liberate" the Iraqis from Saddam's dictatorship. In the meantime, the Americans approached to the Iraqi generals via different routes to win them over, promising that they will be granted American citizenship for comfortable living if they surrender. The US gained handsome profits from the propaganda campaign. The backbone of the Iraqi military was disintegrated, the soldiers were ordered not to fight against US troops and the majority of men and officers were gripped by defeatism, fleeing from battlefields in a disorderly manner, and thus the Iraqi army was vanquished. Besides, the people who were at market places at the time when the enemy troops were drawing near to cities welcomed the aggressors as "liberators".

Awakening people ideologically is prerequisite for giving full play to the power of ideology.

This is evidenced by the successful agrarian reform in the DPRK. The land reform was a revolution to liquidate the feudal landownership that had existed for thousands for years in Korea and it was carried out in a little over 20 days, a success unprecedented in history. Though the country was liberated from Japanese military rule the peasants who had long been subjected to exploitation by landlords could not dream of being the owners of land.

Under the circumstances, Kim Il Sung saw that to carry out a successful agrarian reform, it was necessary to awaken farmers ideologically above the anything else. He ensured that a campaign for the three-to-seven system of tenancy in which 30 per cent of harvest is given to landlord and the rest is taken by farmers was launched to make broad masses of peasants have the firm resolve to become the legitimate masters of land. Dispirited by high enthusiasm of the peasant masses who were prepared ideologically, landlords were finally compelled to accept the agrarian reform without offering big resistance.

This shows that when the popular masses rise up with ideological awareness, any great social changes can be brought about and their destiny carved out properly.

In order to give full play to the might of ideology in shaping the destiny of the people, country and nation, it is also needed to conduct dynamic political work for displaying the power in practice.

The Red Army could defeat the fascist German army in the Second World War not thanks to its superior numerical strength or better weapons. The Soviet army had political organs that could not be found in the armed forces of other countries. At the time, the Red Army had a great number of political workers including 240 000 full-time political officers who inspired men and officers to the sacred war to defend the country and socialism. Hitler's divisions that boasted of being the invincible were defeated by the Soviet service personnel who were fully aware of the justness of their cause and who displayed unparalleled bravery backed up by the spirit of socialist patriotism and WWII came to a close in favour of socialism and the world's anti-fascist forces owing to the decisive role of the Soviet Union.

The Chollima Statue on Mansu Hill in downtown Pyongyang, the capital of the DPRK, is an eye-catcher as it symbolizes the stamina of the country.

When the DPRK embarked on the road of socialist revolution and construction not long after the three-year Korean War which reduced everything to ashes, the country suffered a shortage of everything. Worse still, the south Korean puppets were crazy about "northward advance", instigated by the US imperialists, and the great-power chauvinists in the socialist camp put pressure on the DPRK to block its way.

At this juncture, President Kim Il Sung visited the then Kangson Steel Works with a firm will to push the revolution and construction by enlisting the ideological and spiritual strength of the people. He frankly told the workers about the complicated situation and manifold hardships facing the country and urged them neither to give up hope in the face of the difficult situation nor yield to the trying ordeals in the wary of the revolutionary struggle and construction work. The Party believes in the working class, placing great hope on you, he said. Nothing that the country would be relieved if they turned out10 000 tons of steel more the following year, he appealed to them to overcome the grave situation with mutual trust.

The President's appeal gripped the hearts of the workers and gave free rein to their spiritual strength. In the course of their dynamic efforts to tap production potentials and shatter passivism, conservatism and mysticism about technique, they turned out 120 000 tons of rolled steel from the blooming mill with this as the annual rated capacity of 60 000 tons. With this as the beginning, the fierce flames of a great revolutionary upsurge flared up throughout the country.

In Korea, the legendary winged horse that gallops 400 kilometres a day has been called Chollima. The President said that the legendary horse materialized thanks to the collective innovation drive the Korean working class and people were conducting vigorously true to the call of the Party and saw to it that the drive was called the Chollima Movement. And he ensured that the Chollima Statue was erected majestically to commemorate the movement forever and demonstrate to the world the indomitable spirit of the country.

Indeed, the strength of ideology, great spiritual strength, of the people is the most valuable treasure of the nation and a weapon that is more powerful than atomic bomb. The country of the people with such spiritual strength has a rosy future and will surely thrive though it may undergo temporary difficulties.