On August 15, Juche 34 (1945), the Korean people achieved national liberation from the military occupation of Japanese imperialists by themselves according to the independent revolutionary idea and Juche-oriented revolutionary line of Kim Il Sung .

In the beginning of last century, the Japanese imperialists deprived the Koreans of their sovereignty and enforced unheard-of brutal colonial oppressive policies. Clamouring for “Korea and Japan are one” and “Japanese and Koreans are of the same descent,” they deprived the people of their language, spoken or written, and their names and made every vicious attempt to obliterate the Korean nation.

At this juncture, Kim Il Sung embarked on the road of revolution and analysed the precedent movements with worship and dogma to seek for a new road of the Korean revolution. In the course of this, he authored the Juche idea. The cause of national liberation of the Korean people could enter a new road of development under the banner of independence.

Kim Il Sung advanced the Juche-oriented strategy and tactics and lines and policies in every period and stage since the start of the anti-Japanese revolution and implemented them in conformity with actual conditions of the Korean revolution. He also built the revolutionary force by relying on the masses of the people while braving everything independently.

In the period of the anti-Japanese revolution, Kim Il Sung made public many works including The Path of the Korean Revolution, On Organizing and Waging Armed Struggle against Japanese Imperialism, The Tasks of Korean Communists and On Preparing for the Great Event of National Liberation . The immortal classic works pulsate with strong independent spirit and the idea of independence by the Koreans’ own efforts that masters of the Korean revolution are the Korean people and the independence of the country must be achieved by the Korean nation’s own efforts.

He directed big efforts to building up a revolutionary force, regarding it as the truth for sure victory that any strong imperialist forces can be annihilated and the independence of the country be achieved when the masses of the people, the masters of revolutionary struggle, are trained into a powerful revolutionary force by awakening and organizing them to rally.

Under his energetic leadership, the Association for the Restoration of the Fatherland was founded in May 1936, thus making it possible to rapidly develop the movement of the anti-Japanese national united front on a nationwide scale in a more systematic and organized way, in close contact with the anti-Japanese armed struggle, and strengthen the unity of all anti-Japanese patriotic force and vigorously mobilize them to the struggle for national liberation.

Arms for arms! —this was the iron will kept by Kim Il Sung since the initial days of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle.

After advancing the line of armed struggle with the guerrilla warfare as the main form, he declared the anti-Japanese war by founding the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army, the first Juche-type revolutionary armed force.

The Japanese imperialists successively sustained one ignominious defeat after another in several operations and battles, including battles of Pochonbo, Jiansanfeng and Taehongdan, the thrust into the Musan area and the large-unit circling operations, and the Korean people proactively participated in the anti-Japanese struggle with the hope for national restoration.

The KPRA conducted military and political activities to proactively greeting the great event of national liberation under the slogan “Let us carry out the Korean revolution by our own efforts!” set forth by Kim Il Sung .

During the days when he prepared for the final battle against the Japanese imperialists, Kim Il Sung advanced the three lines for national liberation on conducting the general offensive of the KPRA, all-people uprising along with the general offensive of the KPRA and combined operations of small units of the KPRA and other armed uprising groups in the rear.

According to the order of Kim Il Sung on launching the general offensive in August 1945, the operations for national liberation were completed in less than one week.

National liberation is the brilliant fruition of heroic anti-Japanese armed struggle waged by Korean revolutionaries who experienced difficulties and trials for 15 years with arms in their hands under the banner of national independence, independence with the Koreans’ own efforts, and the result of the anti-Japanese war waged by the anti-Japanese patriotic force at home and abroad.