The Korean people are significantly commemorating the 51st anniversary of the enactment of the Socialist Constitution in this year of fulfilling struggle.

The foundation of the constitution embodying the immortal Juche idea was provided in the course of the struggle to realize the independent demand and interests of the masses of the people and it is a constitution of the people enacted by reflecting the general will of all of them.

Enacted and promulgated at the First Session of the Fifth Supreme People’s Assembly of the DPRK on December 27 1972, the constitution became the institutional and legal framework for strengthening and developing it into a genuine country of the people.

It was named the Kim Il Sung Constitution at the First Session of the 10th Supreme People’s Assembly in 1998 and formulated and further developed as the Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il Constitution at the Fifth Session of the 12th Supreme People’s Assembly.

The constitution has a preamble as an independent major component which regulates that President Kim Il Sung and Chairman Kim Jong Il shall be held in high esteem as the eternal leaders of Juche Korea and that the ideas and exploits of the President and the Chairman shall be defended and carried forward and developed so as to carry on and accomplish the revolutionary cause of Juche.

Unlike those of other countries mainly regulating the system of state organs, the constitution has independent chapters for politics, the economy, culture and national defence and lays down the basic principles and fighting tasks to develop all fields of state and social life.

The constitution legally and clearly stipulates all principles to actually vest all the people with the position and role as masters of everything and fully provide them with well-being. It codifies everything to suit the independent and creative nature of the people from national sovereignty to ownership of the means of production, the rights to vote and to be elected, those to work, rest and education and freedom of all social and cultural activities which are vested in citizens.

The main ideal of the constitution is the people-first idea that all problems arising in the revolution and construction should be resolved by relying on the strength of the people and that everything in society should serve them. And it comprehensively sets forth principled and line-related matters arising in thoroughly directing state building and social development to realizing the independent interests of the people.

An important characteristic feature of the constitution lies in the fact that it provides the masses with an independent and creative life and firmly guarantees their revolutionary cause institutionally and legally.

The constitution has creditably carried out its mission as a powerful motive force for defending and developing socialism.

When the Korean people faced the life-and-death battle to decide whether they would be reduced to the slaves of imperialism again or safeguard their independence in the middle of the 1990s, the Workers’ Party of Korea resolutely held high the banner of Songun to defend the destiny of the people and the country and socialism. The system of state administration with priority given to national defence, which legally guaranteed Songun politics of the WPK, was of special significance in defending socialism and providing a springboard for building a powerful country.

The Korean people successfully advanced the revolution and construction by meeting the requirements of the socialist constitution despite harsh trials and challenges in the new century of the Juche era.

The establishment of the new system of state administration with the State Affairs Commission as its backbone was the noble manifestation of the Korean people’s unanimous will to accomplish the socialist cause under the unified leadership of the great leader and a political event which laid a foundation of lasting value for the eternal prosperity of Juche Korea.

As the State Affairs Commission became able to lead and manage all state affairs including defence building and economic construction, a new turn was brought about in the struggle of the Korean people to implement the WPK’s plan for building a powerful country.

The Seventh Session of the 14th Supreme People’s Assembly solemnly legalized the DPRK’s nuclear force policy in accordance with the general will of all the Korean people one year ago and the important agenda item for formulating the policy as a basic law of the state was adopted with unanimous approval at the Ninth Session of the 14th SPA in September this year. It is a landmark event as it provided a powerful political weapon for markedly strengthening the national defence capabilities, including the nuclear force, consolidating the institutional and legal foundations for guaranteeing security and protecting national interests by relying on them and accelerating the comprehensive development of Korean-style socialism. The event made it possible to further exalt the prestige of Juche Korea possessed of the practical force and capacity which can put an end to the imperialists’ tyranny and further accelerate the all-people advance for the overall development of socialism with a firm legal guarantee.

Many sectional laws were newly enacted or amended and supplemented on the basis of the Socialist Constitution to bear precious fruit.

The laws on universal 12-year compulsory education and childcare were adopted to enable the state to show greater love and care for children. Innovative successes for rural development in the new era were made across the country thanks to the adoption of the law on socialist rural development and several related laws. The law on emergency epidemic prevention was further subdivided and perfected, thus further increasing the country’s anti-epidemic capacity and capabilities to counter crisis.

It is a great honour and pride of the state and people of the DPRK to have the great political charter, which firmly supports Korean-style socialism and realizes dreams and ideals of the people.