The International Institute of the Juche Idea (IIJI) held a Regular Study Meeting in Tokyo on December 8, 2024. It was attended by some 50 people from various parts of Japan, not only from the Kanto region, but also from the Tohoku region, the Kansai region, the Shikoku region, and Okinawa, including Juche idea researchers, democratic activists, Korean residents in Japan, and workers overseas.

Dr. Ogami Ken-ichi, secretary general of the IIJI presided over the gathering.

Stressing that the world people are seeking the Juche idea, Secretary General Ogami referred to what President Kim Il Sung said when he was honored to have been received by President Kim Il Sung together with a Japanese university professor long time ago: “Many countries in the world have gained independence and still are looking for the right path to go after their independence. It is important for those countries to advance along the path of independence. For that purpose, the Juche idea is imperative.”

As a first lecturer, Mr. Ri Yong Su, president of the Korean Residents’ Association of Social Scientists in Japan, delivered a presentation entitled “Report on the Visit to the DPRK by the Korean Residents’ Association of Social Scientists in Japan” based on their visit to homeland from October 21 to November 5, 2024.

Expressing his joy for his visit for the first time in six years, and using photos he had taken there, he explained about the sites they had visited, including the WPK Central Cadres Training School and the Kangdong Greenhouse Complex, and thus introduced the remarkable development of the DPRK to the participants.

He referred to the fact that the 8th Congress of the WPK marked the beginning of the era of the “People-first principle” and said that the four years since then was a historical period of overall socialist development, which also was the first stage of the realization of the DPRK’s 15-year vision. Further, he mentioned that it was also a historic period of simultaneous innovation and transformation at the highest level in a short period of time, overcoming such challenges and difficulties as sanctions, COVID-19, and a series of natural disasters that the DPRK had passed through.

He also stated that the factors for such innovations and changes could be pointed out as the unlimited power of the popular masses, the power of ideology, and the value of the people-first principle. Then he said:

“The ideology that is being demonstrated in the DPRK today is ‘our nation-first principle”, and the source of the unlimited power of the popular masses is the power of ideology.

“The era of ‘our nation-first principle’ is a higher stage of development and a new era of victory, the ‘Juche era, the era of independence’ which was born from the combination of Kim Jong Un's patriotism and will, devotion to the people for their wellbeing and unyielding challenging spirit.

“The world is now moving into a new era of independence, a decisive turning point in history. What is required now is to deepen our study of Kimilsung-Kimjongilism and Kim Jong Un’s revolutionary ideology and to activate our study and dissemination of the Juche idea.

“Let us have a sense of mission as pioneers and display bold practices, being prepared to overcome challenges and difficulties.”

Dr. Tasneem Quaqorh, a Palestinian resident in Japan, gave a lecture entitled “Israel Invades Again” in which she strongly protested against the genocide of the Palestinians by the U.S. and Israel.

She stated as follows:

“The United States has funded 70% of Israel's wars in the Middle East since October 7, 2023. This is in addition to billions of dollars in aid sent since the 1960s, totaling more than $200 billion. This aid includes money, military aid, weapons, and munitions. This shows that the U.S. supports the genocide in Palestine and allows Israeli aggression and genocide.

“Why does the U.S. continue the genocide and allow Israel to expand its aggression?

“Firstly, it is related to the influence exerted by the Israeli lobby, the US-based PAC (Political Action Committee).

“Secondly, it is related to the U.S.’ interest in other natural resources that Israel is stealing things from Palestine, including gas fields discovered on the Gaza offshore line.

“The U.S. is trying to maintain its dominance over the world as the sole superpower.

“If the U.S. had not been on the front lines of the massacre, Israel would not have been able to sustain the offensive as such for more than a year.

“Israel has perpetrated dozens of massacres throughout the Gaza Strip from north to south and continued its tyranny by completely devastating Palestinian towns and villages.

“The things that happened in the past and are happening for the present show that Israel is pursuing its project of occupation, not only in Palestine, but throughout the Middle East, at any cost. The West’s support to Israel will allow Israel to continue to create excuses for its invasion around its neighboring countries just like it has recently invaded Lebanon.”

Prof. Joseph Essertier, an American scholar in Japan, gave a lecture entitled “Anti-War Workers: If Only There Were More Workers Fighting for Peace through Strikes, etc.”

He pointed out that the ruling class does not care about the livelihood about the poor. In the last four years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the livelihood of over a billion poor people around the world has deteriorated and that the working-class people have suffered greatly from the relevant lockdowns.

He also pointed out: the U.S. and Japanese governments and the mass media are highly prejudiced against the DPRK. The mass media in the U.S. and Japan are manipulating information about the DPRK, not just reporting correctly on it. Korean history is not taught in schools in the US as well. Truly, the “forgotten war” is the Korean War. He further said:

“In 2003, the U.S. included the DPRK in the “axis of evil” and made it a target of its preemptive-attack policy. As a result, the DPRK withdrew from the NPT (the Nonproliferation Treaty). The U.S. does not negotiate with other countries in good faith and does not keep its promises.”

Putting an emphasis on that in the fight to prevent a nuclear war from occurring, our greatest weapon now is workers' solidarity and unity, he called on the participants to rise up with the working people and take action in order to prevent a war.

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The IIJI’ Regular Study Meeting provided the participants an opportunity to recognize the importance of the Juche idea and to renew their will to activate the study and dissemination of the Juche idea in the midst of the accelerating trend toward independence in the world.