(North) Korean News: "All People Called upon to Work Hard to Build Rich and Powerful Nation"

You almost have to admire the way in which the article constantly uses the word "prosperous" without actually claiming that North Korea *is* prosperous. We are told that "A great prosperous powerful socialist nation of Juche" "means" such-and such, and we are told at the end that "The Korean people are fully determined to more firmly defend the socialist country and build it into a more prosperous one." Is there any prosperity now? Not a polite question, evidently. By comparison, if you look carefully at the phasing, the article is quite willing to claim that NK is "invincible," is "impregnable," etc. Sometimes these articles are funny, and sometimes they aren't.

A great prosperous powerful socialist nation of Juche the Korean people are working hard to build means a country in which the sovereign right and interests of the popular masses are fully guaranteed in all fabrics of social life including politics, economy, ideology and culture and a country with strong national power which no enemy dares attack. Building this kind of country would bring the prosperity of Korean style. Rodong Sinmun Sunday says this in a signed article. It goes on:

The great prosperous powerful socialist nation of Juche means, first of all, a powerful nation with single-minded unity in which all the army and people are united around the leader as one.

The DPRK is an indestructible political and ideological power in which the leader and the masses are united as firm as a rock. The single-minded unity of the party, the army and the people means unity in thinking and purpose and sense of moral obligation based on the revolutionary faith and comradeship. This is genuine and solid unity and cohesion which neither nuclear weapons nor crafty psychological warfare can ever break. The DPRK is the only country in the world which has achieved steel-like unity and cohesion around the leader and always emerged victorious with the might of army-people unity.

The great prosperous powerful socialist nation of Juche also means a militarily strong nation with its own tremendous military muscle.

It is thanks to the matchless military power that the DPRK has firmly maintained its independent stand in the stand-off with the U.S. imperialists and displayed its dignity as an invincible socialist powerful nation.

No force on earth can invade the DPRK as it has turned into an impregnable fortress in the true sense of the word, a country with a matchless army having Kim Jong Il, invincible and legendary commander, as the supreme leader of the forces for national defence, fully prepared politically and ideologically and highly modernized in military and technological terms and boasting perfect unity with the people.

The great prosperous powerful socialist nation of Juche means, at the same time, a rich and powerful nation in which all the sectors of the economy make a leap forward on the basis of modern science and technology and in which the standard of the people's living steadily improves.

The Korean people are fully determined to more firmly defend the socialist country and build it into a more prosperous one, cherishing through their life experience the strong faith that they become happier when the country gets more prosperous.

Tags: North Korea, Kim Jong Il, Juche-Coupes