Fifty five years ago the south Korean people launched a mass struggle to put an end to the colonial rule of the US imperialists and the fascist rule of their stooges and achieve an independent life. This struggle, called the April Popular Uprising, occupies a significant page in the history of the movement of the south Korean people.
The uprising swept across south Korea involving several million people. It was an outburst of the pent-up indignation of the south Korean people who were under the colonial rule of the US imperialists and the fascist rule of their stooges for 15 years after Korea’s liberation.
The traitor Syngman Rhee who had maintained his “regime” by dint of the fascist police rule with the backing of the US revealed his wild ambition to win another term in the fraudulent election held on March 15, 1960. Meanwhile, not only workers and citizens but students of secondary and higher schools staged demonstrations, shouting “Reject the fraudulent election” and “The current election is void. Don’t count the votes”.
Dumbfounded, Syngman Rhee placed the whole of south Korea under martial law and issued an order to put down the demonstrations. This enraged the south Korean people of different social strata including youth and students to rise up in the struggle against the crackdown. The participants in the struggle fought against the fascist oppression at the risk of their lives, shouting “Corrupt politics must retire!”, “Down with the Syngman Rhee regime!” and other slogans, and eventually overthrew the dictatorial Syngman Rhee regime, pro-American, flunkeyist and traitorous.
Through the uprising the south Korean people demonstrated that a fascist regime which depends upon pro-Americanism and flunkeyism would inevitably fall into a cesspool of history. The uprising gave a telling blow to the US which had pursued a policy of colonial subjugation in south Korea and showed that a patriotic force would be easily able to defeat any dictatorial group if they wage a stubborn struggle in unity.
Since then 55 years passed, but the aspirations of the south Korean people for independence, democracy and national reunification have not yet been realized.
The achievements the participants in the uprising made at the cost of their blood to democratize the south Korean society have been flagrantly trampled upon by the United States and the pro-American conservative forces of south Korea.
It is the consistent strategy of the US to place the whole of the Korean peninsula under its control and realize its ambition to hold sway over the Asia-Pacific region using south Korea as a foothold.
Proceeding from this strategy, the US has stood in the way of the movement of the Korean people for national reunification and constantly aggravated tension on the Korean peninsula, while tightening its political and military grip on south Korea.
As an example, it decided to indefinitely delay its transfer of wartime operation right to south Korea. Now it is seeking to deploy the THAAD in south Korea. In particular, it is resorting to the machinations to isolate and stifle the DPRK with a foolish scheme to drive it to a collapse in the long run, finding fault with its “nuclear and human rights issues.” In the meantime, it is reinforcing its aggressive armed forces in south Korea and is ceaselessly staging joint military exercises with south Korea in a bid to threaten the DPRK militarily and mount a nuclear war against it. Through large-scale joint military exercises with its puppet bellicose forces of south Korea which are targeted at aggression on the DPRK the United States is driving the Korean peninsula to a touch-and-go situation.
Given to flunkeyism and dependence on foreign forces, the present puppet ruling forces of south Korea are selling out the national dignity and interests, very often referring to the need to tighten the alliance with the US. They are a group of traitors without the slightest national self-respect who bring disgrace on their fellow countrymen by shamelessly fawning on their American master and carry forward the dirty history of toeing the line of outside forces. Hence, the US is intensifying its domination and subordination over south Korea. Moreover, all the elementary achievements for democracy won by the south Korean people at the cost of their blood are being trampled upon.
Recently it has been made public that south Korea and the US cooked up a plot of political terrorism aimed at offending the leadership of the revolution, army-people unity and dignified socialist system of the DPRK. Some spies of south Korea perpetrated espionage against the DPRK under the manipulation of the US and the south Korean puppet group. The largest-ever case is sparking off soaring indignation among the Korean army and people.
As long as the US military occupation and control of south Korea and the traitors who try to curry favour with the aggressors are left intact, the south Korean people will not be freed from misfortunes and sufferings and the Korean peninsula escaped from the danger of war once and for all.
The reality demands that the south Korean people turn out in the patriotic struggle for independence, democracy and national reunification while strongly opposing and rejecting the US domination and intervention and the moves of the puppet conservative group steeped in pro-Americanism and flunkeyism and confrontation with fellow countrymen, following the example of the participants in the uprising.
Herein lies the way to realize the aspiration of the participants, as well as the long-cherished desire of all the south Korean people for independence, democracy and national reunification.
