For Development of Women’s Union: Kim Jong Un

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un sent a letter "Let the Women's Union Become a Powerful Unit in Propelling the Advance and Development of Our Style of Socialism" to those attending the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Women's Union of Korea on June 20, 2021.

Following is its full text:

It is quite meaningful that the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Women's Union of Korea, a political organization of the masses of women of our country, is being convened immediately after the successful holding of the historic Third Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

The revolutionary enthusiasm and mettle of the people across the country are running higher now as they are greatly inspired by the decisions and special measures adopted at the plenary meeting, aimed at promoting our socialist construction more prudently and powerfully.

Hoping that this congress, held in the days when our socialist construction has entered an important phase, will constitute a turning point in understanding once again the position and duties of the women's movement of our country that has an important role to play in the revolution and in preparing the women's union members as revolutionaries faithful to the Party, as steadfast patriots, I extend warm congratulations to it in the name of the Party Central Committee.

Even in the unfavourable subjective and objective situations prevailing now, our style of socialism is achieving a steady advance and development and the strength of our state is being built up day after day, and all these are inconceivable separated from the loyal and patriotic minds of our women including the women's union members who are pushing ahead one of the two wheels of the revolution along the road to victory indicated by the Party.

Our women including the women's union members have entrusted their destiny entirely to the WPK, followed it both in good times and bad, and devoted themselves to adding further victory and glory to their socialist motherland. Their ennobling spiritual world and unyielding struggle is a source of great pride for our Party and people.

In the history of the unforgettable struggle over the past five years, in which our revolution has gone through another period of difficulties and training and made an enormous leap forward, they rendered an outstanding contribution to their country, fellow people and posterity with a burning patriotic passion.

The consecutive challenges and disasters that have befallen our state and people have imposed one burden after another on all families across the country in their living, but before thinking of their livelihood, our women including the women's union members, mindful of their sense of responsibility for the Party and the country, have done their utmost to support our socialist system and increase our country's strength.

While rendering assistance to the major fronts of socialist construction, they have performed feats of labour by volunteering to do difficult tasks and brought the beautiful morality and traits into full bloom in our great socialist family by overcoming the difficulties cheerfully. Their lofty minds and devoted efforts are imprinted in all the great successes and proud creations, symbolic of the self-respect and prosperity of our state.

And shouldering the heavy burdens of their families, they have supported their dear husbands and children to be faithful to the Party and the revolution and, in these days when their country is in difficulties, strived tenaciously to do one more thing for the benefit of the country; their sincerity has added strength to our revolution on its advance in the face of difficulties.

Every step our country has taken to attain the present strategic status recognized by the world and demonstrate its prestige and glory is associated with the devoted efforts and selfless support of our unyielding and pure-hearted women including the women's union members; the Party Central Committee will never forget their laudable deeds and beautiful minds.

Availing myself of this opportunity, I extend warm greetings of gratitude to all the Korean women for devoting all their sincerity for the prosperity and development of their country, for the bright future of their rising generations and for the unity and harmony of their society and families by braving difficulties, following our Party wholeheartedly.

It is the steadfast will of the Party Central Committee to take full responsibility for the lives and life of the people however severe the trials facing us are and advance with unflinching perseverance towards a fresh victory of socialism so as to provide our people including our women, who are the finest in the world, with a better future and a stabilized and happy life free from any worries.

Proceeding from this, the Third Plenary Meeting of the Eighth Central Committee of the WPK advanced crucial policies for promoting our socialist construction as quickly as possible in the harsh circumstances and adopted decisive measures for resolving the pressing problems, which our people, women in particular, are concerned with and wish to be resolved.

Today, when everything is arduous and challenging, all the people should be rallied behind the Party more firmly, and instead of harbouring vague hopes or expectation, they should cultivate indomitable fighting will and conviction and give free rein to the revolutionary spirit and the fighting mettle of self-reliance and fortitude unique to the Korean revolution. Then a prosperous and happy new era ushered in by the Eighth Congress of the WPK will surely arrive.

Women constitute a powerful force for the development of a state and society, and the future of families, society and, furthermore, a country is inconceivable separated from the roles played by them.

Only when our women, who make up half of the country's population, are united as one and give play to their spiritual strength and patriotism, can we increase our independent strength, our internal forces, of our revolution and accelerate the speed of socialist construction. This is why on today's revolutionary advance for a fresh upsurge and massive transformation in socialist construction our Party attaches great importance to the role of the women's union, a political organization of the masses of the Korean women and an organization for their ideological education.

In this pivotal period of our revolution, the women's union, by nature, must inject vitality into the advancing revolution and forcefully propel today's all-people advance by remarkably enhancing its fighting efficiency and rousing all its members to the implementation of the major decisions of the Party Congress and the Party Central Committee.

The central task facing the women's union organizations at present is to train all their members to be genuine revolutionaries and ardent patriots, who are fully prepared politically and morally and devote themselves to the socialist patriotic work.

The SWUK should fully demonstrate the strength of the women's movement of Korea by implanting the ideological and spiritual principle of loyalty and patriotism in all its members and giving the fullest play to their enthusiasm for the revolution.

The women's union organizations should first direct its great effort to the ideological work aimed at improving the level of political consciousness of their members.

This work is an essential and primary process in training them to be true revolutionaries, who work with devotion not only for the happiness of their own families but for the prosperity and development of their country, our great socialist family.

What is important in raising the level of political consciousness of the members of the women's union is to full imbue them with the Party's lines and policies.

The process of arming them with the Party's lines and policies, the guidelines of the revolution and construction, and mobilizing them to implement them is precisely the process of enhancing the political consciousness of the masses and transforming them along the revolutionary and communist lines.

Women's union organizations should promptly and accurately convey to their members the Party's lines and policies advanced at each period and explain their gist and contents in clear and plain terms. In this way they can instil in them the conviction that they can be stronger and better-off only when they do as required by the Party's policies.

In particular, they should make their members fully aware of the fighting objectives and struggle tasks set forth at the Party's Eighth Congress and the plenary meetings of the its Central Committee, as well as the major ideas which they must regard as the guidelines for their work and life. Doing this will help them clearly understand what is expected of them in the era of a new advance, an era of dynamic struggle.

It is important to conduct information and education work on the validity and vitality of the Party's policies in a true-to-life and persuasive manner and in combination with the reality. Then all the women's union members will keenly realize how great the affection, benevolence and benefit bestowed on them by the Party and the state, and exert themselves to live up to them.

Women's union organizations should not content themselves with informing their members of the Party's ideas and policies once or twice, but turn every occasion of their work with them into a process of rearming them with the Party's lines and policies.

They should help their members to widen their political vision by reading the Party's organ, magazine Korean Women and other revolutionary publications. They should encourage them to make reading the Party's organ Rodong Sinmun their everyday routine and habit and, by doing so, be fully aware of our Party's intentions and the reality which is seething with socialist construction. Korean Women should be edited in such a way that it can sensitively carry the Party's policies and what is essential for the education of women and what they want to know. Then the magazine will become politically significant and an excellent life companion welcomed by every woman.

It is important in raising the level of political consciousness of the women's union members to conduct ideological education of them in an aggressive way with the main emphasis on the five-point education.

Women's union organizations should turn all the opportunities and means for education including visits to the revolutionary battlefields and historic sites into occasions when their members improve their political consciousness while cultivating their loyalty to the Party, faith in the sure victory of revolution and ardent love for socialist country and developing their staunch class consciousness and communist traits.

Women's union members should be inspired to learn from the ennobling ideological and spiritual world and fighting spirit possessed by the preceding generations of our revolution. Inheriting their loyalty, revolutionary character, indomitable fighting spirit and noble traits is important for everyone of the current generation, but this is crucial for women in particular, who hold a more important position than anybody else in carrying forward the lifeline of their revolutionary families and the baton of the dignified powerful country.

They should be educated to learn the revolutionary spirit of the preceding generations and the value of the sweat and blood they shed. Then they will not remain onlookers who merely observe the developing times and reality within the narrow confines of their homes, but become genuine masters who propel the era of massive transformation and dependable cornerstones who carry forward their excellent family and national traits and support their country.

Women's union organizations should conduct ideological education among their members by using vivid historical materials so that they all can cherish deeply in their minds the faith that the priceless glory of life, the happiness of their families and offspring and the bright future of their country are assured when they follow the Party and the leader regarding them as their spiritual mainstay as the heroes and vanguards in the period of postwar reconstruction and the Chollima era did. They should inspire their members to devote heart and soul to the struggle to bring earlier the future of the prosperous and powerful country our Party plans to build, while comparing themselves with the preceding generations who built a socialist paradise resounding with the song We Are the Happiest in the World in a span of merely ten years after the war under the leadership of the great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung.

Second, women's union organizations should educate and guide their members to possess civilized and ennobling cultural and moral traits.

Women's cultural and moral traits are reflected in the lifestyle of the country and society and the traits of their posterity.

Women's union members and other women should always remember that only when they are culturally and morally beautiful and pure can the country be civilized, their families and society be sound and our future be bright.

They should be proactive in sustaining our own lifestyle, moral traits and beautiful manners and customs unique to our nation.

They should be encouraged to prefer to wear Korean traditional women's clothes, make their attire and personal appearance smart and refined as required by the aesthetic tastes of the times and manage their household affairs scrupulously, thereby making all the aspects of life brim over with our flavour, taste and national emotions.

They should make it a rule to always keep their houses, streets and villages cultured and neat and economize on everything. Women's union organizations should ensure that the movements for winning the titles of July 11 Red-flag Dong of Loyalty and July 11 Red-flag Neighbourhood Unit of Loyalty and for creating families exemplary in establishing a socialist cultured way of life do not become a businesslike work of sprucing them up, but a process for enhancing the level of civilization of their members and other women and cultivating among them the love for their home towns, families and future and the spirit of thrift.

It is the Korean women's excellent trait to observe good manners, promote harmony of their families, help others and strengthen friendly ties with their neighbours.

Women's union organizations should pay close attention to sustaining and developing these beautiful moral traits and good manners.

They should ensure that the ennobling human traits of our women find expression in respecting the revolutionary forerunners, their teachers and seniors and in voluntarily observing etiquette in speech and greetings and public decency.

They should see to it that all their members and other women advance hand in hand towards the bright morrow, upholding the communist slogan "One for all and all for one!" which epitomizes the spiritual and moral traits of our society. Our human relations should be forged by virtue of benevolence and tender feelings, regarding sacrificing oneself for others as a noble virtue and beautiful deed, and helping and supporting others sharing joy and sorrow with them. They should ensure that these relations become firm moral foundations of our society.

Women's union members and other women should be encouraged to value their families, cells of society, and make their homes happy places to live in.

Nobody can replace them in their role of supporting their husbands so that they will be faithful to the Party and revolution, bringing up their children into reliable pillars of socialist Korea and keeping their families amicable and harmonious.

Although there may be something insufficient in their family life, they, always mindful of their responsibilities as a homemaker, daughter-in-law, wife and mother, should care for their parents-in-law and exert themselves to support their husbands and children so that they creditably discharge their duties they have assumed before the state and society.

When all the women's union members and other women across the country become tender-hearted daughters-in-law, beloved wives, considerate mothers and kindly neighbours, our society will always be full of animation and vitality and our state will possess greater strength.

Women's union organizations should create a revolutionary climate of cultural and emotional life among their members to ensure that they lead a life full of optimism and emotion. They should organize various mass-based cultural activities such as dissemination of songs, group dancing, appreciation of literary and artistic works and recital of poems in consideration of our women's psychology characterized by rich emotion and love of arts. They should also hold regular sports and recreational games that suit their constitution and physical features. By doing so, they can ensure that the whole society brims with vigour and optimism by virtue of our women's happy laughter and cheerful and optimistic way of life.

The organizations should intensify the struggle against anti-socialist and non-socialist practices. They should bring home to their members the truth that such practices are harmful, poisonous weeds that spread the seeds of calamity over the cradle of their happiness and malignant tumor that threatens the life and future of themselves, their families and posterity, so that every one of them can detest and despise those practices. They should make sure that their members do not connive at the practices manifested in their surroundings, regarding them as something of no concern of theirs, but combat even the slightest manifestation then and there uncompromisingly by approaching them in the context of the future of our style of socialism and the life or death of themselves and their children. As a guardian of their members' political integrity, they should give a timely alarm to warn of the alien tendencies manifested in various aspects of life including their attire and speeches, and root them out through intense ideological education and struggle.

Third, women's union organizations should proactively organize and enlist all their members in the worthwhile patriotic work to exalt the brilliance of the era of the our-state-first principle.

Women's union members should be encouraged to conduct brisk motivational activities of various forms in the major theatres and production sites where fierce struggles are underway to implement the decisions of the Party Congress.

They should keep the working people's hearts ablaze with enthusiasm by means of revolutionary songs and stirring motivational speeches, help them with their work and offer various kinds of service at their breaks, thereby encouraging the combatants to perform creative labour feats.

They should contribute to building a prosperous country with their honest sweat and efforts.

Women's union shock brigade movement should be oriented to developing their own home towns and villages into model towns and ideal villages, in which socialist civilization is epitomized, and providing manpower support to the local factories, enterprises and cooperative farms. All the women's union members should devote themselves with a pure conscience and patriotic heart even if they have to plant a single tree and a single blade of grass.

They should be encouraged to turn out as one in good-conduct movements with a sense of civic duty and patriotic conscience.

Women's union organizations and their members should launch a wide range of good-conduct movements including silkworm and rabbit breeding and find out more tasks to contribute to the country in accordance with the features and actual situations of the local areas.

Women's union members should not neglect recycling of outdated and idle materials, but take an active part in it, regarding it as a patriotic undertaking to enrich the treasure house of the country.

Women's union organizations should scrupulously organize the work of publicizing the good experiences gained in the good-conduct movements and raise a hot wind of competition for learning from others and overtaking them.

Women's union members in the sector of commerce and public catering, mindful of their duties as faithful service workers for the people, should rack their brains to provide the people, who have thrown themselves heart and soul into implementing the decisions of the Party Congress, with as many benefits as possible, and be more meticulous and kindly in their service to save them any inconvenience.

When housewives join and work at housewives' workteams, it will contribute to improving the people's livelihood and housekeeping and will be conducive to training them in the spirit of collectivism.

Provinces, cities and counties should organize various types of such workteams in a rational way to increase the production of consumer goods and contribute to providing convenience to the people's living in line with the actual conditions of their areas, and actively involve housewives in them to run them briskly.

Women's union organizations should strengthen education and control lest their members fall into the deviation and selfish inclination of not participating in production activities in actuality after nominally registering their names in housewives' workteams, so that they can make a substantial contribution to creating public wealth through diligent labour.

They should scrupulously arrange the work of encouraging their members in working age to actively enter society.

An important purpose of making them do so is to train them to be patriotic working people who love their country and fellow people.

In our country there are many women who are working faithfully for the Party, country and people at their own posts, even though they may not be seen or appreciated. No one else will bring us happiness; when we all work with devotion for creation, we will enjoy a more bountiful and beautiful future and life.

Women's union organizations should encourage their members to learn from the women who have volunteered to work at schools in the mountain villages and branch schools on islands far away from their dear hometowns and the models of laudable traits who are adding lustre to their life after volunteering to work at difficult and labour-consuming posts including the socialist countryside, to which the Party appeals to go. It is necessary to implant in them the consciousness that to participate in public life is just the road to loyalty and patriotism to repay the favour bestowed on them by the Party and country that have brought them up and the road to happiness for the future of themselves and their descendants, so as to ensure that they volunteer for honourable workplaces of socialist construction.

As women's union members differ from one another in their careers, hobbies and level of knowledge, it is important to do the work of encouraging them to enter society with a methodology.

As they are familiar with the merits, fortes, aptitudes and abilities of their members, women's union organizations should keep in close touch with relevant organs so that they are assigned to the right posts. As women's union members get more active in participating in public life, relevant units should organize work carefully to provide them with proper working and living conditions.

Women's union organizations should make sure that their members assist the People's Army substantially.

Officers' wives, always being conscious of the trust of the Party that puts them forward as the "eldest daughters-in-law" of our Party and the "cooks" of the Supreme Headquarters, should fulfil their role as assistants of their husbands and also take warm care of the life of other soldiers with the mind of their eldest sisters-in-law and eldest sisters.

All the women's union members and other women should send letters to the service personnel, who are performing feats at the posts of national defence and the sites of grand socialist construction, by reflecting their kindred affection in order to give them strength and encouragement and assist them in all sincerity, and pay close attention to the life of war veterans, honoured disabled soldiers, the families of those fallen in action and the families of service personnel and take sincere care of them.

Fourth, women's union organizations should ensure that their members put their affection and heart and soul to educating and training their children in a revolutionary way.

As there is a good mother behind a good man, the personality of children greatly depends on the role of women, mothers.

Women's union members and other women should not forget that proper education of their children is not confined to the matter of carrying on a family line, but is the noblest revolutionary work of training the successors who will shoulder the future of the revolution. They should always pay close attention to their growth and development without relaxing their mind, thinking that there will be nothing wrong with them since the country has taken full charge of their education.

They should make their children aware of the benevolence of the Party and the socialist system and instil in them the spirit of loving the country from childhood, and cultivate among them the feeling of respect for their parents, seniors and teachers, love for their collective and mates, attachment to our own things and hatred towards injustice so that they can behave honestly at all times and in all places. In particular, it is needed to put them on the right track and guide them correctly at every step of their growth lest they should be infected with an alien ideology, culture and lifestyle in their childhood and youth when they are curious about anything and sensitive to the new.

Bearing in mind that every word and deed of parents is reflected on the minds of their children like in a mirror, women's union members and other women should make every occasion of their life serve as a good textbook and even a word they speak contain the noble mind that cares for the country and the people before their own families.

Spare the rod and spoil the child, a saying goes. They should always make exacting demands on their children and lead them along the right path, instead of indulging them with blind love, so that they can grow into true and staunch sons and daughters of the country.

Women's union members and other women, who are all mothers, should actively encourage their children to volunteer in high spirits for difficult and labour-consuming sectors and the sacred posts of national defence in response to the call of the times so that they can add lustre to their youth.

They should engrave in their own hearts the noble and warm maternal love cherished by the mothers of this country who, during the Fatherland Liberation War, pushed their beloved children without hesitation to take the path of sacred struggle for defending the country, the path along which they had to cross a sea of flames.

Women's union organizations should, on Children's Education Day and different other occasions, inform their members of matters relating to education at home, give prominence to those members who have brought up fine children before sending them to posts of national defence and those who are properly educating and supporting their children so that they can study hard, take an active part in their organizational life and devote their sincere sweat and efforts to performing their revolutionary tasks, and scrupulously organize the work of making others follow suit.

For women to give birth to many children and raise them is an important matter that has a bearing on the destiny of the country and the future of the nation. Women should regard it as a laudable deed for the country and nation and an expression of patriotism to bear a large number of children and raise them to be fine persons. It is necessary to foster a social climate of rendering active assistance and giving preferential treatment to these mothers and strengthen state supply measures for them as well.

It is the most important policy and supreme desire of our Party and state to create better conditions for the upbringing of our children.

The women's union, mindful of the intention of the Party in taking special measures for our children at the Third Plenary Meeting of its Eighth Central Committee, should pay special attention to improving the work of the nurseries and kindergartens and making the nurses and teachers concentrate on bringing up children with the love and affection of their parents.

The SWUK should strengthen the combat capability of its organizations in every way in order to fully discharge the historic mission and duties it has assumed for the times and the revolution.

The focus in this work should be directed to giving precedence to the internal work of the union.

It is of particular importance for those organizations, which embrace many housewives, to direct great efforts to the guidance of their organizational and ideological life. The women's union should eliminate the tendency of engrossing itself in the activities of shock brigade and public decency maintenance corps and in implementing the economic tasks, and concentrate on arranging and guiding the organizational life of its members.

Its organizations should establish discipline among their members so that they would respect their organization and strictly observe the organizational discipline. They should make their members enhance their sense of organization, approach the decisions of their organizations seriously and carry out the decisions faithfully with the awareness that they can cast in their lots with the Party and add glory to their political integrity only through their organization.

They should lead their members to intensify the study of the union Rules and conduct their organizational life strictly as required by the Rules and norms of the union.

They should under any circumstances hold the regular general membership meetings and union life review sessions on the set dates without fail, heighten their political and ideological level; in particular, they should make the union life review sessions a process of ideological cultivation and training, by which their members realize their mistakes, awaken themselves and correct the mistakes in the atmosphere of strong criticism.

They should give assignments to their members in accordance with their characteristics and help them carry out those assignments correctly so as to make the process of carrying out the assignments an important occasion for awakening them ideologically, strengthening the organizations and encouraging them to make contributions to social development.

They should make an effective use of the information, motivation and edification system established in the union, reinforce and readjust the forces of information and motivation work, and steadily intensify the ideological educational work so as to prevent a vacuum from being created in their members' ideological consciousness.

They should employ fresh, original and highly effective methods for ideological education. They should not simply relay the lecture plans and educational materials sent by organizations at higher echelons and make up numbers in ideological education, but conduct this work through the combination of various methods like amateur artistic performances, explanation and persuasion, public discussions, get-togethers for exchanging impressions and multimedia presentations in line with the characteristics of women who are emotional, tender-hearted and meticulous, so that every event can touch their heartstrings.

They should eliminate the tendency of exaggeration and beautification about the reality and self-praise in ideological education, and conduct the work truthfully so that their members can believe and accept the reality as it is and in a direct way so that they can clearly understand the Party's intentions.

The fighting efficiency of the women's union is precisely the fighting efficiency of its primary organizations. Only when the primary organizations are strengthened, can the whole of the women's union be strengthened, and only when the primary organizations are active in their work, can the whole of the union become vibrant.

The main link in the whole chain of strengthening the primary organizations is to improve the practical qualifications of their officials. However high their preparedness and enthusiasm may be, they cannot lead their organizations properly if their qualifications are low.

The Day of Primary Officials should be operated in an effective way, and their practical levels and qualifications raised by various forms and methods including workshops, experience swapping and question-and-answer sessions.

Officials of the central, provincial, city and county women's union committees should go down to primary organizations in a planned and regular way, and help their officials sincerely, teaching them in detail the methods of arranging and guiding the organizational life, and resolving problems facing them.

What is important now in strengthening the primary organizations of the women's union is to properly control the ranks of its members and improve the organizational life guidance system in keeping with the actual requirements of the reality. The Central Committee of the SWUK should resolve the problems of the membership and composition of its primary organizations in a reasonable way so that it can grasp the actual situations in these organizations in detail and strengthen its arrangement and guidance of the organizational life of its members. It should take measures to solve without delay the problem of those who are divorced from their organizations or have not registered with them. It should also take measures for readjusting the structural system and working system of its city and county committees and primary committees so as to facilitate the arrangement and guidance of the organizational and ideological life of their members.

The women's union, by giving priority to the work of improving the fighting efficiency of its primary organizations, should intensify the movement of winning the titles of Model Primary Women's Union Committee of Loyalty and Model Primary Women's Union Unit of Loyalty and arrange in a scrupulous way the work of creating models in this movement and propagating their experiences. By doing so, they can turn all the primary organizations into units, whose members are faithful to the Party, are firmly united with one another as comrades and carry out any task one by one with credit.

The key to strengthening the fighting efficiency of the women's union organizations is in intensifying the work with their members.

Their might is just the united efforts of their members, and it is only when they rally all their members around them and move their hearts that their fighting efficiency is doubled.

The women's union should define a correct orientation of its work so that all its officials can give priority to the work with its members.

The work with women's union members is the work to understand their minds and feelings. The officials' work with them can be effective only when they open their minds, learning their innermost thoughts and even the mental pains that others are not aware of.

To this end, the working methods and style of officials of the women's union should be improved. If they are not sincere in learning the inmost thoughts of the union members, but put on airs and overbearing attitude, thinking that they could solve all problems with exacting demands and control, the masses of women will not follow them. Officials and members of the union are all women and daughters of the Party alike. If there is anything special for officials of the union, it is the trust bestowed on them by the Party and their organization. They should remember at all times that this trust means political trust and request that they should take care of the members as warmly as mothers do their own married daughters, and prepare them into laudable revolutionaries.

They should show warm humanity in their work while maintaining fidelity to principle.

As there are not a few among the women's union members, who are suffering from difficult living conditions of their families, the union officials should take tender care of and lead all of such members with prudence and human feeling. When they help and encourage those who are suffering mental agony and various other difficulties and make sincere efforts for them like their own elder or younger sisters, they will open their hearts to their organization and follow it sincerely.

They should put efforts into the work with hard-core and model members so that each of them will educate and lead ten and ten a hundred, thus strengthening the ideological and volitional unity of the union ranks.

They should be well-informed if they are to do their work well with the union members. They should all be more sensitive to the Party's ideas than anyone else, and make efforts to be well-versed in the Party's lines and policies and acquire much more knowledge, broader understanding and higher cultural attainments.

Party organizations at all levels should attach importance to the work of the women's union organizations, providing them with constant care and steering their work well.

They should give substantial guidance to the women's union organizations so that they can correctly determine the central point and orientation of their work in compliance with the Party's intentions and positively push ahead with their work as suited to the characteristics of their members; in particular, they should pay special attention to enhancing their independent and creative capacities.

They should keep abreast of the work of the women's union organizations, solve problems in their work in time, and encourage them to be always in motion and play their role creditably.

Party organizations and government organs should never give women's union organizations in their relevant regions social and other burdensome tasks, regarding their members as spare labour force.

They should direct great efforts to building up the ranks of the women's union officials with the former soldiers and other women who are loyal to the Party, have noble traits, enjoy popularity and are enthusiastic in their work, and to improving their qualifications.

Respecting women is a laudable virtue of communists and a quality showcasing the level of civilization of a society. Party organizations should establish across society the atmosphere of loving, giving prominence to and helping them, and make sure that the policies adopted for women are implemented to the letter.

Today, the era of a fresh upsurge and massive transformation of our revolution requires all the women's union members to powerfully advance the era of a great change with the indomitable spiritual strength and patriotic devotion unique to the Korean women.

I firmly believe that all those attending this congress and women's union organizations will bring about a substantial improvement in their work as required by the developing revolution so as to demonstrate the might of the women's union to the full by rallying all the union members around the Party more firmly and energetically arousing them to the struggle for socialist construction. -0-