Johannes Wittmund | European Executive Committee of DPRK International Solidarity Group
Dear Comrades!
On behalf of our European Executive Committee, I extend our warmest congratulations on the opening of the conference and ask that you convey our greetings to all of its participants.
You are gathering on the eve of 27 July. Seventy-three years have passed since the signing of the Armistice Agreement, and the significance of what the Korean people achieved during those three years of war has fully retained its importance. Facing military and material pressure unlike that experienced by few peoples in history, they defended their independence and their right to build their state in the way they deemed appropriate.
The armistice was not followed by a peace treaty, and this fact continues to determine the situation on the Korean Peninsula to this day. The division remains, and tensions flare up again and again. External interference and pressure from great powers against a sovereign state remain an everyday reality, which in itself provides sufficient grounds for a deep and public analysis of the events of 1950–1953.
The decision to publish the conference materials in four languages is absolutely correct. Much of what the public believes regarding the Korean War is based on superficial and convenient interpretations, and publication in four languages will allow document-based research to reach a much wider audience.
I will not dwell in detail on how much effort the period of preparation required. Our committee participated in this work, and we know what contribution was made by the Scientific Department and the comrades from the Friendship League. The conference is the result toward which all efforts have been directed.
First and foremost, Russian comrades deserve our gratitude. The Society for Friendship and Cultural Cooperation took on the most difficult part of the organizational work, while the Embassy in Moscow provided constant support. Our friends from the Anti-Imperialist Platform and the Association of Peace Foundations also provided everything necessary. Relations between the DPRK and Russia are currently developing dynamically, and it is precisely organizations such as ours that have the task of creating a foundation of support for them among ordinary people.
We wish you a full hall and discussions that will continue even after the sessions have concluded. May this conference enrich knowledge about that war and preserve the memory of the price paid by the Korean people.
Please convey my personal greetings to the comrades of the Central Committee and to the Russian Friendship Society. I look forward to discussing the results of our work with you at our next meeting.
With comradely respect and solidarity,
Johannes Wittmund
Head of the European Executive Committee of the International Solidarity Group for the DPRK