history of kuk sool won:
1:10 POST KOREAN WAR KOREA: 1953 – Present Day

As the struggles for power north of the 38th parallel began to unfold, KIM IL SUNG was encouraged by the Soviets to take a leading role in the North Korean political scene. In August 1946, North Korea’s communists formerly inaugurated themselves as the Korean Workers Party (KWP) under the joint leadership of KIM IL SUNG and KIM TU BONG. Under communist rule, moderate or right wing opposition was systematically eliminated, religious and other cultural groups suppressed, land and wealth formerly under Japanese control confiscated.

In September 1948, KIM IL SUNG was elected as North Korea’s first premier of the newly formed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Thus began a political reign that was to endure for 46 years until his death in 1994.

In 1950, KIM IL SUNG’s expansionist aims to unify and rule the entire Korean peninsula, led to the onset of the Korean War. Although the war caused enormous damage and loss of life of epidemic proportions, KIM IL SUNG maintained his hold on power. He did this through a strategy of KWP discipline, forced labour policies and by creating a national cult around his own personality. So much so that by the end of the 1950s, North Korea’s economy had recovered, redevelopment and growth had taken place, his position as undisputed leader was secure.

In the mid 1950s increasing conflict between China and Russia - North Korea’s closest allies - led KIM IL SUNG to reassess his country’s links and loyalties with both these nations. However, in 1961, North Korea and the Soviet Union signed a mutual defence pact, which reaffirmed the close ties of the two nations.

In 1966, KIM IL SUNG decided that his country would take a more independent political line in relation to the Communist Party This decision was made after a state visit by the Soviet President ALEKSEY KOSYGIN. In this respect, KIM IL SUNG announced that the KWP would follow the principles of: complete equality, sovereignty, mutual respect, and non-interference with each other. There followed four ideological principles to reinforce this proclamation: autonomy, or identity in ideology; independence in politics; self-sustenance in economy; and self-defence.