Cable from Chinese Ambassador in North Korea Jiao Ruoyu, 'On the Situation of Calling on Vice Premier Kim Il'

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On the Situation of Calling on Vice Premier Kim Il

[To the] Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Liaison Department:

On the afternoon of 24 December [1965], I met with [North Korean] Vice Premier Kim Il. I am now reporting the contents of what Kim said below:

“We are so happy that the Ambassador [Jiao Ruoyu] has come to [North] Korea for work. From here on out, the Ambassador’s work will certainly make great contributions toward improving relations between the parties, governments, and peoples of our two countries.”

“As the Ambassador says, the friendly relations between the brotherly peoples of [North] Korea and China have long historical roots. The relationship has been forged in blood and is now unbreakable. In our must difficult of times, the Chinese people have always given us material and moral assistance. This is something we will never forget—it has been like this in the past, it is like this now, and it will be like this in the future. We believe that the assistance given to us by China exceeds the assistance we have given to China. During the arduous times of resisting the American aggressors [the Korean War], the Chinese people, in spite of sacrifices, strongly supported us. This is something we will never forget. During the period of reconstruction following the war, China’s assistance to us was very important [among all of the aid given to Korea]. We will not forget this.”

“At present, the American imperialists are occupying South Korea and are in the midst of a confrontation with us. Their war of aggression in Vietnam is expanding. Faced with this situation, the three socialist countries of Asia—China, [North] Korea, and [North] Vietnam—are at the front of the common struggle against American imperialism. Strengthening unity and struggling for a common victory are very important tasks.”

“The Korea-Japan Treaty [the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea] was recently completed. Japan is already invading South Korea. Japan is aggressive in nature. Under the guise of the ‘Korea-Japan Treaty,’ [Japan] is plotting for South Korea to become a bridgehead, used [first] to invade us [North Korea] and then to invade China. Their aggressive ambitions will not die. Thus the struggle against Japanese imperialism is very important. We should engage in a concerted effort [to struggle against Japan]. In fact, a Northeast Asia military alliance has already been formed. Japan’s military has become much stronger than in the past. Under these circumstances, increasing war preparations is very important. Our party [the Korean Workers’ Party] has a slogan of having a gun in one hand and a hammer and sickle in the other in order to turn the country into a fortress.”

“All of the people of the nation have responded to this call and are struggling. The Ambassador knows that, in this regard, whenever we have raised the issue of war preparations to the Chinese government, we have always received material assistance. We are very grateful for this.”

“Comrade Ambassador’s work has great importance. [We] should strengthen our consultations. There is no diplomacy between us. We are brothers. We should be open with each other and have discussions often and exchange views.”

Jiao Ruoyu

25 December 1965

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