Journal of Soviet Ambassador to the DPRK A.M. Puzanov for 4 December 1957

…4 December 1957

I visited Pak Ui-wan and asked him for assistance in the fastest possible elimination of defects found during the acceptance of Embassy and Consulate buildings. I requested that special attention be paid to the water supply. The problem is that water is supplied only for several hours, in the morning and the evening, and even somewhat worse than before the Embassy moved to the new building, when water was fed to residential buildings from another water pipe. The water tank built with a capacity of 50 m³ isn't giving appreciable help as a consequence of large leaks of water in the system. Therefore it is necessary to build a second 50 m³ tank as quickly as possible, eliminate the water leak from the existing tank and, if possible, also attach it to that water line from which [we] were supplied before connection to the new city water line.

Pak Ui-wan talked about this issue with the chairman of the Pyongyang People's Committee and in the presence of the Deputy Minister of Construction and said that all this will be done by 15 December, in particular the new water tank. He gave an order to the Deputy Minister of Construction to eliminate the other defects.

Deputy Minister of Construction Ri Yun-sik and Embassy engineer N. M. Okhrits were present at the discussion on this issue.

In the conversation which then took place Pak Ui-wan said that at a Presidium meeting today Kim Il Sung's report about the results of the trip of the Party-government delegation to Moscow was examined which he is to make tomorrow at the KWP CC Plenum.

In the first section it speaks of N. S. Khrushchev's report at the Anniversary Session of the USSR Supreme Soviet. Figures are cited about achievements in industry and agriculture, and the development of culture and science in the Soviet Union over 40 years. Figures and targets are also cited from N. S. Khrushchev's report.

The next section of the report is devoted to a conference of Communist and worker's Parties of the countries of people's democracy and also the Communist and worker's Parties of all countries present at the celebration in Moscow. When speaking of revisionism, it points out in the report that this danger needs to be borne in mind and fought, but for the KWP at this moment the main danger is dogmatism. Considerable attention is devoted to the fight against dogmatism.

Little is said about the anti-Party group in the KWP, without citing facts and the participants.

Attention is devoted in the report to the withdrawal of foreign forces from Korea and the peaceful reunification of the country. In Pak Ui-wan's words the report produces a good impression. There were no substantive remarks about the report at the Presidium meeting from Presidium members. It was decided to publish the report in the press on 6 December. Speeches at the Plenum are supposed to be by Kim Chang-man, for about 30 minutes (right after the report), Nam Il, Kim Du-bong, Go Bong-gi, several ministers, chairmen of provincial Party committees, and others.

Pak Ui-wan also told about Kim Il Sung's report concerning the trip to Moscow which was given at the KWP CC Presidium [meeting].

Speaking of the meetings in Moscow, Kim Il Sung said that they were warm and cordial. The atmosphere was good and we felt ourselves to be on an equal footing. They consulted with us on questions of the draft Declaration and Manifesto. There was great detail about the conversations with Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai. Kim Il Sung frankly said that Mao Zedong apologized for last year's direct interference in the internal affairs of the KWP.

I asked Pak Ui-wan whether Kim Il Sung was saying that Mao Zedong talked about the interference under pressure in his conversation?

Pak Ui-wan replied that Kim Il Sung said nothing about this.

Choe Yong-geon tossed in a remark: "…what about Mikoyan, is he indifferent?

Kim Il Sung, in Pak Ui-wan's words, looked aside at Choe Yong-geon, looked at him, Pak Ui-wan, and replied, "You and I know that it was done by the KWP CC". However, said Pak Ui-wan, after the meeting in conversation Kim Il Sung expressed himself frankly that they came to us last year like they were bursting into someone else's house at night. The decision of the September plenum was made under pressure. We turned out to be right. At this point Pak Jeong-ae said that actually the decision of the KWP CC Plenum was adopted under pressure of the two fraternal senior Parties.

After such a comment Kim Il Sung said that you and I acted correctly last year at the September CC Plenum when [we] accepted the suggestion of the representatives of the CPC CC and CPSU CC. Otherwise the situation would have been abnormal.

After the KWP CC Plenum a conference of chairman of people's and Party committees is to be held at which Gosplan Chairman Ri Jeong-ok will report about the economic plan for 1958 which was approved yesterday at the CC Presidium meeting, but will be examined and adopted at the Cabinet of Ministers meeting on Saturday morning. The Presidium also adopted a decision about convening an expanded meeting of the YeDOF at which Kim Il Sung was charged with reporting about the Declaration, the Peace Manifesto, and the peaceful reunification of the country. A session of the Supreme People's Assembly will evidently be convened in March 1958. This means that it will also examine the issue of the withdrawal of foreign troops from Korea. Kim Il Sung made the following proposals today about this issue at the Presidium meeting:

It would be advisable to make wide use of Mao Zedong's suggestion about the withdrawal of the Chinese People's Volunteers to pressure the Americans for a withdrawal of their own forces from South Korea. Therefore, if the Chinese friends agree, we ought to address letters to the Chairman of the PRC about the withdrawal of the people's volunteers from the DPRK and to the UN about the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea.

A decision to convene a KWP Party conference on 17 February was adopted at the Presidium meeting. Two issues are being submitted for discussion: a) about the first DPRK five-year plan and b) about intra-Party issues.