Minutes of Conversation between Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu and Kim Dong-gyu

The following officials attended the discussion: Stefan Andrei, Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party Secretary and Dumitru Turcus, Deputy Head of Section within the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party.

Pak Jung-guk, the DPRK ambassador to Bucharest also attended.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

Are you enjoying yourself in Romania?

Kim Dong-gyu:

Yes, thank you very much. Owing to your care and to that of other comrades in the party and state leadership we are enjoying ourselves very much, We can actually say we’re feeling as if we were at home.

Thank you very much for the attention you are paying to our delegation. Thank you for this welcome, especially since you’re so busy at the moment.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

I would like to greet your party’s delegation once again, above all [to greet] comrade Kim Dong-gyu. We are happy that such a representative delegation took part in the workings of our Congress. We see it as an expression of the collaborative relations between our parties and our peoples. We see it as an expression of our collaborative relations which have been developing and are ever increasingly developing, between our parties, as we have agreed.

Kim Dong-gyu:

Thank you. I had the opportunity to take part in the workings of your party’s Congress, and I had the opportunity to convey to you our warm regards. But in addition, I was assigned by comrade Kim Il Sung to congratulate you right after the party elections, since he thought that the congratulations telegram will not reach you right away. I would like you to think of all these [gestures] as the embodiment of the extraordinary attention that comrade Kim Il Sung is giving you. We believe that your election as secretary general [of the Romanian Communist Party] is a perfectly natural thing. We believe that your election is absolutely normal, especially since you have acquired so much experience in fighting for the interests of the Romanian people, over a period of forty years; you are a figure that did his best to unite the people around the Romanian Communist Party.

Your election is an important factor for the unity of the international communist and workers’ movement. We view the Report you presented at the [Romanian Communist Party] Congress as a report which clears up the way ahead for Romania to build the socialist society and thereafter to build the communist society. By taking part in the workings of your Congress we could clearly see the high regard and trust that the party, the Romanian people have for you. Your unanimous election to the fore of the party is an extraordinarily positive thing for the future of the relations amongst our parties as well. Our delegation highly appreciates the fact that you were elected at the peak of the party, and the fact that several comrades to whom we pay special attention and with which we are linked through a deep friendship were also elected to the top echelons of the party.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

I would like to deeply thank you for the greetings and wishes conveyed by comrade Kim Il Sung. Needless to say, I appreciate the fact that such a representative delegation was sent to [our] party’s Congress, and I regard the greetings, congratulations and wishes sent by comrade Kim Il Sung as proof of the excellent relations between our parties, between our parties and our countries, Romania and the DPRK.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my satisfaction and that of our party’s leadership for the rising development of relations between our parties and peoples in all fields, and I would like to express my conviction that they will continue to develop.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

Thank you.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

Please tell comrade Kim Il Sung about our desire to increase our cooperation, and even more, tell him about our desire to have him in Romania.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

I assure you I will pass on the invitation and, at the same time, I’d like to tell you that we, including comrade Kim Il Sung, bear in mind at all times the issue of his visit to Romania. Please grant me all your trust on this matter and do not treat my statements as a personal point of view, but as a reflection of our entire leadership, including the opinion of comrade Kim Il Sung.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

As far as Romania is concerned, you attended our Congress, you became aware of the preoccupations we have with respect to internal development, you heard what we said about outcomes, shortages, and you also heard the criticisms brought forward. As for international matters, they were also broadly discussed, I wouldn’t want to dwell on them right now. We believe it is necessary to strengthen the unity, collaboration between revolutionary parties, between all anti-imperialist forces, so as to accelerate our struggle against imperialist policies, to guarantee a new type of international politics. In this respect, we believe it is for the better to have as strong a collaboration between our parties and peoples as possible, and we wish to intensify this collaboration. You saw that the big powers strike deals on all problems. In the end they reach an agreement.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

We are aware of the content of the Report you presented at the Congress and we believe that what you said perfectly corresponds to the principles that should form the basis of international relations, principles that should form the basis of relations amongst states and the problem of how to apply the principles of Marxism-Leninism according to the state of affairs in each country. As you well know, our country is divided because of our enemies’ complot, and the situation is quite tough. With respect to your support that you have given us in the Report from your Congress, it is an extraordinarily important impetus for the struggle of our people, and therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you. We really appreciate the fact that in the Report, you mention that you will support the struggle of our people for the unification of the country in the future as well, and the actions and struggle of other peoples that help us.

We act with a view to peacefully and independently uniting our country, but, as you know, the North-South dialogue has been stalling. We are not guilty in any way for this situation; it’s only the fault of the puppets in the South and the American imperialists. However, we deem it necessary, and we will even try to maintain these North-South contacts, to continue to develop a general political action.

As you know, we adopted several approaches to unite the country, including contacting the US Senate, but despite all these, our problems have not been solved. Not long ago, [the South Koreans] have intensified their actions, through which they infringe upon the agreements we reached at our meetings. South Korea is under foreign influence and at the 63^rd Session of the United Democratic Fatherland Front of Korea we pointed out that in these conditions we can’t achieve the unification of the country peacefully as long as Park Chung Hee. For this reason, we asked for the North-South negotiations to continue between social and political organizations and that progressive parties in both Koreas strengthen [their ranks] and convene a Great National Assembly for both Koreas. When we put this forward, we took into account the fact that, in South Korea, there were massive workers and student protests, mass demonstrations, and our proposal is an impetus in the struggle of the masses [against occupiers], [and] on the other hand it is a factor that could lead to the growing isolation of the leadership in South Korea. Park Chung Hee found himself in a tough spot, but it is for this very reason that [U.S. President Gerald] Ford visited [South Korea] and released a very aggressive communiqué to the press.

According to this communiqué, the Americans declared that they would not pull out their troops from South Korea and that they would help modernize the South Korean army and that in case of a certain situation occurring, they would intervene. I am telling you, comrade Nicolae Ceausescu, all these things because our relations are very good. After his visit to South Korea and after releasing the reactionary communiqué, Ford went to Vladivostok, where he talked to the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Of course, we do not know what happened there. For the time being we cannot say how Brezhnev talked to Ford and what the former told the latter.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

‘Pravda’ reports that the Soviets got along [with Ford] even better than with Nixon!

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

The situation in South Korea is pretty severe also because the North-South dialogue is stalling for the time being. We know that just like before, you, comrade Ceausescu and your party will do everything to support our actions to unify the country, and I want to take this opportunity to pass on our thanks to your entire party. Honestly speaking, we have many friends and none of them, with your exception, could commit to sending those letters to the US Congress. Only your party, which is assuming an independent position, [based on] national sovereignty, supported us with this issue.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

We took and will continue to take [all necessary measures] in the spirit of solidarity, to increase the influence of the DPRK, to reach a resolution for this problem, ultimately to unify the country, and we are certain that [all these] will be achieved.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

Thank you.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

I agree that the unification of the country will only be achieved through peaceful means, and through the intensification of the people’s struggle, both in the South and in the North to draw them closer to one another.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

That is exactly where the problem is: it is progressing very slowly. Our door is wide open.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

Of course, it is not easy to carry out a political struggle but, you see, changes sometimes happen very fast. Your efforts to establish contacts will expedite the process of unification. You probably saw that in Portugal these changes occurred all of a sudden and they created the conditions for the demise of colonialism. In Greece, the military dictatorship perished in a few hours. Therefore, the intensification of the political struggle and contacts  will expedite this process of strengthening of reactionary [sic] forces in South Korea, and the presence of the United States cannot precluded it, as it managed to do in Greece.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

We fully agree with your overview of the international arena.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

Of course, it is necessary to intensify international contacts.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

It is indeed a very important aspect.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

Because that will give a powerful boost to the position of the DPRK.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

That is correct.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

And of course, you must not give up developing your contacts with the US, with the US House of Representatives, with political figures in the US.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

We too are doing our best to get in touch with them. It is for this reason that we proposed signing the peace treaty with the United States.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

The situation can be made clear for the US public opinion by inviting some representatives from the US Senate and journalists.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

It is indeed necessary [to do so].

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

And that will fuel a certain position against Ford and his administration.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

Without any doubt, the factors you mentioned with respect to the situation in Greece and Portugal are favorable to the struggle we are carrying on as well. However, the situation in South Korea is different from the situation in other countries. There is a reactionary in South Korea which is supported internally by foreign forces and therefore it is harder to foresee that there will be a coup.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

Even more so, there can be coups overnight.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

Compared to other countries, the situation [in South Korea] is complicated because they are dependent on the Americans politically, militarily and economically.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

Even more so, it is for this reason that the sentiment against foreign presence must be cultivated.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

[Indeed,] that is why we now mainly stress the democratization of social-political life in South Korea and therefore, we are doing our best to replace Park Chung Hee with a relatively democratic and progressive personality. The problem is that the North is blamed for everything that is going on right now in South Korea, as there are rumors that there are spies from the North, and the South Koreans are therefore carrying out a vicious campaign against communists and [other forces.]

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

The prospects are nonetheless good.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

Thank you for your judgment, and you must know that we are optimistic too.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

I am planning a trip to Japan this spring. They are indeed talking about changing Tanaka but irrespective of any changes my visit is set.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

We believe that these visits are good. It is paramount to influence public opinion in Japan.

Thank you very much for receiving me, especially since you are so busy. We could talk for ages, but generally we know the situation of our relations very well.

Once again, I would like to warmly thank you, on behalf of the entire delegation, for receiving us. I would like to wish you good health, a lot of success in your work and to express my firm belief that the tasks you adopted at the recent Party Congress will be carried out successfully. I assure you that upon my return home I will pass on your exact words to our leader, comrade Kim Il Sung.

Comrade Nicolae Ceausescu:

Once more, I would like to thank comrade Kim Dong-gyu and the other comrades who took part in the workings of our Congress and I would like to wish you success in your activity and good health.

Please pass on to your party and people our wishes of success in the achievement of the peaceful unification of the country and the construction of socialism and once again, to comrade Kim Il Sung our best wishes for his health and successes in his work.

Comrade Kim Dong-gyu:

Thank you very much.

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