Untitled report from Leon Tomaszewski, Polish Ambassador in Pyongyang, describing his conversation with Kim Il Sung that took place on December 30th, 1981

[handwritten] Bilateral relations

DPRK – PRP

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

After use, this code message

is to be destroyed according to

regulations regarding the

handling of secret documents

[handwritten] D.II Kor 0-23-1-82

SECRET

Copy no: 1

Code message No 31/I

From: Pyongyang

No: ..............................

date: 2 January 1982

[handwritten] 13/82

Urgent

Com. Czyrek

Com. Tomaszewski in message no 1 of 1 January 1982 reports:

1. On 30 December 1981 during an audience, Kim Il Sung stated to me. Recently ourP[olitical] B[ureau] carried out a deep analysis of Poland’s situation and took the following position: the introduction of a state of emergency vis-à-vis the working class and the people, in a socialist country, we find worrying. Such a state was a result of the fact that the party poorly carried out its ideological and educational work, the socialist economy, and poorly strengthened the socialist system. Since reactionaries carried out hostile activity against the system, we believe that the undertaken military steps were necessary and [they were] the last resort. It is a great misfortune and an abnormality, however what reaction had done made it necessary to defend socialism. The suffering of a friendly party is also the suffering ours. Global reaction and Reagan are running a campaign of slanders against the system in Poland. I believe that the decisions Jaruzelski took were right. We desire normalization in your country in accordance with the principles of socialist democracy as soon as possible. It is in this spirit that we wish to present this issue in our press in order to educate our society and demonstrate how the imperialists plot to torpedo the socialist system. Pass this opinion of mine to Jaruzelski. May he firmly hold the banner of the dictatorship of the proletariat and take steps towards normalization. I believe that it is our duty to defend the socialist system for which we shed blood and we must not give up. This is a consequence of the very essence of Marxism-Leninism. We ordered the Administrative Council to test the possibility, scope and form of our help for you. In our situation, we are at the frontline of the fight against imperialism. The distance between our countries is big. It is not important whether this help would be big or small. We wish to express our solidarity. Kim asked to pass his regards to comrades Jaruzelski and Jabłoński.

2. 31 December 1981 deputy Minister of foreign affairs Ri Jong-mok informed me: yesterday the P[olitical] B[ureau] decided to offer help to Poland in the form of 3000 tons of wheat, free of charge. It stems from the KWP leader’s care and it is an expression of internationalism.

Thanking, I repeated our particular interest in natural resources for our industry, traditionally imported from the DPRK.