In his policy speech at the 5th Session of the 14th Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, the respected Comrade
In order to open up a new avenue on all fronts of socialist construction in hearty response to the historic policy speech of the respected General Secretary, it is necessary to consistently hold fast to attaching importance to science and technology as the core policy of the state and apply it to all sectors and fields.
The respected Comrade
"Science and technology are the engine of socialist construction and the major driving force for national economic development."
Now is the era of science and technology which is developing in reliance on the strength of science and technology. The competition of national strength between countries is a competition of science and technology, and the socio-economic development and the destiny and prospect of a country and nation will be decided by who makes new scientific and technological achievements more and faster. It is an important characteristic of the present era that a nation prospers when it holds fast to science and technology, but collapses when it is backward in science and technology.
In view of the gigantic fighting tasks facing our revolution, the characteristics of fierce competition in national strength and the prospect of our style of socialism, it is a very important task to develop science and technology.
The reason that attaching importance to science and technology becomes an important state policy is because the science and technology are the fundamental guarantee for powerfully propelling the development of socialist economic construction.
The economic front is the main front on which we are concentrating all our efforts in the present struggle for a new victory in the socialist construction.
Problems arising in the economic work should be resolved at an early date in order to constantly build the strength to reliably defend the security of the country and the happiness of people, stabilize and improve the people's living as soon as possible and provide a sure guarantee for prosperity by dint of self-reliance by breaking through head-on the manifold ordeals and difficulties, persistent challenges and obstacles.
To this end, it is of paramount importance to build the strength of science and technology and put science and technology on a radical upward stage.
The ambitious goal of readjusting overall economic sectors and developing them simultaneously, the enormous task of boldly changing crop distribution and making a shift of direction to rice, wheat and barley farming, and the gigantic campaign of stepping up local construction in real earnest, along with the construction of the capital city: all these presuppose the locomotive role of science and technology.
There exist many scientific and technological problems demanding urgent solutions for the economic construction and improvement of people's living standards at present. We should put the greatest spurs to the development of science and technology in order to bolster up the metallurgical and chemical industries, effect a radical increase in production in the light industry, modernize equipment and production processes and ensure the domestic production of raw and other materials and recycle used materials.
Many problems are now arising in bolstering the country's economy and in boosting production and construction, including the supply of materials, funds and raw materials, but the most important thing is to enhance the locomotive role of science and technology as required by the developing reality. It is none other than science and technology that create things from scratch and make maximum profits from minimum expenditure. Only when the scientific and technological field exerts its full strength and the scientific and technological forces fulfil their duty, can we boost all sectors and add vigor to the overall state affairs.
Today the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and the DPRK government regard it as their top priority and the most honourable revolutionary work to stabilize and improve the people's living conditions. Giving definite precedence to science and technology is the optimum policy for making changes and development that people can feel in the improvement of their living standards. Successes can be achieved only when we hold fast to science and technology in the work of maximizing the output of consumer goods, solving the problem of food supply by developing agriculture, livestock farming and fishing and pushing ahead with the construction of dwelling houses.
The units which make substantial contributions to improving people's living standards by ensuring regular production and revitalizing production are, without exception, strengthening their scientific and technological forces and finding solutions to the difficulties by dint of science and technology. The experience of these units shows that when they work new miracles and innovations with practical achievements in the development of science and technology by waging a vigorous campaign of attaching importance to science and technology, new successes can be made in the economic construction and the improvement of people's standard of living.
The next reason that attaching importance to science and technology becomes an important state policy is because science and technology are a powerful weapon for increasing our strength for self-development.
Self-development is a great and infinite strength which enables us to strengthen the motive force and pave our way by relying on our own strength, technology and resources.
The ongoing general advance is the grand onward march of self-reliance from A to Z.
The grand onward march of self-reliance is the one of all people and science and technology to break through all sorts of challenges and trials of history and open up a broad avenue to a new victory of socialism by relying on extraordinary spiritual strength and creativity of our people.
What we trust is the strength of science and technology, and what we should rely on is the spiritual strength of all people armed with advanced science and technology. Rapid development of science and technology is the shortcut to a great leap forward in the economic development and the improvement of people's living standard. Herein lies the way to successfully realize the strategy for readjustment and reinforcement, the economic strategy set forth at the 8th Congress of the WPK and adhere to the nationwide, planned and scientific self-reliance, an issue of particular importance demanding innovative application in the economic work.
Surmounting the period of severe trials and training of recent years, our people came to keenly realize the urgency of self-reliance and self-sufficiency.
Economic subordination will ruin the destiny of the country and nation, to say nothing of its development, and it will be possible to defend the dignity of the country and provide people with a more affluent and happy life only by the independent and powerful economic strength.
Economic independence presupposes the independent development of science and technology. Only with advanced science and technology of our own, can we solve all problems arising in economic construction in our own way in conformity with our actual conditions.
By introducing foreign technologies and relying on others' economy, it is possible to make temporary changes, but it is impossible to achieve a stable and sustainable development of the economy. Only when we hold high the banner of self-reliance and self-sufficiency with a firm viewpoint of achieving economic development by our own efforts and technology, can we remarkably increase the country's scientific and technological strength and economic might.
The building of a powerful socialist economy that we aspire to is by no means a goal to be achieved in the distant future. Our strength for self-development will further increase and grow stronger in the vigorous struggle to find out everything on our own land and produce them by our own efforts, wisdom and mode of creation. We should adopt the steadfast viewpoint of paving the way for economic development and propelling the economy by dint of science and technology, regard it as the core, main assignment and priority task to immediately resolve the urgent scientific and technological problems in economic construction and people's living, step up the research in and development for the problems and introduce successes into practice in order to gain actual benefits. Only then, can we firmly preserve the original features of self-supporting economy and fully display its advantages.
Another reason that attaching importance to science and technology becomes an important state policy is because science and technology form inexhaustible resources we should rely on in achieving the successes in all fields of socialist economic construction.
Science and technology are the motive force of the independent economic development. Gone are the days when we discussed about the prospect of a country's economic development in terms of rich natural resources and favourable geographical environment.
With the development of the era, the rate of economic growth rises and the material and cultural demands of people increase, which necessarily requires more resources. Now, the world's natural resources are continuously being consumed and are decreasing with each passing day. The key to developing new resources and recycling used materials is to develop science and technology, and our material and cultural wealth is being created mostly by highly developed science and technology. In the era of knowledge-based economy, the scientific and technological knowledge and scientific and technological forces of our own are the inexhaustible resources we should rely on, and it is the present reality that we can reliably guarantee the rapid and sustained development of the country and nation only by science and technology.
The importance of science and technology and the urgency of their development are becoming more highlighted in this year's struggle to make a breakthrough in implementing the new five-year plan, and the demands and expectations of the Party and people for the field of science and technology are growing further with each passing day.
It is by no means easy to develop and perfect new sciences and technologies under the present situation where everything is in short supply and difficult. Furthermore, scientific and technological achievements are not made overnight. But when we have a firm determination to bolster the economy and propel the development of self-supporting economy with science and technology and make practical successes capable of leading the current onward march, we can glorify this year as a year of making substantial development with science, a year of making a remarkable progress in the development of self-supporting economy with the might of science and technology.
The WPK and the DPRK government want to make it a social climate and national custom to direct primary efforts to the development and innovation of science and technology, train scientific and technological forces of our own and make them play a leading and key role.
What we can trust is the strength of science and technology, and what we should rely on is the great brain and ability of our own scientific and technological forces and talents. Only when we attach importance to talents and give definite precedence to science and technology, can we steadily increase our scientific and technological strength and develop our economy in a multifaceted and comprehensive way.
Even a small country can attain the position of a powerful country and achieve eye-opening development if its scientific and technological forces are strong. But if they are weak, even a country with vast territory and rich natural resources cannot open up a broad avenue for prosperity. Talents are indeed a precious asset decisive of the strength, rise and fall of a nation.
What is vital in the competition of national strength between countries is knowledge competition, which is, in essence, brain competition and competence competition between talents. The reality in which socio-economic development depends on who trains and uses talents more and faster clearly shows that talents constitute a powerful force directly in charge of bringing earlier the social progress and prosperity of the country and nation.
We have the capability and foundation for independent development capable of revitalizing the country's economy and developing it to the world's advanced level in the shortest possible time with self-sufficiency and self-reliance. It is none other than the scientific and technological talents that play a crucial role in maximizing this enormous and unlimited potential for development. Only by them, can the foundation of our independent economy and its potentials be fully displayed, and the inexhaustible strength of all people who make self-reliance part of their mental qualities and burn their hearts with enthusiasm for patriotism and creation can bring about practical successes and substantial changes.
True to the historic administrative policy advanced by the respected General Secretary, we will consistently hold fast to the policy of attaching importance to science and technology as an important state policy, implement it thoroughly in all sectors and fields, and achieve a fresh victory in socialist construction by dint of substantial successes in developing science and technology from this year's onward march.
