TRENDS IN COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA SUPPLEMENT PROPAGANDA ON THE KOREAN WAR ANNIVERSARY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85T00875R000300030028-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 7, 1999
• Sequence Number: 28
• Publication Date: July 10, 1970
• Content Type: REPORT

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Confidential
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FOREIGN
BROADCAST
INFORMATION
SERVICE
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RENDS
in Communist Propaganda
S U P P L E M E PJ T
PROPAGANDA ON THE KOREAN WAR ANNIVERSARY
Confidential
10 JULY 1970
(VOL. XXI, NO. 271
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CONFIDENTIAL
This propaganda analysis re; sort is based ex-
clusively on material carried in communist
broadcast and press media. It is published
by FBIS without coordination with other U.S.
Government components.
WARNING
This document contains information affecting
the national defense of the United States,
within the mear.!ng of Title 18, sections 793
and 794, of the US Code, as amended. Its
transmission or revelation of its contents to
or receipt by an unauthorized person is pro-
hibited by law.
GROUP 1
Eich ded Iron automatic
downgrading and
dedouif cation
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CONFIDENTIAL FBIS SUPPLEMENT
10 JULY 1970
PROPAGANDA ON THE KOREAN! WAR ANNIVERSARY
Pyongyang media marked the 20th anniversary of the o??.tbreak of
the Korean War with accounts of the usual Pyongyang mass rally,
press articles, an4 publicity for foreign observance of a
"month of solidarity" with North Korea, beginning with the
25 June anniversary of the war and lasting until the 27 July
anniversary of the signing of the armistice. Since this
year's anniversary was a decennial, Kim Il-song played a
part in the festivities and attended the Pyongyang rally, as
he had done on the 10th anniversary. First Vice Premier
Kim I1, who addressed the rally this year, was normally
the ranking official in the past when the speakers were
lower-level functionaries representing trade unions,
agricultural, youth, and women's organizations.*
The higher-level observance this year also included a lengthy
DPRK Government memorandum outlining basic policies instead
of the customary annual joint statement by public organizations.
This year's commemoration in Pyongydng was also unique in that
special foreign delegations attended for the first time--from
the PRC, headed by PLA Chief if Staff Huang Yung-sheng, and
from the DRV, South Vietnam's PRG, and the Laotian NLHX, as
well as Cwnbodia's Prince Sihanouk who was in North Korea for
a state visit.
Peking, which had ignored the anniversary for the past three
years, marked it this time with voluminous and effusive
propaganda, including a joint editorial in PEOPLE'S DAILY,
RED FLAG, and LIBERATION ARMY DAILY--fanfare iii keeping with
the recent warming of Sino-Korean relations that was high-
lighted by Chou En-lai's 5-7 April visit to Pyongyang. This
year, for the first time, Peking linked its commemoration
of the Korean War anniversary to its observance of the
27 June anniversary of the U.S. "occupation" of Taiwan,
apparently as part of its current propaganda focus on
a united Asian struggle against "U.S. imperialism."**
Kim Il was the ranking leader at the Pyongyang rally in
1966, 1968, and 1969; Vice Premier Kim Kwang-hyop was the top
leader present in 1967.
** During the two-week period 22 June to 5 July, Peking devoted
39 percent of its total broadcast propaganda output to the
combined celebration of the Korean War and Taiwan anniversaries.
During a comparable two-week period in 1960, Peking's attention
to the 10th anniversaries of both events totaled only 13 percent.
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Further testimony to the importance Pyongyang and Peking both
attached to this year's anniversary was the dispatch of DPRK
Foreign Minister Pak Song-chol to Peking, where he was received
by Mao Tse-tung and Lin Piao and addressed a Peking rally
along with PRC Vice Premier Li I-Isien-nien.
Pyongyang, while reciprocating Peking's avowals of friendship,
was careful in its treatment of the Soviets. North K,)rean media
duly reported veiled anti-Soviet polemical remarks made by
PRC spokesmen on the anniversary, but DPRK speakers avoided
such remarks on their own authority and made a point of
balancing their thanks for Chinese aid with expressions of
gratitude for Soviet aid.
The Soviets, in contrast to the Chinese, gave the decennial
the same treatment they have accorded the routine annual
anniversaries, with a Moscow city rally addressed by the
chairman of the USSR-DPRK Friendship Society.
PYONGYANG RESTATES BASIC POSITIONS
The broad propaganda themes on the anniversary this year as
usual are those generally pressed in Pyongyang propaganda:
that the United States and the ROK "puppets" are conducting
"provocations" and "war preparations" against the DPRK, but
that they should not forget the "lessons" of the "defeat"
in the Korean War; that only the U.S. "imperialists" and ROK
"puppets" stand in the way of unification; and that the
United Nations has no right to interfere in the unification
question. The propaganda once again reaffirms North Korea's
dedication to the notion of "peaceful" unification, while
at the same time praising the "active anti-U.S., national
salvation struggle" of the South Korean people.,
U.S. "WAR PROVOCATIONS"
The DPRK Government memorandum, like one on the 15th anniver-
sary of the -war in 1965, reviewed the history of U.S. "aggression"
against Korea, now carrying it back.as far as the 19th
century. It brought the bill of particulars up to date and,
in addition to recalling the Pueblo incident of January 1968
and the downing of the U.S. EC-121 "spy plane" in April 1969,
cited the 5 June 1970 sinking of an "armed spy ship"
allegedly sent into North Korean coastal waters by the U.S.
"imperialist aggressors."
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In standard fashion, the memorandum charged that intensification
of U.S. aggressive maneuvers has "led the situation in Korea
to extreme tension in which a war may break out again at any
moment." A number of the speakers, including Kim 11 at the
Pyongyang rally and Pak Song-chol at the rally in Peking,
likened the current situation to that of June 1950 when the
United States "triggered" the Korean War. This theme has been
recurrent since its introduction in November 1966, following
President Johnson's trip to South Korea and the step-up of
incidents at the demarcation line, and has been a staple of
Korean War anniversary propaganda since then.
"PEACEFUL" UNIFICATION
While accusing the United States of war preparations, the
government memorandum also repeated a formulation on peaceful
unification which appeared in the joint statement by public
organizations on last year's anniversary.* It recalled that
the DPRK has "proclaimed more than once that it has no
intention of marching to the South nor will it s&tle the
question of Korean unification by force of arms." The
statement last year simply asserted, without elaboration, the'
Kim Il-song had said this "long ago."
The stress on "peaceful" unification which marked the 1969
anniversary contrasted with the propaganda on the anniversaries
in the two previous years. The comment in 1967 was relatively
militant, in the pattern that developed after the Korean
Workers' Pc;:ty conference of October 1966 at which the need
to build up DPRK defenses was emphasized. The rally speaker
and some commentators declared on the 1967 anniversary that
the Korean People's Army (KPA) was ready to "annihilate the
aggressors and achieve unification of the country any time
it is ordered by the party and the leader." On the 1968
anniversary Pyongyang stressed the militant formulations which
had come into use following the Pueblo incident and also
praised the South Korean "armed guerrilla stru(;gle" -a theme
that had become prominent beginning in July 1967 when the
dispatch of DPRK agents to the South was intensified.
* The only Chinese reference to the DPRK Government statement in
Peking's anniversary propaganda is an expression of "firm support"
for it by Chou En-lai at a banquet given by the DPRK Ambassador
on the 28th. Chinese speakers as usual omitted the term "peaceful"
when expressing support for the Korean people's "just struggle"
for the unification of their homeland.
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The 1970 government memorandum reviewed Pyongyang's frequently
repeated proposals for ach:'_eving "peaceful" unification,
including conclusion of a "peace treaty" between North and
South Korea and the reduction of their respective armies to
100,000, free North-South general elections, and establishment
of a transitional North-South confederation. These proposals
are normally recapped by Pyongyang in such official statements
as the annual public organizations' statement on the Korean
War anniversary and government statements on the annual UNGA
discussion of the "Korean question." Kim Il-song repeated
the proposals most recently in a letter to Byungcholl Koh,
president of the United Front for Korean Democracy in New York,
which was carried by KCNA on 3 June. Kim had sent a similar
letter to Yongjun Kim, president of the Korean Affairs
Institute in Washington, D.C., in January 1967. Kim's letters
and the government memoranda on the UNGA discussions reviewed
various proposals put forward in the 1950's and early 1960's.
The current memorandum also repeated the North Korean proposal
that "an international conference of countries concerned
be convened, if necessary, to peacefully settle the Korean
question." This proposal appeared in the public organizations'
statement on the anniversary last year. First broached in
the mid-1950's, the proposal was resurfaced on 21 July 1966
in a DPRK Government memorandum on the UN General Assembly
discussion of Korea. It was also included in the memoranda
issued in connection with the UNGA debate in 1967 and 1969,
alth;ugh not in 1968. The omission in 1968 was probably
traceable to North Korea's propaganda militancy following the
Pueblo incident and the stress on the South Korean "armed
guerrilla struggle" after July 1967.
SOUTH KOREAN STRUGGLE, "REVOLUTIONARY PARTY"
The government memorandum praised the South Korean people's
"active anti-U.S., national salvation struggle," which it
said is "gaining in scope" and "taking various forms,
including armed struggle." The usual "appeal to the South
Korean people," adopted at the Pyongyang rally and carried
by KCNA oii the 29th, called upon the people of South Korea
to oust the "'U.S. imperialist aggressors" and overthrow the
Pak Chong-hui "clique," reminding them that they have the
"powerful revolutionary base" and the "militant support and
eizcouragement" of the northern half of the country.
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Much of the anniversary comment briefly mentioned the "vanguard"
South Korean Revolutionary Party for Reunification, the
establishment of which was announced by Pyongyang on 20 June.*
The fact that it is a "Marxist-Leninist" party, however, is
noted exp''_icitly only in a NODUNG SINMUN anniversary article
by a KPA general. There was no indication that representatives
of the party pal-bicipated in the anniversary ceremonies in
Pyongyang. But a domestic service announcer on 26 June read
a speech "on behalf" of an unnamed representative of the party,
and belatedly--on 1 July--KCNA carried a "written" speech by
a southern party representative.
Although there were references to "armed struggle" in this year's
anniversary materials, there was nothing to match the militancy
of 1968. The armed struggle theme had taken on propaganda
prominence in July 1967 and was reflected in the war
anniversary propaganda the following June. There were
references to the buildup of the "revolutionary base" in the
Nort,L to "assist" the South Korean struggle, and the propaganda
spoke of. "liberation" of the South Korean people by the North
Korean army if the U.S. "imperialists" attacked. On the 1969
anniversary, when the stress was on "peaceful" unification,
propaganda referred to the South Korean "revolutionary
struggle" but not to an "armed guerrilla struggle." This
phrase, however, has appeared in propaganda occasionally over
the past year.
PEKING LAUDS FRIENDSHIP, COf41ON INTERESTS WITH DPRK
Sino-Korean friendship was warmly praised by both sides in
anniversary propaganda, but Peking ,:as particularly effusive.
PLA Chief of Staff Huang Yung-sheng, speaking at the
Pyongyang rally, typified the comment when he described
the two countries as closely related like "lips and teeth"
and the two peoples as "comrades-in-arms and brothers
standing on the same revolutionary front." He added that
they have :'ought "shoulder to shoulder in the protracted
struggle" against Japanese and U.S. imperialism and that
their friendship is "cemented in blood." Nevertheless,
Peking failed to recall that it has a treaty of friendship,
* See the 24 June FBIS TRENDS, pages 11-12.
CONFIDENTIAL
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cooperation, and mutual assistance with the DPRK. Chinese media
gave token publicity to the 11 July anniversary of the treaty
signing last year, although it totally ignored the Korean War
anniversary. *
DPRK Foreign Minister Pak Song-chol was s,rarmly welcomed in
Peking, where he was received by Mao Tse-tung and Lin Piao
and addressed a Peking rally; he also visited Shanghai, and
deputy head of the DPRK delegation Kim Chung-nin went to
Shenyang, both being feted by revolutionary committee chairmen
at rallies and banquets. (Many of China's provinces also held
local rallies.) A lower-ranking Korean group had gone to
Peking for the 15th anniversary, but there was no such
delegation for the 10th, when the Peking rally was addressed
by the DPRK ambassador.
PYONGYANG, PEKING PRAISE ASIAN SOLIDARITY
Both Pyongyang and Peking praised the "anti-imperialist united
front of the revolutionary Asian people"--a theme that has
become increasingly prominent in their propaganda since the
overthrow of Sihanouk, and especially since Mao's 20 May
statement on the Cambodian and other revolutions. Most of
the anniversary speakers cited various brief passages from
the Mao statement regarding the need for unity of peoples
of the world against "U.S. aggression," the ability of
small countries to defeat big ones, and "revolution" as
the main trend today. Most of the Korean speakers quoted
from Kim I1-song's speech at a 15 June banquet for the
visiting Prince Sihanouk in which he called for a "united
front" of "the peoples of various Asian countries making
revolution, including Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, China, and
Korea."
* Peking also totally ignored the anniversary of the war in
1968 and gave it only cursory acknowledgment in brief NCNA
reports in 1967. Peking last observed the anniversary normally
in 1966--before Sino-Korean relations began to deteriorate
seriously--with a PEOPLE'S DAILY editorial and a Peking rally
addressed by a PRC Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee official.
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The Asian solidarity theme was served by the presence in
Pyongyang of the delegations from the Indochinese countries
as well as from the PRC. There is no known precedent for
such delegations at the anniversary observance. The
groups were led by Tran Huu Duc, Minister attached to the
Premier's Office of the DRV; Nguyen Van Hieu, "special
erivcy" of the NFLSV and PRG (the med,a do not mention that
he was formerly PRG ambassador to Cambodia); and Sanan
Soutthichak, NLHX Central Committee member. Cambodia was
r-cpresented by Prince Sihanouk, already in the DPRK for a
state visit. They all addressed the Pyongyang rally, were
received by Kim Il-song and entertained at a DPRK Cabinet
banquet, and in return jointly hosted a banquet for Kim
Il-song.
In various speeches in Pyongyang the Indochinese delegates
thanked North Korea, the PRC,"and other socialist countries"
for their assistance and backing. The only direct mention
of the USSR appeared in the speech by the NLHX delegate at
the Pyongyang rally. En route to Pyongyang, the Indochinese
delegations stopped in Peking on the 23d, traveling from
there the next day in the same plane with the PliC group.
All four delegations left Pyongymig together on the 28th
and were entertained at a banquet in Peking by the DPRK
Ambassador that evenipg; they left for home on the 29th.
PRC USES OCCASION TO CRITICIZE USSR; DPRK CIRCUMSPECT
Some of Peking's anniversary comment included remarks
implicitly critical of the Soviet Union. Peking's joint
editorial, entitled "People of Asia, Unite and Drive the
U.S. Aggressors Out of Asia!," included the assertion
that "there are certain persons who are collaborating with
U.S. imperialism in evil doings, fraternizing with the
Japanese reactionaries, and even maintaining dirty relations
with Lon Nol and his like." This charge was reported by
Vice Premier Li Hsien-nien at the Peking rally and by the
chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of Liaoning
Province at the Shenyang rally for the deputy head of the
DPRK delegation.
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Other Chinese spokesmen, including Chou En-lai at the banquet
in honor of Pak Song-chol, leveled veiled criticism at the
USSR. Chou remarked that the attitude one takes toward the
U.S. and Japanese reactionaries--whether one "condemns and
fights them" or "encourages and connives with them"--is the
principal criterion of a "true" or "sham" revolutionary.
He associated the Koreans with this view, adding that "as
the Korean comrades say, it is a question of basic stand."
l similar comment was made by the chairman of the Shanghai
Municipal Revolutionary Committee at the Shanghai rally for
Pak Song-chol. Huang Yung-sheng, at the Pyongyang rally,
made a remark in the same vein but omitted the reference
to the Koreans sharing this sentiment. The formulation,
including the reference to the Korean view, had previously
been used by (Chou En-lai on 5 April when he was in Pyongyang,
evidently conveying resentment at that time over Soviet
dealings with Japan. Shortly before Chou's visit, the
North Koreans had in fact called upon the socialist
countries to maintain "an invariable stand of principle"
regarding Japan in a lengthy 30 March NODONG SINMUN
article recounting the evils of Japanese militarism.
Pyongyang duly reported the Chinese speakers' polemical
remarks but avoided anti-Soviet statements on its own
authority. The DPRK thanked the Chinese for sending
volunteers who assisted the Koreans "with blood" during
the war, but added that the people of the Soviet Union
and other socialist countries also gave the Koreans
support and assistance" during the war. The USSR was
mentioned by name in this context in the DPRK Government
statement, by Kim Il at the Pyongyang rally, and by Pak
Song-chol at the Peking rally. Peking's NCNA duly reported
these references in carrying the texts of the Korean items.
MOSCOW GIVES ANNIVERSARY ROUTINE TREAT1ENT
Moscow gave no special attention to the 20th anniversary of
the Korean War, treating it--like the 15th and the 10th--
much as it treats the routine annual ones. The Moscow city
rally was addressed by the chairman of the USSR-DPRK
Friendship Society; the speakers on the 15th and .10th
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anniversaries had been officials of the Soviet Afro-Asian
Solidarity Committee. The meeting was also addressed this
year by the visiting deputy chairman of the counterpart
Korean friendship society. Other features of the Moscow
observance included the customary routine-level press and
radio commentaries, a message from the AUCCTU to its
North Korean counterpart, and a report that the DPRK
Ambassador had a "meeting" with various Soviet representa-
tives. TASS briefly reported the rally held in Pyongyang
on the anniversary, but did not mention the presence of
foreign delegations.
Moscow's propaganda routinely denounced U.S. "war prepara-
tions" and "provocations" in Korea and expressed support
for the North Korean demand that U.S. troops withdraw
from South Korea and for its program for "peaceful"
unification. Unlike Peking, Moscow repeatedly expressed
support for the DPRK Government memoran'1um and the
program for unification outlined in it.
Emphasizing Soviet-Korean friendship, Moscow routinely
recalled that the Soviets gave the Koreans aid during
the. war and in the "construction of socialism" since then.
Pointing to the "successful development" of relations
between the two countries' armies, a 25 June RED STAR
article recalled that a Soviet military delegation led
by Chief of General Staff Zakharov had visited the DPRK
in April and that a DPRK military delegation led by Chief of
the General Staff 0 Chin-u had attended the celebrations
in the Soviet Union of the 9 May 25th anniversary of
VE-Day.
The chairman of the USSR-DPR;C Friendship Society commented
in a radio talk on 25 June that the "fraternal alliance"
of the two countries had been further cemented by the
Soviet-DPRK treaty of friendship, cooperation, and mutual
assistance. On at least the last two Korean War
anniversaries, Moscow had mentioned the treaty in
similar fashion in press comment. The anniversary
of the signing of the treaty, 6 July, has been observed
annually by Moscow, and the treaty has been cited in
other Soviet propaganda from time to time over the years.
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RECOLLECTION OF UNITED ACTION BY DPRK, USSR, PRC
An attack on the Chinese appeared over Moscow's Radio Peace
and Progress in a 27 June commentary on the anniversary in
Mandarin. The broadcast, recalled for Chinese listeners that
the "united action of the Korean, Soviet, and Chinese peoples"
had been "very effective" against the U.S. "aggression" in
Korea and declared that if the Chinese leaders were now to
stop their "splittist activities" and respond "to the call
of the Soviet Union and other socialist countries concerning
the formation of a united front" against imperialism and
reaction, the struggles of the Koreans and other peoples for
independence and freedom would be.more effective.
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