Book Review:
"The Guiding Light of Destiny"
Book Review:
"The Guiding Light of Destiny"
Author: Ko Pong, fellow at the south Korean Society of Independent Philosophy
Published:Foreign Languages Publishing House Pyongyang. Korea Juche 92 (2003)
In the Guiding Light of Destiny, Ko Pong has written a book which is more than a philosophical text for its own sake, more than a mere scholarly discourse ( and as a scholarly discourse it is deserving of high praise).This is one of those rare treasures, like the Juche Idea itself, which is philosophical insight actually impacting the livelihood of the masses, that has its thumb on the pulse and heartbeat of humanity's sacred struggle for emancipation, a multi-millennium quest of identity and independence.
With all of the anti-communist propaganda we are fed, in the United States, it may seem bizarre to many of my colleagues that President Kim Il Sung and Marshal Kim Jong Il would be compared favorable to the greatest and most historically impacting of philosophers and social scientists, but this is exactly what Ko Pong bravely argues. From page one, we are taken on a historical course of discovery and achievement as mankind attempts to answer the question "Who are you?" . Here again we have a valuable tool for breaking down the years of lies and slander directed against these esteemed thinkers and leaders, so that we in the US, were it is most needed can study their lessons.
Paragraph by paragraph, we are taken through a course of comparative philosophies as human evolution matures and grows, in the words of the author, "Thousands of Years of Groping for the Guiding Light of Destiny". Sadly, we find, that never is the most burning question, millennium after millennium, ever answered.
President Kim Il Sung was the man responsible for ultimately answering the question "Man who are you?" while in the course of establishing the Juche idea.
Comrade Kim Jong Il, has said
" The Juche idea expounded that man is a social being with independence, creativity, and consciousness and this gave a perfect philosophical elucidation of man."
I fear a short review can never give full testament to the 20 chapters and 103 pages of wisdom found in this book. Living in the decadent US capitalist-imperialist society, were such backwardness exists, and were noble statesman and geniuses of social science like President Kim Il Sung and Marshal Kim Jong Il are falsely slandered as barbaric and Bonapartist "dictators" it refreshing to find in The Guiding Light of Destiny, a book even the most naive of elements can understand and use and open the door to the whole treasure chest of knowledge coming out of Pyongyang.
Ending the book is a nine page poem entitled "Long Live the Juche Idea" written by Illi Reza Cozyaster, head of the Kimilsungism Study Group of Iran. I would like to share with you a few stanzas that most impressed me.
Head up, head up.
You are the master of the world.
You are controller of everything.
You are immediately this world.
Juche placed at the high position of master
Man, who was a slave of Providence.
Power and material
In the several thousand-year-long history of shackles.
Oh, the name of Juche
All people look up to
Is Kim Il Sung
Kim Jong Il.
Juche-Kim Il Sung
Juche-Kim Jong Il.
If I were a betting man, I would bet that I am one of the first people, if not the first, to read this great book in the US. I received it in the mail from the National Democratic Front of South Korea Mission in Pyongyang for some activities I was assisting in conducting, for Marshal Kim Jong Il's 62nd birthday, as per my duties as chairman of the Songun Politics Study Group (USA).
This book immediately stuck out at me, as if a holy biblee or a transporter to the mind of Pyongyang's revolution. I have since read it, in full, nearly a dozen times, and I have referenced it continuously.
The material coming out of Pyongyang is absolutely amazing, and in stark contrast to the junk books on "globalization" coming out of the US, which with all due respect, lack any coherent ideological theory or understanding. Even by the high standards of the Foreign Language Publishing House in Pyongyang, I find this book particularly enjoyable and enlightening. The Guiding Light of Destiny is nothing short of a work of genius and passion.
I have obtained permission to make this piece available on-line. Until then, this book is available for order by the Korean Publication Exchange Association, a catalog of which can be found at
http://www.geocities.com/songunpoliticsstudygroup.com/KPEA.pdf
Book Review and Commentary by John Paul Cupp
Chairman of the Songun Politics Study Group (USA), a group for the study of the army-based socialist postulates of Marshal Kim Jong Il, in the US.
http://www.geocities.com/songunpoliticsstudygroup
Chairman of the US Solidarity Committee to Support the NDFSK and the South Korean People's Struggle
http://www.uscommitteetosupportthendfsk.741.com
In the Guiding Light of Destiny, Ko Pong has written a book which is more than a philosophical text for its own sake, more than a mere scholarly discourse ( and as a scholarly discourse it is deserving of high praise).This is one of those rare treasures, like the Juche Idea itself, which is philosophical insight actually impacting the livelihood of the masses, that has its thumb on the pulse and heartbeat of humanity's sacred struggle for emancipation, a multi-millennium quest of identity and independence.
With all of the anti-communist propaganda we are fed, in the United States, it may seem bizarre to many of my colleagues that President Kim Il Sung and Marshal Kim Jong Il would be compared favorable to the greatest and most historically impacting of philosophers and social scientists, but this is exactly what Ko Pong bravely argues. From page one, we are taken on a historical course of discovery and achievement as mankind attempts to answer the question "Who are you?" . Here again we have a valuable tool for breaking down the years of lies and slander directed against these esteemed thinkers and leaders, so that we in the US, were it is most needed can study their lessons.
Paragraph by paragraph, we are taken through a course of comparative philosophies as human evolution matures and grows, in the words of the author, "Thousands of Years of Groping for the Guiding Light of Destiny". Sadly, we find, that never is the most burning question, millennium after millennium, ever answered.
President Kim Il Sung was the man responsible for ultimately answering the question "Man who are you?" while in the course of establishing the Juche idea.
Comrade Kim Jong Il, has said
" The Juche idea expounded that man is a social being with independence, creativity, and consciousness and this gave a perfect philosophical elucidation of man."
I fear a short review can never give full testament to the 20 chapters and 103 pages of wisdom found in this book. Living in the decadent US capitalist-imperialist society, were such backwardness exists, and were noble statesman and geniuses of social science like President Kim Il Sung and Marshal Kim Jong Il are falsely slandered as barbaric and Bonapartist "dictators" it refreshing to find in The Guiding Light of Destiny, a book even the most naive of elements can understand and use and open the door to the whole treasure chest of knowledge coming out of Pyongyang.
Ending the book is a nine page poem entitled "Long Live the Juche Idea" written by Illi Reza Cozyaster, head of the Kimilsungism Study Group of Iran. I would like to share with you a few stanzas that most impressed me.
Head up, head up.
You are the master of the world.
You are controller of everything.
You are immediately this world.
Juche placed at the high position of master
Man, who was a slave of Providence.
Power and material
In the several thousand-year-long history of shackles.
Oh, the name of Juche
All people look up to
Is Kim Il Sung
Kim Jong Il.
Juche-Kim Il Sung
Juche-Kim Jong Il.
If I were a betting man, I would bet that I am one of the first people, if not the first, to read this great book in the US. I received it in the mail from the National Democratic Front of South Korea Mission in Pyongyang for some activities I was assisting in conducting, for Marshal Kim Jong Il's 62nd birthday, as per my duties as chairman of the Songun Politics Study Group (USA).
This book immediately stuck out at me, as if a holy biblee or a transporter to the mind of Pyongyang's revolution. I have since read it, in full, nearly a dozen times, and I have referenced it continuously.
The material coming out of Pyongyang is absolutely amazing, and in stark contrast to the junk books on "globalization" coming out of the US, which with all due respect, lack any coherent ideological theory or understanding. Even by the high standards of the Foreign Language Publishing House in Pyongyang, I find this book particularly enjoyable and enlightening. The Guiding Light of Destiny is nothing short of a work of genius and passion.
I have obtained permission to make this piece available on-line. Until then, this book is available for order by the Korean Publication Exchange Association, a catalog of which can be found at
http://www.geocities.com/songunpoliticsstudygroup.com/KPEA.pdf
Book Review and Commentary by John Paul Cupp
Chairman of the Songun Politics Study Group (USA), a group for the study of the army-based socialist postulates of Marshal Kim Jong Il, in the US.
http://www.geocities.com/songunpoliticsstudygroup
Chairman of the US Solidarity Committee to Support the NDFSK and the South Korean People's Struggle
http://www.uscommitteetosupportthendfsk.741.com
