https://www.worldtribune.com/march-1-2019-a-declaration-of-independence-for-north-korea/
Full article from Notable LB
Photo of Conservatives demonstrate against South Korean President Moon Jae-In in Seoul on March 1, 2019.
The full text of the declaration is published below:
The Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) organization — which offers to assist people attempting to defect from North Korea — emerged in 2017 when it posted an online video of Kim Han-Sol, saying it had guaranteed his safety after his father, Kim Jong-Nam, was killed by two women who smeared him with VX nerve agent.
In its declaration, on the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of mass Korean protests against Japanese occupation, the group proclaimed North Koreans’ liberation from Pyongyang’s dynastic communist regime.
Meanwhile, an analysis by Oh Young-Jin in the Korea Times warned that Kim Jong-Un may be in jeopardy on his long journey back home by train after U.S. President Donald Trump walked away from talks without an agreement:
The failed mission may pose an existential threat to Kim, who has inherited fear-based rule from his father Kim Jong-il and his grandfather and national founder Kim Il-sung. The problem is that the young Kim lacks the charisma of his granddad, who was appointed to lead a Soviet puppet regime and solidified power by an incessant series of purges, or the long apprenticeship his father had as heir apparent. That means he can scarcely afford to look weak or otherwise have his supposed image of ideological immaculacy tarnished. The Hanoi affair could do that damage to him.
Following is the full text of the declaration whose authors said the government in exile is being formed with support from abroad.
DECLARATION FOR A FREE JOSEON – 03.01.2019
One hundred years ago on this day, our ancestors spoke into being a Korea independent and free, calling on their compatriots to rise and overthrow a system of wanton oppression and intolerable indignities. Risking their lives, they heralded a new era of enlightenment: one in which women and men were endowed with certain unalienable Rights, and a fair and just nation would protect and provide for the welfare and happiness of all Koreans, in harmony with the Peninsula’s neighbors.
This great task remains unfinished. On this very day tens of millions of our fellow Koreans remain enslaved by a depraved power, ruled by a corrupt few made wealthy by the toils of many, building its capacity for unimaginable destruction, presenting a smile and an open hand to the willfully blind who surmise that, with only the right words and tribute, such entrenched totalitarianism might be charmed into surrender.
We the People of Joseon, indict this immoral and illegitimate regime:
For the devastating starvation of millions, despite the ability to feed them;
For government-sponsored murder, torture, and imprisonment;
For overwhelming surveillance and thought-control;
For systemic rape, enslavement, and forced abortions;
For political assassinations and acts of terror around the world;
For the forced labor and stifled potential of our children;
For the enforced poverty of body, mind, and opportunity;
For the development and distribution of modern weapons of great destruction, shared and sold to others who would also use them towards cruel ends;
For even still a great many compounding iniquities.
For decades we hoped for rescue, while our families were held hostage. We watched powerful and wealthy nations ignore our pleas, and enrich and embolden our tormentors. We gazed at incredible feats of prosperity and developments to the south, hoping that with their rising strength they would remember their sisters and brothers left behind by history.
But liberation did not come.
Today, we hear the twin calls of both our ancestors and our descendants. Our spirits demand that we wait no longer. Do we not also deserve joy, dignity, education, health, and safety? We, too, claim liberty as our bounty. We hereby take into our own hands our destiny and duty.
“We have arisen now. Conscience is on our side, and truth guides our way. All of us, men and women, young and old, have firmly left behind the old nest of darkness and gloom and head for joyful resurrection together with the myriad living things. The spirits of thousands of generations of our ancestors protect us; the rising tide of world consciousness shall assist us. Once started, we shall surely succeed. With this hope we march forward.”