When the work was made public, the cause of Korean reunification was faced with trials.

After President Kim Il Sung passed away on July 8, Juche 83 (1994), the inter-Korean relations got worse and military tension became more acute on the Korean peninsula due to the treacherous acts of the "civilian-veiled" fascist clique of south Korea.

All the Korean people desirous of the country's reunification were troubled about the situation of the peninsula.

At that juncture, Kim Jong Il published the afore-mentioned work giving comprehensive and scientific answers to questions arising in putting an end to national division and reunifying the country.

In the work he formulated as the three charters for national reunification the three principles of national reunification, ten-point programme for the great unity of the whole nation and the proposal for founding the Democratic Federal Republic of Koryo laid down by the President.

He also gave detailed tasks and ways for reunifying the country -- solving the reunification issue on the principle of national independence, achieving great unity with priority given to common interests of the nation, realizing the country's reunification in a peaceful way, establishing a united national state through federation and improving north-south relations.

Over the past 13 years, the work has displayed a great power in the effort to reunify the country on the principle of national independence and great unity.

The June 15 north-south joint declaration, which is a milestone for the country's reunification in the new century, and the October 4 declaration, which is a program for its implementation, were adopted and a new era of achieving reunification by the efforts of the Korean nation has been opened up.

The Korean people's efforts for achieving the country's reunification are still faced with grave challenges of anti-reunification forces at home and abroad. But the desire of the Korean nation for the reunification will surely be realized on the basis of the two declarations reflecting the three charters.