Dear delegates,

Today we are holding the historic Seventh Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea amid the grand struggle in which the whole Party, the entire army and all the people, filled with iron nerves and confidence to achieve the final victory of the Juche revolution as soon as possible, are making an all-out, general onward march courageously, thwarting all manner of threats and desperate challenges by the imperialists.

Reflecting the infinite loyalty and ardent reverence of delegates, Party members, service personnel and all other people across the country, I would like first to extend the noblest tribute and greatest glory to the great Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il who are the founder and builder of the WPK, incarnations of the mightiness of the invincible WPK, and eternal leaders of our Party and people.

Comrades,

During the period under review our Party and people have waged a sacred yet arduous struggle to defend socialism and propel the cause of the Juche revolution victoriously under the wise leadership of the great President Kim Il Sung and General Kim Jong Il.

In this period our Party's ranks have been deprived of such anti-Japanese revolutionary war veterans as Kim Il, Choe Hyon, O Paek Ryong, O Jin U, Choe Kwang, Rim Chun Chu, Pak Song Chol, Jon Mun Sop and Ri Ul Sol, who, holding the great leaders in high esteem, devoted themselves entirely to the country and people on the long road of the Juche revolution.

And they have been bereft of many faithful revolutionary comrades, including Ho Tam, Yon Hyong Muk, Kim Jung Rin, Ho Jong Suk, Kim Kuk Thae, Kim Yong Sun, Kim Yang Gon, Jon Pyong Ho, Pak Song Bong, Ri Chan Son, Ri Je Gang, Ri Yong Chol, Kang Ryang Uk, Ri Jong Ok, Kim Rak Hui and An Tal Su, who worked with devotion for the strengthening and development of our Party and the victory of the socialist cause.

We have also lost Jo Myong Rok, Kim Kwang Jin, Kim Tu Nam, Jon Jae Son, Yun Chi Ho, Ri Tong Chun, Kim Ha Gyu, Ri Jin Su, Sim Chang Wan and other precious comrades-in-arms in the Songun revolution who performed heroic exploits in the struggle to strengthen and develop the revolutionary armed forces.

In addition, Ri Sung Gi, Im Rok Jae, Chon Se Bong, Paek In Jun, Yu Won Jun, Ri Sang Byok, Pak Yong Sun and other academicians, professors, doctors, writers, People's Artistes and People's Athletes, who bent all their energies and wisdom to developing science, culture and the arts, and sports, and Han Tok Su, Choe Tok Sin, Ri In Mo, Rim Hon Sik, Kim Kwang Thaek and other unforgettable revolutionary comrades and pro-reunification, patriotic figures passed away.

These people devoted their all unsparingly to the victory of the cause of the Juche revolution, reunification of the country and national prosperity, in loyal support of the WPK and the leader; the brilliant victory of our revolution and the present glory of the socialist country are attributable to their priceless blood and self-sacrifice.

To the memory of the anti-Japanese revolutionary war veterans, patriotic martyrs, unforgettable revolutionary comrades-in-arms of our Party and pro-reunification, patriotic figures who laid down their precious lives in the struggle for socialist construction, national reunification and the cause of global independence, I propose to observe a minute's silence.

Comrades,

The Seventh Congress of the WPK has been convened at a historic time when the phase of leap forward in implementing the cause of the Juche revolution is being opened up.

The last decades since the Sixth Congress of the WPK were characterized by grim struggle and glorious victory on the part of our Party and people.

During the period under review the situation of our revolution was very grave and complex.

In the unprecedentedly hard times when the world socialist system collapsed and the allied imperialist forces concentrated their anti-socialist offensive on our Republic, our Party and people were compelled to fight against them single-handed.

The imperialists strained the situation constantly for decades to keep our people from living at peace even for a moment and blocked all the pathways to economic development and existence through all manner of blockade, pressure and sanctions.

In the face of harsh and manifold difficulties and ordeals and the hardships and sufferings worse than those during a war, our Party and people were united more firmly around the Central Committee of the WPK, holding the President and the General in high esteem as the centre of unity and leadership, and made strenuous efforts to defend and advance the socialist cause, following only the revolutionary line of Juche put forward by the great leaders as they braved the storm of history without the slightest hesitation or vacillation.

As there were the wise leadership of the President and the General and the might of single-hearted unity of the WPK, the army and the people around the leader, we were able to etch proud victories in history, smashing the schemes of the allied imperialist forces to stifle the Republic at every step and safeguarding the red flag of socialism and the gains of the revolution to the last.

During the period under review, the WPK embodied the Juche-oriented line of party building of General Kim Jong Il to become a powerful body, ideologically pure and organizationally integrated, in which oneness has been achieved in ideology and leadership and to develop into a motherly party assuming the responsibility for the destiny of the masses of the people, an ever-victorious party with seasoned and sophisticated art of leadership and a steel-strong and promising revolutionary party.

This year when the Seventh Congress of the WPK is held, our service personnel and people achieved great successes in the first hydrogen bomb test and the launch of earth observation satellite Kwangmyongsong 4 which served as landmarks in the nation's history spanning 5 000 years, thus raising the dignity and might of Juche Korea to the highest level possible; in high spirits, they conducted a dynamic 70-day campaign of loyalty to perform great feats and make unprecedented labour successes in all fields of socialist construction.

All the service personnel and people throughout the country displayed the spirit of carrying out the policies of the WPK to the death in response to its militant call for launching the 70-day campaign, thereby making the greatest successes and leap forward in all sectors of the national economy and achieving the brilliant result of exceeding the targets of the campaign set by the WPK.

During the campaign, the electric-power, coal-mining and metallurgical industries and rail transport sector strove hard for increased output and transport to bring about a surge in production, and many units in different sectors of the national economy including the machine-building, chemical, building-materials and light industries and agriculture raised a strong wind to ensure modernization and domestic production of our style and bring about an upswing in production, thus making the distinguished achievement of carrying out the first half-year and yearly national economic plans ahead of schedule.

Our heroic working class of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, scientists and technicians waged an unyielding struggle on the principle of giving priority to self-development to develop and manufacture new machines and equipment based on local efforts and technology, thereby presenting them as gifts to the Congress of the motherly Party. Others across the country wonderfully completed lots of major construction projects, which will be highly conducive to developing the economy and improving the people's living standards, in a short span of time before the Congress to send reports of loyalty to the Central Committee of the WPK.

Those in the national defence science sector that played a magnificent prelude to this meaningful year with a thrilling explosion of Juche Korea's first hydrogen bomb went on to create momentous miracles in defending our national dignity and sovereignty, thus topping off the 70-day campaign and opening wide the door to the Seventh Congress of the WPK, full of pride in being victors.

All sectors and all units, burning their hearts with ardent loyalty to the WPK and extraordinary patriotic enthusiasm, sped up the grand revolutionary march to celebrate the Seventh Congress of the WPK as a glorious meeting of victors. This fully demonstrated the firm faith and will of our service personnel and people who are triumphantly building a thriving nation before the eyes of the world by smashing the hostile forces' vicious manoeuvres geared to sanctions and strangulation, and displayed to the world the indomitable spirit, daring grit and inexhaustible strength of heroic Korea.

The numerous eye-opening events that happened one after another in the run-up to the meaningful Congress of the WPK?all these achievements are permeated with the precious sweat, ardent passion and unassuming effort of the Party members who have always thrown in their lot with the WPK and adorned the golden age of socialist construction with uninterrupted revolutionary upsurges.

I would like to extend heartfelt thanks and militant greetings, on behalf of the Central Committee of the WPK, to all the delegates, Party members, service personnel of the Korean People's Army and other people, who have adorned the sacred history of the WPK with hot blood and sweat of patriotism and made a great contribution to celebrating the Seventh Congress of the WPK as a meeting of victory and glory by clasping the weapons of revolution, hammer, sickle and writing brush with a burning conviction to travel one road for ever following our Party.

On the occasion of our Party's significant Congress my warm greetings go to the Anti-imperialist National Democratic Front, Korean Social Democratic Party, Chondoist Chongu Party, south Korean people, Chongryon (General Association of Korean Residents in Japan) and other overseas Koreans' organizations and all the compatriots abroad that are working hard for the country's reunification and prosperity.

On behalf of the Congress of the WPK, I also extend warm thanks and greetings to political parties and organizations, Juche idea study groups, friendship and solidarity organizations and personages from all walks of life in different countries of the world and representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations in the DPRK, that have rendered positive support and encouragement to our revolution and sent congratulatory messages, letters and baskets of flowers to the Seventh Congress of the WPK.

Comrades,

The Seventh Congress of the WPK will sum up the brilliant successes and invaluable experience our Party and people have gained during the period under review and put forward the strategic line and tasks to keep ushering in a great golden age of socialist construction and the direction of advance of our revolution.

This Congress of the WPK will be a historic occasion for setting up another milestone in the struggle for the development of the glorious Kimilsungist-Kimjongilist Party and the accomplishment of the cause of socialism.

3 467 delegates have the right to vote in this Congress and 200 delegates have the right to address it; all of them are present here as they have been elected at the conferences of the WPK at different levels.

Among them 1 545 are delegates of Party officials and political workers, 719 delegates of service personnel, 423 delegates of state administrative and economic officials, 52 delegates of officials of working people's organizations, 112 delegates of officials in the sectors of science, education, public health, culture and the arts and the mass media, 786 delegates of hardcore Party members involved in field labour, six anti-Japanese revolutionary war veterans and 24 former unconverted long-term prisoners.

Of them 315 are women.

Present at the Congress are also 1 387 observers.

Fully convinced that this Congress of the WPK will perform its work satisfactorily backed up by high political enthusiasm of all delegates to be a historic meeting that will leave an outstanding mark on the development of our Party and revolution and a meeting for general advance to hasten the final victory of the cause of the Juche revolution, I declare the Seventh Congress of the WPK open.