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Quotations
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| My fellow countrymen and women!
On behalf of the Provisional Government, I would first and foremost like to extend the kindest sympathies to my fellow countrymen and women who have suffered so long under the rule of the Japanese. There is indeed an indescribable feeling of joy and excitement when I and my fellow members of the Provisional Government receive such a warm welcome from our compatriots here today. It is indeed a gratuitous honor for us, who have been living abroad for decades, to set foot on the soil of our longed-for homeland and to be embraced by our beloved compatriots. As you all know, our Provisional Government was the only government to emerge from the March 1 Revolution uprisen by all Koreans with bloodshed struggles; it was the only government organized by the collective will of the entire nation and the only antagonistic political entity against the Japanese rule over Korea. Therefore, for the past 27 years, our Provisional Government has inherited the spirit of the Great Revolution of March 1 Movement and has consistently adhered to the position of total national unity and the principle of democracy. In other words, our Provisional Government has never been a government of one class or one faction, but a government of democratic unity based on the common interests of all classes and factions of the entire nation. As such, the sole and utmost goal of the Government was to crush the Japanese imperialism and further found the genuine democratic republic state in Korea under the unity of all Koreans. However, although we strove to fight the enemy strenuously, as a consequence, we couldn’t achieve our complete independence at all and had to return home holding only with a sheet of allies’ statement that would guarantee independence in an appropriate time. In this environment, I would say that it is really regrettable and shameful for me to be warmly welcomed by my compatriots. Dear compatriots! As a result of the victory in the Second Anti-Fascist World War, our land and people were liberated, but we must not forget that this liberation came at the cost of the precious blood and sweat of the people and fighters of countless allied nations, and at the cost of the incalculable bloodshed of our independence fighters in the decades since our loss of our country. Now we have the most urgent and important task to create our independent sovereignty on this foundation of liberated land and people. We can only accomplish this task by continuing to cultivate the democratic unity of the March 1 Great Revolution. Compatriots in North and South Korea must unite, left and right must unite, young and old must unite. In the veins of each and every one of our people, we all have the sacred blood of Tan-gun’s people. With the exception of a small number of pro-Japanese ethnic bandits, all Korean compatriots must unite as if they were one. Only with this unity can we create our independent sovereignty, defeat and eliminate the so-called 38th parallel, and purge the pro-Japanese ethnic bandits. I have no doubt. Our excellent nation, with its long cultural history, will surely be united in this period. Therefore, I and my government comrades will strive with more confidence and courage to complete the iron unity of all parties in the entire nation. My fellow countrymen and women! The American and Soviet troops now occupying our homeland are our grateful allies who have liberated our people. We must cooperate with them to thoroughly exterminate the remnants of the enemy while providing them with every convenience and need until the day they return to their homeland. We must also establish the same intimate relations with our allies, the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, and France, and strive for the close collaboration of the three countries of China, the United States, and the Soviet Union that have close relations with our country. Only on the basis of the intimate joint venture of these three countries can we quickly bring about our free independence. I am convinced. When our people are united like iron, all the allied nations will recognize our independent sovereignty and will actively assist us in building our new nation. My dear brothers and sisters! The time for our nation's immediate and complete independence is indeed now. We, the compatriots, should once again promote the spirit of the unity and action of the March 1 Great Revolution to recover our independent sovereignty and build a new Korea of sovereign independence, equality and happiness. This is the end of my speech. |
