Kim Il-sung, to Todor Zhivkov (30 October 1973), as quoted in 어둠이 된 햇볕은 어둠을 밝힐 수 없다 (2001), translated by Brian Reynolds Myers, p. 222
“

When confederation is realized, and the ideologies of North and South are propagandized in the course of free intercourse between the two sides, the Republic [of North Korea] will not be affected in the slightest, because it is a unified state. But the South is an ideologically divided, liberal country, so if we extensively propagate Juche Thought and the superiority of our system we can win over at least half its citizens. As of now South Korea is twice our size in population terms. But once we win over half the South's people in a confederation, we will be two parts to the South's one. We would then win either a general election or a war.

— Kim Il-sung on Politics of South Korea

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "When confederation is realized, and the ideologies of North and South are propagandized in the course of free intercourse between the two sides, the Republic [of North Korea] will not be affected in the slightest, because it is a unified state. But the South is an ideologically divided, liberal country, so if we extensively propagate Juche Thought and the superiority of our system we can win over at least half its citizens. As of now South Korea is twice our size in population terms. But once we win over half the South's people in a confederation, we will be two parts to the South's one. We would then win either a general election or a war." in the context of "Kim Il-sung, to Todor Zhivkov (30 October 1973), as quoted in 어둠이 된 햇볕은 어둠을 밝힐 수 없다 (2001), translated by Brian Reynolds Myers, p. 222" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Politics of South Korea" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Kim Il-sung

About Kim Il-sung

Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was the founder of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and its supreme leader until his death. With support from the Soviet Union he developed a state and economy based on Marxist-Leninist principles, but later pursued his own Juche theory of Korean self-reliance. The DPRK refers to him as its "Great Leader" and "Eternal President."