Giant steps for Juché Korea
Andy Brooks, Michael Chant and Dermot Hudson |
by New Worker correspondent
MILLIONS of Koreans took part in a week of
celebrations in April to celebrate the centenary of the birth of great leader
Kim Il Sung. They were joined by hundreds of communists, academics and progressives
from all over the world who had come to Pyongyang to take part in the World
Congress of the Juché Idea, the ideology of independence, anti-imperialism and
socialism developed by Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, which is the guiding light
of the Korean communist movement.
Two
of them, New Communist Party leader Andy Brooks and Dermot Hudson from the Juché
Idea Study Group, recalled what they saw at a Korean friendship meeting last
Saturday in London’s historic Marx
House.
This included the
great military parade in the heart of the capital that was addressed by Kim
Jong Un, First Secretary of the WPK and supreme leader of the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea. It was followed
by a grand firework display along the Taedong river held on 15th April,
the anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the eternal president of the DPRK.
This month sees
the start of the month of solidarity with the Korean people against US imperialism and
Michael Chant spoke of the need to remind people of the horrors of the Korean
War and the threat to peace posed by the continued partition of the Korean
peninsula.
After the formal
reports, and the showing of a new film from Democratic Korea, the meeting was
opened for general discussion and the debate that followed covered the lies of
the bourgeois media, the DPRK satellite launch, cultural exchanges and the
campaign to build solidarity with the DPR Korea.
The Friends of
Korea committee consists of the New Communist Party of Britain,
Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (ML),
Socialist Labour Party, European Regional Society for the Study of the Juché
Idea and the UK Korean Friendship Association. Meetings are open to all friends
of the Korean revolution and the committee organises events throughout the year
in London, which are listed
by the supporting movements and on the Friends of Korea blog.
The meeting agreed unanimously to send the following message to Comrade Kim Jong Un:
Co-ordinating Committee of Friends of Korea
c/o 170 Wandsworth Road, London SW8
2LA.
June 23, 2012 (Juche 101)
To the Supreme Leader of the
Korean People,
Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un
Dear
Comrade Kim Jong Un
On
the occasion of this meeting held by Friends of Korea, DPRK Eyewitness Reports,
marking the 48th anniversary of the start of work at the Central Committee of
the Workers’ Party of Korea on June 19 by Comrade Kim Jong Il, we send our most
heartfelt congratulations on this notable occasion. In so doing, we believe we
embody the sentiment of the progressive forces of Britain who are seeking a way out of the crisis and desire a
bright future, as the Korean people have forged for themselves.
The
Workers’ Party of Korea is imbued with a humanity and concern for the whole of society.
It serves to unite the people around the cause of independence and socialism,
in contrast to the aggression and brutality of imperialism which stands for war
and outright reaction.
We
stand as one in friendship and solidarity with the Korean people. We vigorously
defend the right of the Korean people to follow their own chosen path, free
from all outside interference. And we are greatly inspired by the advances and
radical turn made by the Korean people, as our members have seen with their own
eyes.
This
meeting organised by the Friends of Korea expresses its profound admiration for
your work and leadership, advancing along the path opened up by Comrade Kim Il
Sung and further developed by Comrade Kim Jong Il. We regard the Korean
people’s victories as our victories, as we struggle for the same ideals and
against the same enemies.
Our
common cause is that of the defence of independence and sovereignty of peoples
and nations, and our common conviction is that humanity will achieve a world
where the people are the masters of their own destiny.
Michael Chant (Secretary)
On behalf of all the participants at the Meeting of
Friends of Korea
Marx Memorial Library, Marx House, London