DPRK defends socialism

OUR BOURGEOIS leaders have, predictably, been wailing over the fate of Jang Song Thaek, the leader of a counter-revolutionary faction inside the Workers Party of Korea, who was condemned to death last week for plotting to overthrow the government of the DPR Korea.

These people, who rejoiced when Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by a kangaroo court comprised entirely of his enemies; these people who gloated when Muammar Gaddafi was lynched by a Nato-funded mob, now talk about the “extreme brutality” of the north Korean government for executing a self-confessed traitor who wanted supreme power for himself and the destruction of the DPRK’s socialist system.

Despicable human scum Jang who was worse than a dog, as the Pyongyang’s Daily Worker put it, was shot last week after being found guilty of treason, economic sabotage and gross corruption.

Jang was the leading member of the Workers Party of Korea in charge of economic relations with China, including the establishment of special economic zones on the border between the two countries. He used his position to embezzle vast amounts of money to live the high life abroad and reward his followers who were helping him plan a coup.

At his trial Jang admitted that he had set up a secret slush fund from money siphoned off from public works to reward his cronies and finance his own decadent capitalist lifestyle. In 2009 Jang took at least €4.6 million from his secret coffers to spend on gambling, womanising and drugs while supposedly having medical treatment in a foreign country.

But Jang’s motives went far beyond simply lining his own pockets to fund a corrupt and degenerate life-style.

The Jang group deliberately sabotaged economic planning in the DPRK to aggravate problems and foster discontent amongst the masses and the armed forces — discontent Jang’s clique then intended to exploit to win support for his plan to seize power on a “reformist” platform that they believed would then soon win international recognition.

This was acknowledged by Lord Alton of Liverpool, the Catholic Liberal-Democrat peer who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea. The former Liberal MP, known mainly for his campaigns against abortion rights, said Jang Song Thaek had been viewed as a “real hope for reform”. He told the BBC: “I saw him at a distance at an official gathering after he’d been rehabilitated in 2006 and from the people I spoke to who knew him he represented for many the real hope for reform in North Korea.

“Jang Song Thaek’s execution, I think, is a bloody and vivid and brutal reminder of the inherent and cruel nature of a regime that has always modelled itself on Stalin’s USSR and the gulags which housed some 300,000 people.”

Well Stalin and the Bolsheviks taught us many things and one of them was that the class struggle intensifies as society advances towards socialism. The other was that the greatest danger to the communists and the revolutionary movement was not from those openly opposed to socialism but from the hidden enemies who worm their way into the party’s trust, who pose as defenders of the working class and supporters of the socialist system while secretly working to reverse it and restore capitalism.

We also know what this leads to. Mikhail Gorbachov destroyed the Soviet Union from within and then boasted that his life’s work was done, while the counter-revolutions in the people’s democracies were all led by social-democrats and hidden enemies masquerading as communists within the ruling parties of eastern Europe.

The destitution of the working class that followed is a “vivid and brutal reminder of the cruel nature” of capitalism that has forced millions of Poles to come to Britain for work and millions of others to emigrate to western Europe from the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe.

The Korean people have closed ranks around Kim Jong Un and the Workers Party of Korea. They have taken firm and decisive measures to deal with Jang and smash his group to safeguard the people’s government and ensure that the country continues to build a modern socialist republic dedicated to the welfare of all working people.

New Worker editorial
19th December 2013

Marking the passing of Kim Jong Il

 By New Worker correspondent

Michael Chant, Andy Brooks and Hyong Hak Bong speaking

 FRIENDS of Democratic Korea returned to the John Buckle Centre in south London last weekend to mark the 2^nd anniversary of the passing of dear leader Kim Jong Il and show their solidarity following the purge of the hidden traitor Jang Song Thaek.

The event, at the south London headquarters of the RCPB (ML), was chaired by New Communist Party leader Andy Brooks and it opened with a powerful baritone rendition of the Song of General Kim Jong Il by one of the DPRK London diplomats accompanied by the violinist Leslie Larkum. This was followed by Changing Sorrow Into Strength, a short film about Koreans’ grief at the loss of their leader. But the highlight of the evening was the opening by the DPRK ambassador, Hyong Hak Bong, on the life of Kim Jong Il and the crimes and punishment of Jang and his counter-revolutionary faction.

All these points were taken up during discussion by other members of the committee including Michael Chant of the RCPB (ML)), Dermot Hudson of the UK Korean Friendship Association and John McLeod from the Socialist Labour Party (SLP).

Michael, who is the FoK secretary, then moved a solidarity message that was endorsed by acclaim to end the formal part of the meeting, which closed with drinks and a buffet of Korean food.

The Co-ordinating Committee of Friends of Korea consists of the European Regional Society for the Study of the Juché Idea, UK Korean Friendship Association, New Communist Party of Britain, Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) and the Socialist Labour Party and it holds meetings in London throughout the year.

Down with the south Korea puppet regime!

 

By New Worker 

correspondent

SUPPORTERS of the Korean revolution returned to the picket the south Korean embassy to protest against the oppressive regime, whose leader was greeted at Buckingham Palace last week. New Communist Party leader Andy Brooks joined the demonstration called by the UK Korean Friendship Association outside the embassy in London on 7^th November to protest against the state visit of fascist puppet Park Geun Hye last week.

              Dermot Hudson, KFA Official Delegate and chair of the Juché Idea Study Group, opened the picket by saying: “The south Korean embassy is a joke and should not exist as south Korea is not a state. South Korea has no independence; south Korea is totally dependent on the United States and indeed was created by the US.

“Today south Korean puppet ruler Park Geun Hye is on a state visit to the UK and is being entertained at the expense of the British taxpayer despite huge cutbacks in public spending. Park is as dictator like her father Park Chung Hee.”

General Park Chung Hee came to power in a military coup in 1961 and ruled with an iron fist until he was assassinated by the head of his own intelligence service during a power struggle in 1979. His daughter is now following in her father’s footsteps by banning the Unified Progressive Party as well as the Teachers Union.

The demonstrators waved the DPR Korea flag in front of the puppet embassy as well as the UK KFA banner and maintained a barrage of slogans throughout the 90-minute afternoon protest action.

The picketers exchanged banter with a couple of journalists from NK News, an anti-DPRK front that poses as an independent news agency, and a man who said he was a north Korean defector living in London. They also had to put up with the unwelcome attention of a member of the puppet embassy staff who went around taking close-up photographs of the protesters in an amateurish attempt to intimidate the demonstrators and presumably for the records of the south Korean intelligence service!

Celebrating a job well done!

By New Worker correspondent

Comrade Thae proposes the toast

IN DEMOCRATIC Korea print workers always hold a ceremony to mark the completion of a job and we did the same in London on 16^th October to celebrate the publication of a keynote speech by Korean leader Kim Jong Un by the New Communist Party of Britain.

 Comrade Thae Yongho from the London embassy of the DPR Korea came to the NCP Party Centre to congratulate the Party workers who produced Marshal Kim Jong Un's talk Let Us Add Eternal Brilliance to Comrade Kim Jong Il's Great Idea and Achievements of the Songun Revolution for the first time in Britain.

The talk was published in Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the Workers' Party of Korea, and Joson Inmingun, organ of the Korean People's Army, on 25^th August (Day of Songun), Juché 102 (2013).

The talk deals with the Songun revolutionary feats of leader Kim Jong Il and clarifies the essence and originality of the idea of the Songun revolution and the tasks to be carried out to successfully accomplish the revolutionary cause of Songun.

The pamphlet costs £1.50 including postage from NCP Lit, PO Box 73 London SW11 2PQ.

Workers Party of Korea celebrated in London

by New Worker correspondent

Leslie Larkum and Michael Chant

Comrades from several different organisations came together last Saturday in South London to celebrate the formation of the Workers Party of Korea on October 10th  at a social organised by the Friends of Korea.

Youg Ho Thae, minister at the DPRK embassy, explained the history of the formation of the Workers Party of Korea, which was directly descended from the Down With Imperialism Union by the young, patriotic student leader Kim Il Sung in October 1926.

During the anti-Japanese war there was a communist party cell in each guerrilla unit. It was only practically possible to establish the Communist Party of North Korea after the North was liberated in 1945.

After the defeat of the Japanese in 1945 country Kim il Sung raised the question of forming a unified communist movement, and following the foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in September 1948 the communist parties of north and south came together to form the Workers Party of Korea on  October 10 that year.

Comrade Thae pointed out that “since World War 2 the country which had used chemical weapons more than any other is the US, which has the largest stockpile of these weapons in the world. Even now, tens of thousands of children are being born in Vietnam with terrible deformities”.

He added that the deadline for the US to eliminate these weapons under the Chemical Weapons Convention was this year, “but now Washington has said this would not be possible for another 10 or 12 years”.

Speaking on behalf of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (ML), Michael Chant told the meeting that the Korean communists led by Kim Il Sung had worked to solve the problems faced by the Korean people step by step, and made the people the decision-makers.

The formation of the Workers Party of Korea by Kim Il Sung as the mass party of the Korean people, he said, “has enabled the people to unite with one will to develop the country”.

Dermot Hudson of the Korean Friendship Association recalled that the song used as the anthem of the Korean People’s Army, the Red Flag, was written by a British socialist, and that as a song identified with the DPRK it is still illegal to sing it in south Korea.

He said “the Workers Party of Korea is surging forward under the banner of Songun leadership of dear respected leaders Kim Jong Il”, with new housing and leisure facilities and long-range rockets”.

The Workers Party of Korea is continuing the struggles against dogmatism, factionalism, revisionism and “raising the banner of socialism high in Korea and in Asia”, he said.

Bringing greetings from the NCP, Theo Russell said 10th  October  was an important day for communists the world over, when “a new party of the toiling masses was formed on Korean soil, the Workers Party of Korea”.

He said the party had made unique contributions to the international movement: the Juche idea which had unleashed the enormous creative energy of the masses, and the concept of self-reliance and the Songun army first policy, which are admired by small nations around the world attempting to resist imperialist bullying and diktat.

The meeting was followed by music provided by Michael Chant and Lesley Larkum, who performed Let us love our motherland, Arirang, and the national anthem of the DPRK on the violin and keyboard.

• Celebrating the 68th anniversary of the WPK (Workers Weekly)

FREE RO SU HUI NOW!

By New Worker correspondent

Last year a veteran south Korean peace activist was jailed by the south Korean puppet regime after he returned from a visit to the north. Ro Su Hui was sentenced to four years in prison under south Korea’s draconian anti-communist “National Security Law” and last week pickets were again outside the south Korean embassy in London to demand his release.

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined other friends of the Korean people at the protest organised by the International Campaign for the Release of Ro Su Hui and the UK Korean Friendship Association.

 Dermot Hudson, the secretary of the international campaign, read out demands for Ro Su Hui’s release throughout the picket as well as messages of support from the Swiss Korea Committee and other groups. Dermot said: " we are here today to protest against the jailing of Mr Ro Su Hui and also the recent arrest of Mr Lee Seok Ki an assemblyman from the Unified Progressive Party.

We strongly denounce the south Korean so-called authorities (in reality a gang of fascist puppets who grovel to the American imperialists) for the 4 year jail sentence imposed on vice -chairman Mr Ro Su Hui .

This is an outrageous and despotic act against Mr Ro who had simply campaigned for peace and reunification. All he did was to visit the northern half of his own country, this should not be considered a crime.

Mr Ro was subjected to brutal treatment when he crossed back into south Korea and was held without trial for more than 6 months in south Korea. Mr Ro is is over the age of 65 and he is suffering from cancer. This is a most inhuman act of the south Korean regime”.

            Protesters leafleted passers-by while others read out statements and maintained a barrage of slogans throughout the afternoon demonstration, including a lively rendering of  "south Korea is a fascist regime " to the tune of the Beatles’ "Yellow Submarine"!

• Video of the picket

An afternoon for Korea

By New Worker correspondent

FRIENDS of the Korean revolution returned to the historic Lucas Arms in north London on Saturday for a further celebration of the foundation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Academics and school students joined Korean solidarity workers to take part in the meeting called by the British Juché Idea Study Group at the Kings Cross pub, which has been a working class venue for many years and was the place where the Committee to Defeat Revisionism for Communist Unity was founded to challenge the leadership of the old Communist Party of Great Britain in 1963.

             Dermot Hudson opened the meeting by saying that the 65^th anniversary of the DPRK was proudly celebrated by the successful Worker-Peasant Red Guard parade in the DPRK on September. He also paid tribute to Madame Kim Jong Suk the mother of Korea who passed away 64 years ago on the 22^nd September.

                  Shaun Pickford, the secretary general of the group, was unable to travel into London as his father is gravely ill. But he sent a paper that stressed the remarkable achievements of Democratic Korea over the past 65 years, including free medical care, free housing, no taxation and other benefits of the DPRK's social system. In the DPRK there is the tradition of collectivism throughout society, the spirit of single-hearted unity.

Dermot then followed with a contribution on the Juché and Songun politics that had transformed the DPR Korea into a modern socialist republic. And this was taken up Dr Hugh Goodacre, a senior lecturer in economics who explained the deep significance of anniversary of the foundation within the context of the Juché Idea. He said that in the DPRK the people are the masters of the state.  The great leader President Kim Il Sung was a great man of the people, Hugh said, who mixed with workers and farmers and even shook the ink-stained hands of academics!

Dr Goodacre, who is an accomplished linguist, demonstrated his talents by singing the national anthem of the DPRK in Korean to the applause of the audience and the meeting ended in informal discussion and a buffet.

Visiting Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Centre of Unity and Peace

Sixty-Five Fighting Years!

By New Worker correspondent

ON THE 9^th SEPTEMBER 1948 the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was established in the free northern part of the Korean peninsula that had once been part of the Japanese Empire. In the DPRK it is a public holiday and hundreds of thousands of Koreans packed Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang for a spectacular military and civilian parade through the capital.

It’s a special day for Koreans on both sides of the divided country and amongst the overseas Korean community because on that day in 1948 the Korean people expressed their democratic will through popular power and immediately took the first steps towards building a new socialist life for the workers and peasants who had fought to free themselves from the Japanese yoke that had enslaved them for many decades.

 It’s also special day for communists all over the world who showed their solidarity with Democratic Korea. London was no exception. Communists and Korean solidarity activists joined diplomats, journalists and business-people at a lunch-time reception at the DPRK embassy that was opened by DPRK ambassador Hyong Hak Bong last week.

Andy Brooks, Hyong Hak Bong and Michael Chant at the reception

 The leaders of the NCP and the RCPB (ML), Andy Brooks and Michael Chant, were there along with veteran London communist Monty Goldman from the CPB, who was jailed for two months for protesting against the Korean War, as well as Daphne Liddle, the joint editor of the New Worker, and Dermot Hudson from the Korean Friendship Association.

And Comrade Hyong Hak Bong returned to south London as guest of honour at a meeting and social to honour the 65^th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea that was opened by Andy Brooks, who chairs the Friends of Korea, in south London on Sunday.

The event, at the south London headquarters of the RCPB (ML) kicked off with a spirited rendition of the DPRK national anthem and the Song of Kim Il Sung by the violinist Leslie Larkum, who has recently visited Democratic Korea. This was followed by the screening of a documentary covering the recent visit of a RCPB (ML) delegation to Democratic Korea produced by one of their own comrades.

Comrades heard lively eye-witness reports from comrades who took part in the recent 60^th anniversary celebration in the DPRK of the Korean people’s victory in the Fatherland Liberation War in July. Michael Chant, Leslie Larkum and Dermot Hudson painted a vivid picture of Democratic Korea which is led by Kim Jong Un and guided by Marxism-Leninism and the Juché Idea and also determined to struggle for reunification and defend its socialist path.

Comrade Hyong Hak Bong addresses the meeting

 And a 16-year-old student who was also in Pyongyang in July told us about his impressions of the socialist capital and his struggle to tell the truth at school about the reality of the DPRK today.

Other friends of Korea, like John McLeod of the Socialist Labour Party and Theo Russell of the NCP, who have also been to north Korea, joined in a general discussion that ended with an appeal from Hyong Hak Bong for everyone to go to the DPRK, if they can, and see for the new life for the Korean people with their own eyes. 

• Korea -- A Day to Remember  
• Joyous 65th anniversary of the founding of the DPRK 

Eyewitness Korea

Andy Brooks makes his point

 by  New Worker

  correspondent

THE KOREAN people marked the 60^th anniversary of the defeat of US imperialism and its lackeys with a great parade through Pyongyang last month. And last Saturday friends and comrades gathered in central London to hear an eye-witness account of the commemorations and peace marches held in the DPR Korea to mark the end of the Korean War.

Dermot Hudson, who spent a week in the DPR Korea, told the meeting of his impressions when he joined hundreds of thousands of Korean workers to see the great demonstration of Democratic Korea’s defence forces on 27^th July. He also took part in the reunification march and visited Panmunjom on the ceasefire line where the Americans were forced to accept an armistice.

Dermot from the Juché Idea Study Group said: "The situation in the DPRK is extremely good. Pyongyang is alive with massive construction work everywhere including many new apartment blocks. Since I last visited the DPRK in September 2012 many new cultural-leisure facilities such as the Ryugyong Health Complex have opened. On our way to Kaesong and Sinchon we could see crops growing in the fields well. There were maize plants as tall as a person. The rice looked lush and green, the beautiful rice paddies seemed to stretch for miles."

            Dermot’s   report was followed by an opening on the Korean War by Shaun Pickford and an intervention by NCP leader Andy Brooks on Korean friendship and the Juché  Idea. A question and answer session, which soon developed into a general discussion, took up the rest of an afternoon getting to know Democratic Korea and standing by the Korean people, who daily defy the threats and sanctions of US-led imperialism.

            The meeting was organised by the UK Korean Friendship Association (KFA) which regularly organises solidarity meetings and protest pickets in London throughout the year. The KFA also works side by side with the NCP, RCPB (ML), Socialist Labour Party (SLP) and the European Regional Society for the Study of the Juché Idea on the Friends of Korea committee which also holds regular events in London.

Kim Il Sung – a great Korean revolutionary

By New Worker correspondent

Ambassador Hyon Hak Bong speaking

KIM IL SUNG was the greatest Korean who has ever lived and an outstanding communist revolutionary and thinker. That was how NCP leader Andy Brooks put it at a reception held last Sunday at the HQ of the RCPB (ML) to mark the 19^th anniversary of the passing of President Kim Il Sung and the 50^th anniversary of the Korean people’s victory in the Korean War.

            The reception at the John Buckle Centre in south London was hosted by the Preparatory Committee (Britain) to celebrate the Korean People’s Victory in the Korean War and was an initiative of the long-standing Friends of Korea committee.

             The guest of honour was Hyon Hak Bong, Ambassador at the Embassy of the DPRK, who made a short presentation outlining the current situation of the Korean peninsula. Other speakers included Michael Chant of the RCPB (ML) who chaired the formal part of the event, together with  Andy Brooks, Dermot Hudson of the UK Korean Friendship Association and John McLeod from the Socialist Labour Party (SLP).

            Other friends and comrades, including SLP President Andrew Jordan, used the opportunity to get first-hand information on Democratic Korea from the Korean comrades over drinks and Korean food which came later.

• Workers' Weekly report

KFA pickets US embassy

by New Worker correspondent

The US embassy in London was picketed by the UK Korean Friendship Association to mark the 63rd anniversary of the provocation of the Korean War by the US imperialists. The picket on 25th June was attended by members of the UK Korean Friendship Association , the Juche Idea Study Group, the British Assocation for the Study of Songun Politics, the New Communist Party including general secretary Andy Brooks and other progressive and anti-imperialist activists.

KFA charts the way forward

By New Worker correspondent

ACTIVISTS from the UK Korean Friendship Association gathered in central London last Saturday for its annual general meeting to chart the way forward in developing friendship and solidarity with the Korean people for the coming year.

KFA Official Delegate Dermot Hudson pointed out that the month of June will see a number of major anniversaries in the history of the Korean people, and announced that June is a month of solidarity with the DPRK.

Dermot recalled the great developments in the DPRK over the past year, saying “pride of place should go to the launch of the Kwangmysong 3-2 satellite on the 12^th  December 2012 and the third DPRK nuclear test on the 12^th February this year,” and spoke of cultural developments in the DPRK, including the appearance of the all-female Moranbong rock group, new leisure and health facilities such as the Rungna People's Pleasure Park and the Ryugyong Health Complex, the construction of magnificent new housing at Changjon Street in central Pyongyang, and the ongoing construction of a giant ski resort at Masik.

“However in the past year we have witnessed attempts by the DPRK's enemies, chiefly the Yankee imperialists,” he added, “to impede and slow down its development. We have seen several rounds of sanctions by the so-called UN Security Council, a marionette of the US, along with additional sanctions by the US, Japan, the EU and the UK.

“In March and April the US imperialists along with the south Korean puppets carried out extensive military exercises to coincide with the imposition of sanctions. These war exercises were participated in by the UK as well as Canada, Denmark and Colombia, involving B2 and B52 nuclear-armed bombers. The DPRK gave a strong response to these provocations, which upset some but nevertheless dealt a blow to the US imperialists and defended the dignity and honour of the DPRK, as well its independence and Korean-style socialism.

“During the past year the UK KFA has stood by the DPRK. We have issued numerous statements in support of the DPRK as well as writing to the Foreign Secretary, MPs and Ministers .We have picketed the US embassy and will be picketing in again in 10 days’ time.

“We have taken the lead in establishing the "International Committee for the Release of Mr Ro Su Hui. We have combatted anti-DPRK propaganda on a weekly, and sometimes on a daily basis.

“We have also issued a number of editions of our excellent publication: People's Korea Today, and will shortly issue another one.

“During the past year the UK KFA has stood by the DPRK. We have issued numerous statements in support of the DPRK as well as writing to the Foreign Secretary, MPs and Ministers. We have picketed the US embassy and will be picketing in again in 10 days’ time.

“UK KFA membership has increased, and our UK KFA Facebook page has 281 likes. However this needs to be translated into attendance at meetings and campaigning activity.

Nevertheless the UK KFA is proud that we are defending the DPRK almost every day. Let’s carry on with this splendid work.”

Theo Russell, KFA member and member of the Central Committee of the New Communist Party, also addressed the meeting on the topic of south Korea’s turbulent history, which has effectively been hidden away by the western media, historians and in school history teaching.

Other supporters denounced the hostile media coverage of the DPRK, particularly the ludicrous Panorama documentary North Korea Undercover.

Proposals discussed at the meeting included stepping up the campaign for the release of peace activist Ro Su Hui, with a poster and a leaflet exposing the south Korean National Security Law, and a campaign against the economic sanctions imposed on the DPRK linked to the demand for the US to negotiate a permanent peace treaty and political settlement on the peninsula.

Discussions were held on public transport, culture, health services, housing and other aspects of the DPRK, and literature from the DPRK and the KFA was on display.

London meeting marks birthday of Kim Il Sung

Dr Goodacre pays tribute to Kim Il Sung

By New Worker correspondent

FRIENDS and supporters of Democratic Korea met last weekend near Kings Cross in central London to mark the birthday of revolutionary leader and theorist Kim Il Sung and hold a wide-ranging discussion on the crisis sparked by the ongoing US exercises and the controversial Korea Undercover BBC Panorama documentary.

The event was organised by the Juché Idea Study Group of England and the Association For the Study of Songun Politics UK, and attended by supporters of the Korean revolution, members of the New Communist Party, progressive academics and members of the general public.

Dermot Hudson, chair of the JISG, and Shaun Pickford spoke about the American “Foal Eagle” and “Key Resolve” nuclear war games which, they said, had the clearly stated aim of “regime change” in the DPRK, and included “counter-insurgency” exercises with US and south Korean troops  rehearsing the rounding up of civilians and Workers’ Party members.

Shaun said south Korea was a US puppet state, and recalled that Park Chung Hee, father of the current president Park Geun Hye, took power in a military coup and introduced the fascistic “Yushin” (“renewal”) ideology under which the electoral system was rigged.

He added that the DPR Korea has never intervened in any foreign country, but since the Second World War the United States has intervened in 195 states. In practice, he said, “any retreat or concessions by the DPRK would lead to subjugation and self-destruction”.

Dermot reminded the meeting that it was one year since the election of dear respected Marshal Kim Jong Un as First Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, showing the support, trust, respect and affection of the masses of the Korean people and members of the Workers’ Party.

On the issue of the DPRK’s nuclear weapons, he said they were “not a bargaining chip for economic gains, but a national treasure which cannot be sold for millions of dollars”.

He pointed out that there is no international border with the South Korea, only a military demarcation line, which the DPRK does not recognise. He also said many defectors from the DPRK were actually returning, complaining of poor treatment and long working hours in low paid jobs in south Korea.

James Taylor spoke on the life and revolutionary activities of Kim Il Sung, saying: “All true revolutionaries who have encountered his works and heard of his deeds can only feel themselves inspired and heartened by his example and leadership, by his contributions to applying Marxism-Leninism to Korean conditions and his evolution of the Juché Idea.”

Dr Hugh Goodacre of the University of London recalled meeting with comrade Kim Il Sung in 1990, and quoted from a new booklet by Kim Jong Un: "When meeting workers, he held their grease-stained hands without reserve and in a rural village, had friendly talks with the peasants at the edge of a field; his speeches were often mixed with jokes, humorous and down to earth. Even though he was held in high respect and admiration by our people and progressive peoples of the world, he disallowed any special favour or privilege for himself, and always led a simple and frugal life with his people."

Dr Goodacre said that Kim Il Sung’s greatest feat was to author the Juché Idea, based on the aspirations and ideas of the people, which became the basis of a theory and ideology able to enlist the inexhaustible strength and creative wisdom of the masses for national liberation.

Theo Russell of the New Communist Party brought greetings from the NCP, recalled his visit to the DPRK in April 2012, and spoke about the “shameful episode” of the hijacking of a London School of Economics study tour to infiltrate hostile BBC journalists into the DPRK.

Dermot Hudson added that many people who watched the Panorama documentary actually learned different lessons from those intended, and that since it was broadcast the JISG had gained five new members!

At the close of the meeting a message to the dear respected leader Marshal Kim Jong Un was adopted by acclaim.

Supporting Democratic Korea!

By New Worker correspondent

Friends and comrades returned to the Marchmont Centre in central London last Saturday to show their solidarity with Democratic Korea under threat from US imperialism. Though the meeting called by the Friends of Korea committee had been originally been intended to simply celebrate the 101^st anniversary of the birth of great leader Kim Il Sung much of the discussion naturally focused on the current crisis on the Korean peninsula that threatens to plunge all of northern Asia into war.

            Chaired by NCP leader Andy Brooks a panel that included Michael Chant of the RCPB (ML), John Mcleod of the Socialist Labour Party and Dermot Hudson of the British Juche Society opened a wide-ranging discussion that ranged from Korean-style socialism to the recent measures taken by the people’s government in the north to counter the military threat from the United States and its lackeys in south Korea.

Though most of the audience comprised of long-standing supporters of the Korean revolution there were a number of new visitors who came because they wanted to hear the Korean people’s side of the story and were convinced enough at the end to support the solidarity message to Korean leader Kim Jong Un that was endorsed unanimously at the close of the afternoon session.

             The meeting was organised by the Co-ordinating Committee of the Friends of Korea, which brings together all the major movements active in Korean friendship work in Britain today.  It is chaired by Andy Brooks and the secretary is Michael Chant.

            The 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.

Friendship Meeting 6th April

THE DPRK DEFENDS ITS DIGNITY AND HONOUR

Public Meeting Celebrating the
Anniversary of the Birth of
President Kim Il Sung
"The Day of the Sun"

Saturday, April 6th , 2013, 2:00pm

MARCHMONT CENTRE
62 Marchmont Street, London WC1N 1AB

Organised by Friends of Korea

For further information contact Friends of Korea: email friendskorea@yahoo.co.uk

No to sanctions! No to war!

By New Worker correspondent

NEW COMMUNIST PARTY members joined other supporters of Democratic Korea outside the American embassy in Grosvenor Square in London on Tuesday to condemn the latest US war-games in south Korea that threaten the peace of the whole region. The two-hour protest picket, organised by the Korean Friendship Association, leafleted passers-by while a number of speakers took the microphone to denounce the “Foal Eagle” and “Key Resolve” exercises now taking place in the occupied south of the Korean peninsula.

Dermot Hudson of the KFA led the demand for an end to sanctions and for all American troops to leave south Korea while NCP leader Andy Brooks called for the release of Ro Su Hui, the south Korean peace activist jailed for four years for visiting the north last year.

Defend Democratic Korea!

Andy Brooks makes a point

by New Worker correspondent

Comrades and friends denounced the latest provocations of US imperialism at a solidarity meeting in central London last Saturday evening organised by the UK Korean Friendship Association (KFA). Dermot Hudson, the KFA’s official delegate in Britain, opened the discussion on the latest imperialist moves against Democratic Korea which include new United Nations economic sanctions against the DPR Korea and provocative war-games in the occupied south designed to rack up tension on the Korean peninsula. And NCP leader Andy Brooks spoke about the need to mobilise support for socialist Korea in Britain and condemn British involvement in the current US military exercises and deployment of the air power in south Korea.

But Democratic Korea is not defenceless and this was seen in the first of two short films from north Korea that were screened at the meeting. The skill and determination of the Korean People’s Army was displayed in Arms of Korea while the superiority of the socialist system was seen in Pyongyang – City of Free Education.

A solidarity message was endorsed and support for a picket outside the US embassy in London called for at the close of the meeting.

Recalling a great Korean leader

Dermot Hudson and Shaun Pickford

 By New Worker correspondent

COMRADES and friends met in central London on Saturday for a second meeting to commemorate the 71^st anniversary of dear leader Kim Jong Il and to celebrate the DPR Korea’s latest outstanding scientific achievements in atomic power.

Kim Jong Il followed in the footsteps of great leader Kim Il Sung to lead Democratic Korea and the Korean revolutionary movement until his last breath in December 2011. So it was fitting that the start of the event, organised by the Juché Idea Study Group and the Association for the Study of Songun Politics, was heralded with the playing of the Song of General Kim Jong Il that is irrevocably linked to the Korean communist leader.

The meeting began with openings on the Juché Idea, along with cultural films and discussion on the philosophy that guides the Workers Party of Korea in the building and defence of the DPRK.     

Dermot Hudson, who chaired the meeting, said: “Today 16^th February is the 71^st anniversary of the birth of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il, the sun of Songun. It is rightfully celebrated as the Day of the Shining Star by the Korean people and the progressive and revolutionary peoples of the entire world.

Today when the Democratic People's Republic of Korea faces unprecedented threats from US and world imperialism it becomes ever more important for Juché idea and Songun idea followers to uphold this occasion. Marking the birth anniversary of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il is an act of positive solidarity with the DPRK in its struggle against US imperialism.

“Today the DPRK is one of the few countries in the world that it is not a member of the IMF, World Bank or World Trade Organisation. It does not have a foreign owned or privately owned central bank. Moreover it does not have any foreign troops stationed on its soil and does not take orders from other countries, as has been demonstrated recently. This is the proud legacy of leader Kim Jong Il and why we uphold his birth anniversary

“We remember the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il on the occasion of the anniversary of his birth for manifold and excellent ideological and theoretical achievements as well his role as a great people's leader and constructor of socialism.

“Today the Korean people under the guidance of the dear respected Marshal Kim Jong Un hold the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il in high esteem as they complete the Juché revolutionary cause. Under Marshal Kim Jong Un the Korean people will advance along the road of independence, Songun and socialism charted by the great leaders comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and win final victory.”

Next Shaun Pickford of the Juché Idea Study Group spoke about the Kim Jong Il’s immense contribution to socialist philosophy. He said that Kim Jong Il’s classic work Abuses of Socialism Are Intolerable that was written soon after the counter-revolutions in the Soviet Union and the people’s democracies of eastern Europe, was a brave work that refuted the slanders of the imperialists and reactionaries against socialism and the socialist idea and exposed the fallacies of revisionism and opportunism.

Despite the intensification of the moves of the imperialists to stifle Korean style socialism the DPRK has held firm. During the period of the "arduous march" in the DPRK not one hospital or school closed down and now it was taking giant steps into the 21^st century to build a modern socialist republic.

            Many useful suggestions were made to actively expand and develop solidarity with the DPRK, including the need for a more vigorous expose of the south Korean puppet regime and to step up the campaign to free Ro Su Hui, the south Korean peace campaigner jailed for four years by the puppet regime. He was arrested in July 2012 after he returned from a visit to the north. Ro was arrested and detained by the south Korean puppet regime under the so-called "National Security Law" which punishes south Koreans for visiting north Korea or sympathising with it in anyway.

            And informal discussion continued over refreshments long after the close of the formal part of the meeting.