Tuesday 30 April 2013

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.

Wednesday 17 April 2013

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 101st 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.