DPRK defending socialism

by New Worker correspondent

New Communist Party leader Andy Brooks welcomed comrades and friends to the Party Centre last week for the third in a series of seminars called by the NCP and the Juché Idea Study Group on Juché and Songun politics that are the basis of Korean-style socialism.

Kim Jong Il led the Workers Party of Korea for 17 years in overcoming natural disasters, imperialist blockade and the constant double-dealing and threats of war from the Americans. He worked tirelessly for the Party and the people of Democratic Korea till his last days in December 2011. Kim Jong Il told the world to “expect no change from me” after  great leader Kim Il Sung passed away and he went on to lead the strong and defiant socialist republic into the 21st century and the atomic age while developing the theoretical basis of Korean-style socialism.

Kim Jong Il made powerful contributions to the development of the Juché idea including Abuses of Socialism are Intolerable and Socialism is a Science, published in the early 1990s when whole sections of the international communist movement were wavering following the counter-revolutions in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe.

            And this was the theme of the joint mini-seminar held to discuss a key-note work by leader Kim Jong Un on Juché and Kim Jong Il’s immense contribution to the Korean communist movement.

It began with the screening of the DPRK documentary Admiration for Songun Politics that was followed openings from Dermot Hudson of the Juché Idea Study Group of England and John McLeod from the Socialist Labour Party on Kim Jong Un and Kim Jong Il’s works and its relevance to communists all over the world.

Everyone at the seminar had visited the DPRK and everyone shared their experience during the discussion which included memories of the historic World Federation of Youth and Students that was held in Pyongyang in July 1989 and a report on the recent meeting of the Korean Friendship Association in Belgium.

Today First Secretary Kim Jong Un is following the footsteps of those who came before him in striving to peacefully re-unify the Korean peninsula so brutally partitioned by US imperialism, strengthen the armed forces that are the ultimate guarantee of the independence and freedom of the people of Democratic Korea and ensure the health, education and well-being of every citizen in the DPRK. Still under constant threat from US imperialism and its lackeys it is even more important than ever to support the DPR Korea.

Mass Rally of North Koreans against U.N. Human Right report!

More rubbish at the United Nations

NOTHING illustrates the hypocrisy of imperialism better than the cynical use of the “human rights” gang at the United Nations to further imperialist attempts to isolate and sanction any country that stands in the way of the “new world order”.

This week the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Islamic Republic of Iran were singled out for alleged human rights abuses based on a hate campaign directed by the Americans and based on the dubious reports of defectors and agents of imperialism.

Russia, People’s China and Cuba made a principled stand against this gross interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states. The imperialists mobilised their lackeys at the UN General Assembly to vote in favour of draft resolutions condemning the DPRK and Iran that will soon be referred to the UN Security Council. But those on the front-line against imperialism stood by Democratic Korea and Iran and an even larger number refused to be stampeded by the Americans and simply abstained.

Fewer than half of the 193 UN member-states on Tuesday upheld a resolution accusing Iran of serious violations of human rights. Seventy-eight countries, mainly Nato members and Israel, supported the resolution presented by Canada at the UN General Assembly Third Committee.

Thirty five states, including Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Egypt, India, Iraq, Kazakhstan, China, the DPR Korea, Cuba and Lebanon, voted against the document. Another 69 countries abstained. Among them were Brazil, Jordan, Libya, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. The anti-DPRK resolution was passed with 111 votes in favour to 19 against and 55 abstentions.

UN General Assembly motions have no executive powers and they are routinely ignored when they go against the wishes of imperialism. Last month the General Assembly again voted overwhelmingly in favour of ending the blockade of Cuba by the United States. 188 countries voted in favour of the resolution and three abstentions, with only the United States and Israel voting against it.

Needless to say nothing came of it because the real power at the UN lies with the Security Council and the Big Five veto powers, which include Russia and China who will doubtless veto any attempt to impose new sanctions on Iran or the DPRK.

The leaders of the United States and the European Union of course have no real interest in human rights, which are abused every day in the heartlands of imperialism and by their lackeys and placemen who serve their interests across the world. The real purpose of this charade at the UN is to provide a “human rights” cover to justify imperialism’s hostile acts against anyone who stands in their way.

The imperialists want a puppet government in Ukraine as part of their plan to confront Russia. Iran’s efforts to develop its own independent nuclear energy resources threaten the imperialist monopoly on nuclear technology in the Third World. With the Arabs the imperialist motive is simply to control and plunder the vast oil reserves under their sands.

Palestinian Arabs have been waiting for over 60 years for their human rights to be recognised. The Iraqis, Libyans and Yugoslavs all fell prey to the imperialists who invaded their countries and overthrew their governments in the name of “human rights”. And the Syrians and the anti-fascist partisans in Novorossiya see today the duplicity of the imperialists and their apologists, who ignore their plight and elevate the rights of their reactionary and barbarous enemies.

Human rights are routinely abused in the neo-colonies ruled by feudal tyrants and petty dictators that do the bidding of Washington, London, Paris and Berlin for a share of the cut.

Human rights count for nothing in the metropolitan heartlands where workers live in abject poverty while millionaires flaunt their wealth like a badge of honour. The imperialists are the real abusers of human rights. They are the enemies of the entire human race.

New Worker editorial
21st November 2014

Building support for the DPRK

By New Worker correspondent

Theo Russell, Dermot Hudson and Alejandro

FRIENDS of the Korean revolution met last weekend to strengthen the worldwide movement in solidarity with Democratic Korea and build the Korean Friendship Association.

The biggest ever KFA international meeting took place in the Belgian city of La Louvière with delegations from all over Europe, Asia and the United States as well UK KFA official delegate Dermot Hudson and communications secretary Theo Russell.

Also present were Hyon Hak Bong, DPRK Ambassador to Britain and two delegates from the Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, Director Ryu Kyong Il, and Kang Hyon Gyu, liaison officer in Pyongyang.

The meeting was opened by KFA president Alejandro Cao de Benos, who said that the period 15^th November to 17^th December has been declared a special period of mourning marking three years since the passing of dear leader comrade Kim Jong Il.

Describing General Kim Jong Il as “a modern revolutionary hero”, Alejandro recalled that his last instruction was to recommend dear respected Marshal Kim Jong Un as his successor, and said: “Anyone who tries to undermine the way of life of our great motherland will follow the same fate as the traitor Jang Song Thaek.”

Alejandro declared: “The most repressive system and violation of human rights is the capitalist system, which is a tool for the oppression of one class by another.”

He also spoke of the imminent launch of a new “hyper-coal engine” developed by engineers from Democratic Korea and Europe, using converted coal as a cheap and cleaner fuel for vehicles and in electricity production.

KFA International Commissar Trever Artiz Hill noted: “More and more defectors from Democratic Korea are returning home and asking for forgiveness when they see that housing, health and education are human rights and not an expensive luxury. The real concern of the DPRK’s enemies is a socialist system, which is an alternative to their system, and this really frightens them.”

Ryu Kyong Il said: “For 14 years the KFA has helped the Korean people with their socialist construction, and now the Korean people are creating new miracles and innovations at the new Korean speed under the leadership of dear respected Marshal Kim Jong Un.”

In a powerful speech ambassador Hyon said: “The DPRK’s enemies have cooked up the human rights issue because they failed over the nuclear issue. Because the DPRK is guided by the Juché Idea, which stipulates that man is the master, there are no such thing as human rights violations in the DPRK.”

He said that in meetings with European Union officials they asked about the DPRK’s response to a planned UN Human Rights Committee resolution on the DPRK, and warned: “There will be a strong reaction from the DPRK.

“The final victory will belong to the Korean people. In conclusion, I hope that the KFA will redouble its solidarity and increase its actions in support of the DPRK.”

Among the many speeches from delegates Lukas Mrozek, head of the Polish KFA, said Poland was one of the first countries to recognise the young DPRK, and recalled that great leader President Kim Il Sung had visited his country twice and that Poland had welcomed children from Democratic Korea during the Korean war.

Mikel Vivanko of the Spanish KFA spoke of the tremendously positive experience of the opening of a DPRK embassy in Madrid and said KFA comrades and their Korean counterparts had celebrated the Day of the Sun together.

Messages were also received from Bangladesh, Brazil, Norway and Switzerland.

In his closing remarks Alejandro Cao de Benos said that there is currently an upsurge in interest in the KFA in Latin America, especially in Chile, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Argentina and Venezuela, and that a special meeting is planned for the 15^th anniversary of the foundation of the KFA in 2015.

The meeting adopted a letter to the dear respected leader Marshal Kim Jong Un and presented a gift to be delivered him, and awards were made to KFA official delegates and activists.

The British delegation held meetings with Alejandro Cao De Benos and it was agreed the KFA in Britain would press ahead with the setting up regional branches and appointing Zone Delegates.

It was a great meeting marked by dynamism and vibrancy which the British KFA will strive to translate into real successes in building support for socialist Korea.

KFA international meeting in la Louviere 2015

Korean artists come to London

David Heather speaking with the DPRK ambassador 

 by New Worker correspondent

FOUR top DPRK painters have spent the past two weeks touring London, capturing glimpses of the spirit of the people in their art which was displayed for the first time at an exhibition at the DPRK embassy this week.

The Korean people’s artists painted their way round the capital, visiting the South Bank, the National Gallery, Covent Garden and the Tower and their impressions, along with many other examples of their skills have been delighting art-lovers and friends of the DPRK all week.

            The artists work at the Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang. The studio, which was founded in 1959, is the national fine arts centre of the DPR Korea with specialised units covering sculpture, ceramics, murals, paintings, embroidery and social and political posters. The studio employs nearly 5,000 workers including 700 artists whose works have been displayed throughout Democratic Korea and across the world.

Happy Day

 The vast majority of the major art works of the DPRK have been produced by Mansudae Art Studio artists. Their ages go from mid-20s to mid-60s and almost all are graduates of the very demanding Pyongyang University. Over half the Merit Artists and the People’s Artists, the two highest awards an artist can receive in DPRK, are or have been associated with the Mansudae Art Studio.

Traditionally Koreans painted in ink and it remains the most popular genre in the DPRK. Oil painting was introduced to Korea in the 19^th century and for a long time it was seen as a foreign technique. But in the 1960s it was taken up by the Studio with the specific approval of great leader Kim Il Sung. It is now used mainly for landscapes, wild-life studies and portraits.

            At the launch on Monday the DPRK ambassador, Hyong Hak Bong, paid tribute to all those who made the exhibition possible including the Foreign Office, the British Council and the organiser, David Heather, a Surrey art dealer who has written a number of books on the posters of the German Democratic Republic, Vietnam and the DPRK.

The Ambassador said he hoped the exhibition would contribute greatly to cultural exchange between Britain and the DPRK.

            Communists and friends of Korea rubbed shoulders with art-dealers, art critics, diplomats and journalists at the reception for the exhibition in the main hall of the embassy in west London. Guests included New Communist Party leader Andy Brooks, Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) general secretary Michael Chant, Dermot Hudson from the Korean Friendship Association and American Hip Hop artist and campaigner Marcel Cartier, who recently visited the DPRK.

                        The Mansudae artists had never been to London before and we saw London through the freshness of their eyes as they caught the autumn crowds in oil. These included a painting of a snapshot one of them took of two smiling teenage girls on the South Bank and the ceramic poppy installation at the Tower of London. It was also a first for many of the guests looking at examples of contemporary and traditional Korean painting, wood-cuts and sketches.

            Widely reported in the bourgeois press the exhibition was also covered by the BBC, ITN, Channel Four and Central China TV (CCTV).    Over 100 guests attended the launch and opening ceremony. Thousands are expected to come to the public exhibition which closes at the end of the week.

WHO ARE THE REAL HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS ?

 WHO ARE THE REAL HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSERS ? 

An examination of the "human rights" campaign against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 

Today the Democratic People,s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is being subjected to one of the most intense propaganda offensive of all times and even a so-called UN resolution is being drawn up

In order to refute the demonic and unprecedented anti-DPRK ,anti-Juche ,anti-socialist campaign of US and world imperialism the UK Korean Friendship Association and Juche Idea Study Group have published a new book  which examines the "human rights" campaign against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

We hope this book will play a part in refuting the lies about the DPRK being spread by the imperialists.

It is available on this link 

http://www.lulu.com/shop/dermot-hudson/who-are-the-real-human-rights-abusers-an-examination-of-the-human-rights-campaign-against-the-democratic-peoples-republic-of-korea/paperback/product-21873396.html

A Rapper for Korea

Marcel Cartier speaking

By New Worker correspondent

A packed public meeting last week at Housmans Bookshop in Kings Cross, London on the theme 'From Socialist Korea to Ferguson’ heard a wide range of speakers recall ties between Democratic Korea and the black power movement in the US dating back to the 1960s, and connecting present-day struggles in Britain and the US with the need to defend the DPR Korea and other socialist countries.

 Among the impressive line-up was Marcel Cartier, an anti-imperialist American rapper working with the Tricontinental Anti-Imperialist Platform, Pan African News Wire editor Abayomi Azikiwe speaking via Skype from the US, and Yong Ho Thae of the DPRK embassy.

 Cartier said when he visited the DPRK there was “a feeling of relaxation and being at ease,” and American athletes joining the Pyongyang marathon told him they were treated “like brothers and sisters” by their hosts. Azikiwe sent “revolutionary greetings” and said “the US practises systematic oppression every day, yet accuses countries round the world”. He said “we stand in solidarity with the DPRK and all revolutionary and socialist governments and movements”. Minka Adopo of the United Friends and Families Campaign also urged those at the meeting to support last Saturday’s march for justice for black Britons who have died at the hands of the police.