Comrades mark Kim Il Sung anniversary

by New Worker correspondent

Comrade Thae holding up the New Worker!

AT THE HEIGHT of the Cold War NATO forces staged an intimidating war exercise along the length of the border between eastern and western Europe involving 120,000 troops from assorted NATO countries.

This year NATO forces, along with Japanese and south Korean troops, staged an aggressive war exercise, including practising the use of  nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, in the much smaller space of the south of the Korean peninsula involving 300,000 troops.

The exercise included goals entitled: “behead the leader” and involved practising invasive beach landings. And they wonder why the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has been motivated to develop its own nuclear weapons!

This information was delivered by Comrade Thae Yongho, a representative of the DPRK embassy in London, to a meeting of the Korean Friendship Association (KFA) and the Juche Idea Study Group of England in central London on Saturday 2nd April  to celebrate the 104th anniversary of Korean revolutionary leader Kim Il Sung and the DPRK Day of the Sun.

Dermot Hudson outlined the life of Kim Il Sung and the contributions he made to communist unity throughout the world, especially at a time when there was an ideological war between Moscow and Beijing that led to sectarian divisions and even violence between the different factions throughout communist parties across the world.

Kim Il Sung, and his son and successor Kim Jong Il, developed the Juche idea, which is based on the principle that human society is the master of its own destiny; that communist parties in different countries should work out their own path to socialism according to their circumstances; that they should respect each other but not rely on each other for protection nor to set out what political line they should take. Each party and its membership must be responsible for its political line and actions.

They went on to develop the Songun, or Army First, policy, which does not mean a military dictatorship but that the army should be engaged in civil construction and other work, creating a better standard of living for the people and creating a long-lasting bond between the people and the army.

And so the country has raised itself up and, despite United States imposed sanctions and natural disasters like flooding, has steadily raised the standard of living so that people in the DPRK now enjoy a life well balanced between work and leisure that their grandparents could hardly have dreamed of – where there is respect and affection between the generations, guaranteed housing, free healthcare and education. and a life with much less stress and anxiety than in our society.

Other speeches were made by Sean Pickford, Nick Shakespeare, Alex Meads and Daniel Braggins, and there was a film shown of DPRK defence exercises.