A life devoted to Korea

by New Worker correspondent

Theo Russell, Dermot Hudson and Shaun Pickford

Comrades and friends marked the 76th anniversary of the birth of Korean leader Kim Jong Il at a meeting last weekend called by the Korean Friendship Association (KFA) and the British Juche Society.

Kim Jong Il developed the Juche idea, applying it to all spheres of economic construction and for the promotion of north–south dialogue for the independent peaceful reunification of Korea. His modesty, faithful service, tireless work, total loyalty to Kim Il Sung and the Korean revolution, and undoubted ability meant that when the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) considered the question of the succession – and this was decided long before Kim Il Sung’s death – Kim Jong Il was the unchallenged candidate to be the successor to great leader Kim Il Sung.

When Kim Il Sung passed away, Kim Jong Il told the Korean people and the world that they could “expect no change from me” and under his leadership the WPK won further victories. Natural disasters were overcome. Imperialist diplomatic isolation was broken and the intrigues of US imperialism exposed.

Kim Jong Il, the great leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) who devoted his entire life to serving the Korean people, died at his post in December 2011.

Last Saturday supporters of the Korean revolution returned to the historic Lucas Arms to celebrate the Day of the Shining Star as it is known in Democratic Korea, and to hear solidarity speeches from KFA and New Communist Party (NCP) solidarity activists. The Kings Cross pub 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.

Chaired by Dermot Hudson of the KFA, the meeting began with openings from Shaun Pickford of the KFA and Theo Russell from the Central Committee of the NCP. This was followed by a general discussion that revolved around the initiative of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un over the winter Olympics in south Korea and the latest American attempts to derail all attempts to defuse the crisis on the Korean peninsula.

Everyone praised the DPRK's socialist system and the proposals for reunification and calls to defend Democratic Korea against US imperialist aggression.