Travels in the land of Juche, 1992–2017

By John Marchant

Travels In The Land of Juche Korea, 1992–2017} by Dermot Hudson, 2018. Paperback 93pp.

The name of Dermot Hudson is familiar to both friends and foes of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), because Dermot is the foremost friend of the Korean people and the leading advocate of the Juche Idea in Britain.

Dermot Hudson has the unique distinction of having been the first ever Briton to have gained a doctorate from a DPRK academic body, the Korean Association of Social Scientists, in April 2016. In recent years he’s put forward the Dprk’s case and Korean solidarity issues in the media, such as the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire Show and the Daily Politics programme, as well featuring in the documentary This Is Not My Country.

Reading the prologue one gets a deep sense of the factors that led Dermot Hudson on to the path he has followed over the last four decades. His quest for a sound and precise ideological anchor took many years of trials, and led him eventually to follow the Juche Idea.

But this is essentially a travelogue. This short book ranges from 1992 to 2017, combining historic notes with personal anecdotes, which are often amusing. Going through the book, the reader will detect the onwards developments in the DPRK and the durability of Korean-style socialism. Dermot has had the privilege of travelling to the DPRK during the eras of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un, which makes this book even more interesting. Some quarters may find some of his comments in the book rather controversial but these are Dermot's own honest opinions on various subjects.

For those who have travelled to the DPRK in the past and to those people who have never been to Peoples Korea, Travels In The Land of Juche Korea is an ideal place to have a flavour of this remarkable East Asian Socialist Country. It is, indeed, recommended reading for friends and sympathisers of the Korean people, and it can be obtained by simply sending a donation to cover cost and postage to: UK KFA, PO Box 73, London SW11 2PQ.