The Day of the Shining Star

 By Dermot Hudson

 

I visited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in February,  at the invitation of the Korea Committee For Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries , to attend the Day of the Shining Star, the  16^th February which was the 77th anniversary of the birth of the late Korean leader Kim Jong Il. It was my 16th visit to the DPRK , although I have visited the DPRK many times I had never before visited for the Day of the Shining Star or in February .

I arrived in Pyongyang on the 12th February and was greeted at the airport by Ms Yun So Hyon of the British desk of the Cultural Relations Committee (who appears in the films The Propaganda Game and Liberation Day) and by Mrs Ri , a young married mother with a one-year old daughter, also of the British desk of the CRC . We had a car . To my surprise , we were driven not to the Yangkaddo Hotel but the Koryo Hotel .

   The weather during the visit was quite cold . I found my room adequately heated  as it had a portable radiator and  hot air coming through the air con – in fact one or

two nights I felt too hot !  There were definitely no power cuts despite the imperialist sanctions and the high demand for electricity.

On the morning I was leaving there was really heavy snowfall covering the roads . On the way to the airport at 7 am I witnessed literally dozens and dozens of workers in high vis vests with big shovels and brooms clearing the snow . Tractors with snowploughs hurtled up and down the streets especially near to the airport , clearing the snow away .It was a real testament to Juche , socialist efficiency, everyone working together with a common goal and purpose.  You would not get this kind of efficiency in a British city .In fact during the last snowfall in Britain I think I can truthfully say that I did not see one person clearing the snow away.

 Britis public services have been devastated by years of cuts and austerity plus incompetence of the authorities , the old 'dunno mate, can't be bothered  mate' attitude . Seeing the DPRK workers clearing the snow away I was inspired by a vision of how society should be.

  Generally , despite the intense sanctions including the very harsh UN sanctions which had been imposed in September and December 2017 , the DPRK seemed in good shape with no shortages in the shops and prices were exactly the same as in September 2018, some 5 months ago . This shows the vitality and correctness of the line of the independent national economy  and the line of self -reliance .During my visit I made comparison  with the situation in Venezuela which is suffering shortages and inflation caused by the sanctions of the imperialists as well as sabotage by local capitalist class in Venezuela . The Venezuelan situation shows how correct the DPRK was to develop the nuclear deterrent and ICBMs.

  Self-reliance was very much in evidence at the Ryugyong Kimchi Factory just outside Pyongyang which I visited. Here imported equipment was being replaced by domestically manufactured equipment bearing the mark 'no 26' (lathe no 26 was the lathe using by comrade Kim Jong Il when he worked as a worker at the Pyongyang Textile Machine factory ) .

 I was shown around the factory by the general manager , a small woman who was one year younger than me. The factory had a 100 workers .It operated a high level of technology including the use of robots . I was told how Korean leader Kim Jong Un had visited the factory twice and  had instructed that prices of products must be set at an affordable level in order to serve the people. Clearly the DPRK is not a market economy as alleged by the likes of the CIA sponsored NKNews and so-called 'Korea experts' . The factory was spotlessly clean . It had great cultural and recreational facilities for its workers including a volleyball court and tables to play Yut and Korean chess . You would not get facilities for workers like this in a capitalist country and indeed many workplaces in Britain lack basic facilities like a works canteen. At the end of the visit was I treated to a nice cup of barley tea.

              I visited for the first time the Korean Film Studio.  This was on the far side of Pyongyang .It was established on the 6th of February 1946 . It was associated with the great leader Kim Il Sung and dear leader Kim Jong  and is today guided by Chairman Kim Jong Un.

Both President Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong IL had given guidance to the Film Studio. Kim Jong Il had written the classic treatise On the Art of the Cinema.  We looked around the  streets representing feudal Korea , China in the 1930s , Japan , south Korea in the 1950s and northern Europe. I noticed that the south Korean street had a  Coca Cola sign symbolising decadent US imperialism and its colonial rule over south Korea. The famous DPRK action film Order 027 was partly shot here  Nowadays much filming done outside of the studio in order to get deep into reality.

   DPRK films are based on socialist realism and I was able to see more example of socialist realist art when  the next day I visited the Pyongyang University of Fine Arts . The Pyongyang University of Fine Arts was originally established as the Pyongyang College of Fine Art by a decree of the Provisional People Committee of North Korea in 1947 . Art on the DPRK is based on socialist realism and is national in content ,In the 1960s the DPRK rejected flunkeyism ,dogmatism ,formalism ,revisionism and bourgeois ideas. The University today has 400 professors and 1,600 students .It is also runs its own art exchange company.It hopes to organise exhibitions in other countries.

  I was able to see for myself the superiority of the people-centred socialist public health care at the state of the art Ryugyong Ophthalmic Hospital. This was opened in 2016 and took only 7 months to construct .It has 8 floors with a 100 inpatient beds .The hospital offers both inpatient and outpatient treatment . There is one doctor per room.The hospital was spotlessly clean .Unlike the imperialist countries  the DPRK is able to run the hospital with a 100 per cent Korean labour .  The equipment looked very up to date and modern . I was shown a children's ward which had 4 beds and pictures of cartoon character and toys .It was arranged in this way so as to connect with the mentality of children.

    I was able to visit both Mirae Scientists Street (completed in 2016) and Ryomyong Street (completed in 2017 ) both extremely futuristic streets which are more like towns than streets as they house thousands of families . In the West these streets would cost billions to build but People's Korea built these streets under the difficult conditions of sanctions and blockade . Both streets were constructed in the space of a year.

    I saw the reverence of the Korean people for Kim Jong Il manifested at the bronze statues at the Mansu Hill where people were coming in droves to lay flowers in front of the statues  of the great leaders. The Kimjongilia flower exhibition featured stands from different DPRK ministries and institutions . I liked the stand from the Ministry of Railways and the Construction Bureau .

On the Day of the Shining Star I was taken for a meal at the Pizza Restaurant in Mirae Scientists  Street. The Committee paid and the driver joined us . We were entertained by a Karaoke singer who sang Korean , Chinese and Russian songs. We had a meal of pizza and spaghetti and a cup of Korean barley tea. I saw Korean families tucking into very large and hearty meals in stark contrast to some of the recent reports about the DPRK alleging hunger etc.

  I was able to enjoy a performance of dolphins and sealions at the Rungna Dolphinarium  and also a circus performance which included a successful 5 rotations by acrobats.

 I had high level meetings with the Korean Association of Social Scientists , the Kim Il Sung- Kim Jong Ilinternational foundation , the Korea Publications Exchange Association .

    I was honoured to have lunch with the Pyongyang Mission of the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front of south Korea .  I was shown a video about the struggle for peace ,prosperity  and  reunification on the Korean peninsula . We talked about  reunification and also about Japanese imperialism in south Korea. The AINDF comrades  expressed the hope that the 2nd DPRK -US Summit will go smoothly , so that one day I can meet them on the south sea of Korea in reunified Korea !

  I am deeply grateful to the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries for hosting the visit as well their deep hospitality and kind assistance . I am also grateful to other DPRK organisations and bodies for their assistance and generosity during the visit . Last but not least I would also  thank the dining room staff of the 3rd floor dining room of the Koryo Hotel and our driver.

             It was a great visit and I was sorry to leave ! See you again Juche Korea !