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| Dermot Hudson with the head of KASS |
By Dermot Hudson
I visited the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK ) from the 11th to the 18th April. I was the first British citizen to visit the DPRK for five years .The last time I was in the DPRK was in October 2019. For several years it was not possible to travel to the DPRK because the border was closed at the end of January 2020 as a countermeasure against Covid 19 . Only recently has the DPRK started allowing groups of visitors into the country. Some anti-Covid 19 measures were apparent when we arrived such as staff spraying sanitiser onto our hands when we arrived in the hotel.
I travelled to People’s Korea to join in the celebrations of the 112th anniversary of the birth of President Kim Il Sung and take part in the international seminar on the Juche Idea on the theme of Independence, Justice and The Future of Humanity organised by the Korean Association of Social Scientists (KASS) and the International Institute of the Juche Idea. The seminar attracted delegations from more than 20 countries including Brazil, Britain, Germany and Russia. Some countries like Russia and Brazil sent more than one delegation. The fact that so many delegations travelled to Pyongyang proved that it is a lie that the DPRK is isolated or that there is no support for the DPRK outside the country. Indeed the Juche Idea is attracting interest from around the world .
Arriving at the Air Koryo, the DPRK’s national airline, check in counter at Beijing Airport on the morning of the 11th April I ran into many veteran supporters of People’s Korea such as Martin Lotscher of KFA Switzerland and Javed Ansari from Pakistan as well as newer friends of People’s Korea such as Lucas Rubio of Brazil.
In the course of our stay in the DPRK we visited the Mangyongdae School-children's Palace , the Kangdong Greenhouse Vegetable Farm , the Natural History Museum at Pyongyang Central Zoo, the Tower of the Juche Idea , the National Gift Exhibition House, the Monument on Mansu Hill as well as the national art gallery, a circus and the stamp museum. We went to a concert at the Moranbong Theatre as well as participating in an international friendship gathering . Some of the delegates attended an excellent dinner hosted by the DPRK Committee For Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.
I arrived at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport on the afternoon of the 11th April and was met by my guide O Su Jin of the Korean Association of Social Scientists . We travelled by coach to the Pyongyang Koryo Hotel . Sometimes it seemed hard to believe that I was really back in the DPRK , it seemed like everything was in a dream. Everywhere we went we encountered friendly people . People on the streets waved at our convoy and the hotel staff were very friendly.
During the visit I witnessed that the situation in the DPRK is calm and stable .The DPRK had closed its borders for four years but survived ,a truly amazing feat when you consider that some countries would only last weeks or even days with their borders closed . However the DPRK is based firmly on self-reliance and the independent national economy .
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| Koryo Hotel |
A new neighbourhood called Hwasong Street has appeared in Pyongyang. On the day of our arrival our coach to the hotel passed through it and later in the visit we drove through Hwasong Street both during the day and at night . Hwasong Street looks very modern and of good quality .It would cost billions to build in a Western country but the DPRK gives homes to people free of charge . Whilst we were staying in the DPRK the second stage of Hwasong Street was opened on the evening of the 16th April in the presence of Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of the DPRK. Also a new street is under construction in the Sopho district and was visible when we were going back to Pyongyang Airport on the 18th April .
In fact, construction was going on all over Pyongyang . Opposite the Pyongyang Koryo Hotel there was a new block of flats under construction and several other blocks of flats under construction were visible in the near distance as well as in other parts of Pyongyang . I think that I can truly say that although it was my 19th visit to the DPRK I had never previously seen construction work on such a scale before. What is significant is that all this is being achieved without the so-called “aid” of imperialism or the south Korean puppets.
During the emergency situation that arose in the spring of 2022 when the south Korean puppets deliberately spread Covid 19 into the DPRK , the DPRK rejected “aid” from the south Korean puppet regime , the UN and the Americans. The Daily Worker, the newspaper of the Workers Party of Korea, later described the “aid” of imperialism as “poisoned candy”. The rapid development of People’s Korea by relying on its own resources and labour is destroying the myth that outside assistance, particularly from the Americans and other imperialists, is somehow essential for a country‘s development .
We visited the newly built Kangdong Greenhouse Vegetable Farm which was some 34 kilometres outside Pyongyang. It had only gone into operation in March this year .It was opened on the 15th of March in the presence of the Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The farm had been built on the site of the former Mirim Airbase of the Korean People’s Army. One myth about People’s Korea created by the bourgeois media in the imperialist world is that resources are diverted away from civilians to the military but the construction of the Kangdong Greenhouse Vegetable Farm shows that in fact this is simply not true. The farm has an area of 100 square hectares with 8 types of greenhouses.
The farm has 1,800 workers. We were able to taste cucumbers produced by the farm . Significantly the Kangdong Greenhouse Vegetable Farm is not a co-operative farm but actually a state farm which means that it is owned by the whole people. The aim is to create a similar farm in each county or province of the DPRK. Vegetables from the farm were supplied free of charge to Pyongyang citizens. Also dwellings for the workers of the farm were given free of charge to the farm’s workers . It can be truly said that the DPRK is actually advancing towards the higher stage of socialism, communism . Probably the DPRK will be the first socialist country to reach the higher stage of communism.
In recent years a false narrative about the DPRK has been created by some sections of the mainstream media and by so-called “academic experts” on the DPRK who in reality know nothing at all about the DPRK. They say that the DPRK is adopting “market reforms” and abandoning Juche-based socialism – lies aimed at spreading disillusion and confusion amongst international supporters of People’s Korea .The fact that the DPRK is developing a network of state owned farms to supply vegetables to the population shows that the DPRK is actually strengthening the planned economy and system of state ownership.
Although there have been massive changes in the DPRK since the last time I visited, what remained unchanged was the DPRK ‘s consistent anti-imperialism and adherence to socialist principles. Red flags were flying on street corners and there were many revolutionary slogans in large Korean characters displayed across the capital. Postcards of anti-US posters could be found in the bookshop of the Pyongyang Koryo Hotel and the Korean Stamp Museum. A friend of mine who had been with me in the DPRK in 2017 and 2018 remarked that he had been worried about what he might find in the DPRK after an absence of six years but was quite relieved as well as positive when he saw that there had been no “reform” and “opening up” in the DPRK and there was a complete absence of Western influence .
Prices in the hotel shop were the same as in 2019.Needless to say there was no evidence to back the ludicrous claim on the rabidly anti-communist NK News website about a “250 dollar banana" and my guide just laughed and said " ridiculous" when I told him the story .There were no homeless people and I saw no one begging. Housing is given to people free of charge. My guide told me that he had lived in Mirae Scientists Street with his parents but when he got married he was given a new flat. The neighbourhoods were spotlessly clean with no litter. Unlike Western capitals there were no muggers, drug addicts, beggars, prostitutes on the streets. I was able to leave money in my hotel room and it was still there when I returned in the evening or afternoon.
As to tales of “human rights violations”, the DPRK actually has a fairly minimal police presence compared to many other countries. The police only direct traffic. The situation seemed quite normal, calm and peaceful.
I was able to make a speech at the seminar on the Juche Idea on the theme of “Independence , Justice and the future of Humanity “ ,which was held on the 15th of April .There were 10 speakers including DPRK social scientists as well as speakers from Russia , Mongolia, Democratic Congo and the International Institute of the Juche Idea . In my speech I pointed out that “People’s Korea under the leadership of the respected leader Marshal Kim Jong Un represents the future of humanity .Rapid advances such as the construction of new housing as well as the launch of the DPRK’s first ever military reconnaissance satellite are taking place one after the other . People’s Korea is a country without unemployment , without beggars and without drug addicts . It is a society free from the decadence of modern capitalism which is rotten to the core ”.
A follow up course was held on the 16th of April with lecturers from the Korean Association of Social Scientists. I was sad to leave the DPRK on the 18th of April but very glad that I went.
My thanks to the Korean Association of Social Scientists for the invitation and for their work in organising the visit, to my guide O Su Jin, to the staff of the Pyongyang Koryo Hotel and to the DPRK Committee for Cultural Relations for the excellent dinner.
See you again Pyongyang!
