Behind the mirror of lies

by New Worker correspondent

A hotel in the west end of Glasgow was recently the venue for the first Korean Friendship Association event in Glasgow for several years. Hosted by the Stand for Peace pacifist group  who regularly hold vigils in Glasgow and other Scottish cities and towns, it was the occasion for KFA UK’s Chair, Dermot Hudson, to address a packed audience on the theme of People’s Korea behind the Mirror of Lies. The audience, which included members of No to Nato, the NCP and other Scottish communist movements, was broadly sympathetic and genuinely curious about the DPR Korea, although one person seemed to take the Guardian and BBC too seriously. 
One of the lies which Dermot Hudson exposed was that the Western media often report that senior DPRK figures had been executed, only to have egg on their face when they reappear in public months later. This was just one small example of the lies constantly pumped out by the puppet regime in south Korea and their imperialist backers. On a lighter note, he caused amusement by citing an American who seriously claimed that while in the DPRK a power failure stopped a train which meant that he and other passengers then had to get out and push.
The reality is that DPRK citizens enjoy free housing, free health care, and free education. On his recent visit he noted a vast amount of construction work in Pyongyang and a vast programme of rural housing and factory building is underway.
 After his speech a healthy discussion took place around such matters as landownership as well as all sorts of questions about the political and social structures in People’ Korea. Hudson said the DPRK was an example of the Marxist-Leninist dictatorship of the proletariat. The impact of the recent deepening of relations between Russia and the DPRK was also discussed. To any doubting Thomases in the audience the speaker, while aware of the considerable expense involved, said that a visit would confirm his statements.
 It is to be hoped that this resumption of KFA activity north of the border will be followed up by future events.