Stepping stones to socialism

Dermot Hudson and Andy Brooks

by New Worker correspondent

Friends of Korea met in London last weekend to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on 2nd September 1948. NCP leader Andy Brooks and Michael Chant from the RCPB (ML) were there along with other veteran campaigners and supporters of the Korean Friendship Association (KFA) event at the Marchmont Centre in Bloomsbury on Saturday.
Opening the meeting KFA UK Chair Dermot Hudson said that “from the first day of its foundation, the DPRK has advanced along the road of Juche, the road of self-reliance, independence and socialism. Juche Korea was not a copy of another country but a unique and original state”.
DPRK diplomat Kim Song Gi  brought greetings from DPRK’s London embassy and told the audience that under the leadership of  Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il the DPRK travelled the road of struggle, never giving up even though the moves of the hostile forces continue to this day. And today, led by Kim Jong Un, the Korean people march confidently into the future. 
Other speakers included Jef Bossyut of the Belgium KFA and Jeremy Bieringer (KFA Germany) while  Alejandro Cao De Benos joined us live on video link from Spain. The fact that the DPRK has withstood the test of time, disasters, sanctions and imperialist threats for 75 years, is evidence of the invincible validity of its system and the full support of the korean people in its future”. Alejandro, the  international president of the Korean Friendship Association cannot travel abroad as his passport was confiscated by the Spanish authorities some seven years ago. But they haven’t, as yet,  barred him from the social media.
Christer Lundgren, the Chair of the Swedish-Korean Friendship Association, also joined us on Zoom saying “during its 75 years of existence the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has had extremely challenging difficulties to overcome, including the fierce Fatherland Liberation War, the postwar reconstruction and industrialization, continuous war threats and extreme economic difficulties caused by the imperialists’ manoeuvres to isolate and stifle People’s Korea as well as by the collapse of some other socialist countries”.
This hybrid meeting, spanned half the world. It was a first for the KFA. It certainly won’t be the last. 

Korean friends rally in Spain

Alejandro gives delegates a tour

by New Worker correspondent

Korean solidarity activists from all round the world gathered in Spain for the annual international meeting of the Korean Friendship Association in November. A British delegation headed by Dermot Hudson, the chair of the UK KFA, joined delegates from many other countries for the conference in the historic city of Tarragona in the autonomous region of Catalonia that kicked off on 12th November, the anniversary of the foundation of the KFA in 2000.
    KFA officials and members from Britain, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the USA took part in the meeting as well a delegation of the Russian based International Solidarity Group with the DPRK. The meeting was nearly double the size of the KFA International meeting in Barcelona last year and several times the size of some previous meetings.
    Opening the meeting Alejandro Cao De Benos , the KFA President, said that the CIA, FBI, Interpol and MI6 could not defeat him and KFA. The FBI had tried to frame Alejandro on false charges but this had failed. But still cannot travel abroad due to the fascist Spanish authorities, the grandchildren and great grandchildren of the Spanish fascist dictator Franco, confiscating his passport. Alejandro's lawyers are fighting for the restoration of his passport and his right to travel.
    A message of greetings to the meeting from the DPRK Embassy in Spain was read out by comrade Alejandro Dermot Hudson, chairman of KFA UK read out the message from the Korea -Europe Cultural Exchange Promotion Agency of the DPR Korea which praised the work of KFA noting that KFA are the true friends of the DPRK and are expanding their ranks all the time.
    A message was also received from comrade Park Soo Churl the head of the Pyongyang Mission of the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front of south Korea which said in part that "Today the DPRK enjoys the greatest heyday demonstrating its prestige as a powerful country throughout the world thanks to the outstanding leaders.
    The 80 years-long history of the DPRK reflects the dignity of a party that reaches the highest level, national strength that is displayed throughout the world and the rosy future of a nation is guaranteed only when a nation is led by a great leader he said.
    The central theme of the meeting was the leadership of Kim Jong Un. In his keynote address Alejandro stressed that former socialist countries collapsed because they had failed to create a correct leadership system but the DPRK created an excellent leadership system. Today the DPRK is forging ahead under the leadership of Kim Jong Un. The progress in the DPRK is in sharp contrast to the corrupt and declining capitalist world .
    Or as Dermot Hudson pointed out in his speech "the DPRK was able to defeat Covid 19 within 3 months and basically by relying on its own resources as it rejected the fake humanitarian aid of world imperialism and the south Korean puppets . No other country has done this. In some countries Covid 19 still prevails after nearly three years since its first outbreak".
    The conference concluded with a commitment to redouble the work to build solidarity and friendship with the Korean people. And the next day Alejandro, who said that he had once declined an offer of a post in the Catalan regional government, took the delegates on a guided tour of old Tarragona including the famous Roman amphitheatre .

Solidarity in Spain

 

by New Worker correspondent

Korean Friendship Association activists gathered in Spain last weekend for an international meeting of the KFA in sunny Barcelona, which is Spain's second largest city and the capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia. The meeting took place in a community centre, run by the Communist Party of the People of Spain (PCPE), in a working-class area of the city.
    The conference marked the 21st anniversary of the foundation of the KFA. The atmosphere of the meeting was militant and upbeat. There have been many provocations and attempts to shut down KFA over the years, such as denying the right of KFA President Alejandro Cao De Benos to travel by confiscating his passport. Despite these vicious moves KFA has survived and is expanding rapidly, with over 17,000 members registered worldwide.
    The meeting was attended by activists, officials and KFA members from various parts of Spain, plus delegations from Germany and Britain.
    Dermot Hudson, the chair of the KFA UK, said: “Over the past two years both KFA and KFA UK have come under attack from hostile forces but we have survived! KFA is attacked because we tell the truth about People's Korea. We defend People's Korea with No ifs or buts, often 24/7. We defend People's Korea with enthusiasm, we are not half-hearted about it. That is why they hate us so much. Our enemies want to shut down KFA and silence the voice of truth defending People's Korea.”

Honouring Kim Jong Il

by New Worker correspondent

Korean solidarity activists met online last Saturday to mark the 57th anniversary of the start of work of dear leader Kim Jong Il at the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea (WPK) in 1964, and also the 20th anniversary of the Korean Friendship Association (KFA) UK.
    KFA members from all over Britain took part in the meeting, including the organisers of branches in Staffordshire, Scotland and the West of England. Observers from the Cambodian and Canadian KFAs also joined in the online conference.
    Congratulatory messages were received from KFA President Alejandro Cao De Benos, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Embassy in London, the DPRK Committee for Cultural Relations, the DPRK Committee for Friendship with Britain, the Pyongyang Mission of the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front of south Korea, and KFA Singapore.
    The message from the Korean Committee for Friendship with Britain said: “This year is a very significant year which marks 20 years of history of KFA UK. For the past two decades, KFA UK has always been in the frontline of friendship and solidarity activities with DPRK and made great achievements. No words could match your efforts, we would just like to emphasise that we are grateful and appreciate your contributions highly.”
    KFA President Alejandro Cao De Benos stressed that: “KFA-UK is one of our most active branches in the world, from conferences to interviews, from pickets to the publication of People’s Korea Today, your pace and spirit is inspirational and unmatchable. Being a model, many newcomers will be assisted by KFA-UK for training and advice.”
    The DPRK London embassy said: “Our embassy highly appreciates that KFA of Britain has been struggling to strengthen the association and defend the rights and interest of working people since its foundation 20 years ago.”
    Dermot Hudson, the KFA-UK Chair, spoke about the 20th anniversary of the foundation of KFA-UK, stressing its role in taking “the struggle to defend People’s Korea to the streets and picketing the US embassy, south Korean puppet embassy, the BBC, Channel Four and the Ministry of Defence”, adding: “Of course it has never been easy, far from it. The establishment and the elite do not want to see the pro-active and energetic defence of the DPRK.”
    Speaking about the 57th anniversary of the start of work of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il at the Central Committee of the WPK, Hudson said that Kim Jong Il’s starting work at the WPK Central Committee was an event of immense importance. His leadership enabled the WPK to hold up the Juche idea authored by President Kim Il Sung, the great leader of the Korean people and the founder of the WPK, as its immutable guiding ideology and guiding ideal, the Juche idea.
    It was reported that KFA-UK has grown on Facebook despite obstructions from Facebook that saw the main site and others banned for certain periods. Despite the COVID‑19 pandemic KFA-UK has been very active, holding many online events.
    A new KFA-UK Constitution was endorsed without dissension. The meeting included a short presentation by Dermot Hudson on the subject of the Korean war – the imperialist invasion, led by the USA, which was started by the south Korean puppets on the orders of their American masters.
     After an online toast to the 20th anniversary of KFA-UK was drunk, a message to DPRK Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un was adopted.