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 16th 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 !
