The
leaders of the two Koreas took a further step towards ending tension on the
Korean peninsula at the summit in Pyongyang this week. The talks between
Democratic Korean leader Kim Jong Un and south Korean leader Moon Jae In have paved
the way forwards towards a new era of peace between the two governments based
on the {Panmunjom Declaration} that was signed during their historic meeting in
April at the truce village on the armistice line that divides the Korean
peninsula.
Kim Jong Un is following in the footsteps
of great leader Kim Il Sung, who first proposed the establishment of a united
confederal republic based on the principle of ‘one country, two systems’ back
in 1980. That’s the principle that led to the peaceful return of the former
British and Portuguese colonies of Hong Kong and Macau to People’s China in
1997, and it’s one that clearly would end the imperialist imposed partition of
the Korean peninsula.
Moon Jae In represents the views of
realistic circles within the south Korean ruling class that want an end to
American-inspired confrontation and a return to economic co-operation with the
people’s government in the north.
Both sides have agreed to a tranche of
economic and political proposals that will further develop inter-Korean
relations, end military tension and transform the cease-fire line into a “peace
zone”.
US President Donald Trump has welcomed the
outcome of the talks in one of his proverbial Tweets amidst rumours that the
American leader, who held ground-breaking talks with the Korean communist
leader in Singapore in June, is ready for a follow-up meeting in the not too
distant future.
Whether that happens depends largely on the
outcome of America’s mid-term elections. If Trump’s Republicans fare badly in
the November polls this will strengthen the hand of the ‘deep state’ – the
hidden hand that operates across party lines to do the bidding of the most
aggressive sections of the American ruling class.
They are the war party that destroyed the
Yugoslav federation as well as the progressive governments in Libya and Iraq.
They propelled the fascists into power in Ukraine. They want ‘regime change’ in
Syria and they back Zionist aggression to the hilt. These are the people who
have consistently worked to sabotage all efforts to normalise relations between
US imperialism and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The DPRK has been under US sanctions of
one form or another since the end of the Korean War in 1953. But despite
unrelenting hostility from US imperialism and its lackeys, Democratic Korea has
continued to advance along the road of socialist construction and the people’s
government will never submit to economic pressure, military threat or nuclear
blackmail.
The restoration of inter-Korean economic co-operation
can only be achieved with the end of sanctions. Peace can only be secured with
the withdrawal of all US troops from the south, and normalisation can only
progress with the demolition of the ‘concrete wall’ that divides the country
and an end to the anti-communist laws that are a breach of the universal human
rights the imperialists loudly claim to uphold when it suits their interests.
This week’s Pyongyang summit shows that
the Korean people as a whole can resolve their problems without outside interference.
Let us hope they are allowed to continue.
