Down with oppression in south Korea!

Andy Brooks with other comrades at the picket

by New Worker correspondent

DESPITE sub-zero temperatures and a bit of snow Korean solidarity activists picketed the south Korean puppet embassy in London last week to denounce the suppression of a leading opposition party and the arrest of pro-reunification activists.

New Communist Party leader Andy Brooks joined comrades and friends from the Korean Friendship Association to protest at the banning of the Unified Progressive Party and demand the release of Ro Su Hui, the jailed veteran peace campaigner, and other south Korean political prisoners.

Dermot Hudson of the KFA opened the picket by condemning the repression of fascist puppet Park Geun Hye regime, which is dragging south Korea back to the era of the Yushin fascist dictatorship of her father Park Chung Hee. General Park came to power in a military coup in 1961 and ruled with an iron fist until he was assassinated by the head of his own intelligence service during a power struggle in 1979.

Dermot took the microphone to denounce the dissolution of the Unified Progressive Party in south Korea, which is the third largest party in south Korea with elected representatives and a 100,000 members.

Picketers took turns in reading statements supporting the campaign while others gave out a new KFA info leaflet during the two-hour picket. One passer-by joined the KFA on the spot – showing activism and campaigning works.

 The picketers, fortified by hot soup, coffee and a little drop of Scotch, ended their protest at 5.30, vowing to return in the near future if the prisoners are not released.

The UK Korean Friendship Association (KFA) regularly organises solidarity meetings and protest pickets in London throughout the year. The KFA also works side by side with the Friends of Korea committee which also holds regular events in London.

Kim Jong Il's Immortal Works and Life

by New Worker correspondent

Hyong Hak Bong and Michael Chant

FRIENDS of Korea met in London’s historic Marx House on Sunday to mark the third anniversary of the passing of Kim Jong Il.  In the hallowed hall of the building where Britain’s first Marxists worked and provided Lenin with rooms to edit and print the underground Russian paper, Iskra, when he lived in exile in London, British communist leaders and Korean solidarity activists paid tribute to the Korean revolutionary leader who died at his post on 17th December 2011.

 This was no solemn occasion but a celebration of the life and times of the Korean leader who devoted his life to the Workers Party of Korea and the democratic people’s republic that has been a red bastion in Asia since its foundation in 1948.

The Friends of Korea committee brings together all the major movements active in Korean friendship and solidarity work in Britain today. It is chaired by New Communist Party leader Andy Brooks and the secretary is Michael Chant of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (ML).

The two communist leaders spoke about the important contribution that Kim Jong Il had made to the development of socialism and the defence of the people’s government in words and deeds in the face of unremitting imperialist blockades and aggression.

John Macleod of the Socialist Labour Party talked about the relevance of Kim Jong Il’s theoretical works to the revolutionary struggle in the 21^st century. Dermot Hudson of the Korean Friendship Association opened on the development of the Juché idea, the essence of Korean-style socialism and Roger Nettleship from the Society for Friendship with Korea (Northern Region) brought greetings from his committee and reported on Korean friendship work in Newcastle.

Comrade Hyong Hak Bong, the DPR Korean ambassador in London, spoke about how Kim Jong Il worked night and day for the Korean people. Heedless of his own health the Korean leader rallied the people to overcome natural disasters, imperialist diplomatic isolation and US blockade to lead the country to further victories in the 21^st century.

Kim Jong Il lives on in the hearts of communists and everyone struggling for a better tomorrow and Kim Jong Il will be found at all times among the millions upon millions of Koreans advancing onwards full of confidence under the leadership of the dear respected Kim Jong Un.

Comrades then rose for a minute’s silence in respect of Kim Jong Il, which was followed by a short Korean film on the life of the dear leader.

FREE RO SU HUI NOW!

By New Worker correspondent

Last year a veteran south Korean peace activist was jailed by the south Korean puppet regime after he returned from a visit to the north. Ro Su Hui was sentenced to four years in prison under south Korea’s draconian anti-communist “National Security Law” and last week pickets were again outside the south Korean embassy in London to demand his release.

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined other friends of the Korean people at the protest organised by the International Campaign for the Release of Ro Su Hui and the UK Korean Friendship Association.

 Dermot Hudson, the secretary of the international campaign, read out demands for Ro Su Hui’s release throughout the picket as well as messages of support from the Swiss Korea Committee and other groups. Dermot said: " we are here today to protest against the jailing of Mr Ro Su Hui and also the recent arrest of Mr Lee Seok Ki an assemblyman from the Unified Progressive Party.

We strongly denounce the south Korean so-called authorities (in reality a gang of fascist puppets who grovel to the American imperialists) for the 4 year jail sentence imposed on vice -chairman Mr Ro Su Hui .

This is an outrageous and despotic act against Mr Ro who had simply campaigned for peace and reunification. All he did was to visit the northern half of his own country, this should not be considered a crime.

Mr Ro was subjected to brutal treatment when he crossed back into south Korea and was held without trial for more than 6 months in south Korea. Mr Ro is is over the age of 65 and he is suffering from cancer. This is a most inhuman act of the south Korean regime”.

            Protesters leafleted passers-by while others read out statements and maintained a barrage of slogans throughout the afternoon demonstration, including a lively rendering of  "south Korea is a fascist regime " to the tune of the Beatles’ "Yellow Submarine"!

• Video of the picket

Free Ro Su Hui!

 By New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined a picket of the south Korean embassy in London last week to demand the release of the south Korean peace activist arrested in July after he returned from a visit to the north. Ro was arrested and detained by the south Korean puppet regime under the so-called "National Security Law" which punishes south Koreans for visiting north Korea or sympathising with it in anyway.

The 1^st  November protest was organised by the International Committee for the Release of Ro Su Hui which is supported by the NCP and a number of Juche and Korean solidarity movements in Britain and abroad. Dermot Hudson, the secretary of the new campaign, read out demands for Ro Su Hui’s release throughout the picket as well as messages of support from the Swiss Korea Committee and the  Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front of south Korea (AINDF).

• Russian report 
• International Committee report

Solidarity with Korea in London

Andy Brooks speaking

  By New Worker correspondent

FRIENDS of Democratic Korea met at the Marchmont Centre in central London on Saturday 6th October to hear a report-back from a recent visit to the DPR Korea and to discuss the development of Kimilsungism and the Juché idea.

 The meeting, called by the Juché Idea Study Group of England and the Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK, heard a report from Dermot Hudson who visited Democratic Korea in September and took part in a discussion on Juché opened by Sean Pickford. Dr Hugh Goodacre gave a concise history of the Korean communist movement and the Workers Party of Korea and NCP leader Andy Brooks called for support for the new campaign set up to demand the release of Ro Su Hui, the south Korean patriot who faces 10 years in gaol for visiting the DPRK.

• International Committee for the release of Ro Su Hui

Ro Su Hui: Arrested as he crosses the DMZ into south Korea