No Big Deal

 None of us should be surprised at the collapse of the summit talks between Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump in Hanoi last week. Over the past few months the Trump camp had given the impression that they were going to seriously respond to the Democratic Korean call for an end to sanctions and the state of war that still exists between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). But at the end of the day the chief American war-lord was unwilling, or possibly unable, to put anything on the table to match the Korean side’s reasonable and balanced stance towards peace and security on the Korean peninsula.

            In Vietnam Trump told the media that the DPRK was asking for too much. “It was about the sanctions,” he said. “They were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldn’t give up all of the sanctions for that. Sometimes you have to walk and this was just one of those times”. Now he’s blaming his Democrat foes in Congress for undermining his position during the talks with the DPRK leader.

 Others, however, will maintain that Trump has become a prisoner of the most reactionary and aggressive elements of the US ruling class. He has surrounded himself with aides who represent the “war party” that some Americans call the “deep state” that cuts across all party, regional or religious divides to serve the interests of the big corporations and finance houses of American imperialism.

            The Americans had missed “an opportunity that comes once in a thousand years” said Choe Son Hui, the deputy foreign minister of the DPRK. What happens next depends entirely on the Americans.

Trump, a property speculator who claims to be a brilliant negotiator, has hinted that he still wants to talk to Kim Jong Un. Whether he will depends on what the Americans are willing to put on the table next time round.

            Trump bitterly resents the fact that Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people” and even more absurdly for “reaching out to the Muslim world”.

This rubbishy prize has been the preserve, with a few honourable exceptions, of retired Western politicians and prominent agents of imperialism. The anti-communist Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov won it in 1975.  The reactionary Polish union leader Lech Walesa was rewarded for his counter-revolutionary campaign in 1983.  Gorbachov was similarly rewarded for his treachery in 1990.

 Needless to say the Dalai Lama is on the list of winners together with Henry Kissinger, who was jointly given the prize with the chief north Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho in 1973 for negotiating the Vietnamese peace accord. Comrade Le, the only communist ever to get this accolade, took the principled stand and declined the prize on the grounds that the war in Vietnam was still raging.

            Shinzo Abe, the Japanese premier, has nominated Trump for the gong on the basis of his master’s supposed efforts for peace on the Korean peninsula. Well Trump will have to try harder if he still wants the glory he believes the medal will bring him.

Sanctimonious Hypocrites

by New Worker correspondent

 The Society of Friends (Quakers) recently banned the Korean Friendship Association from using their Manchester meeting room. The room had been booked by a Manchester KFA representative but suddenly he got an email stating that: “I have referred your request to the committee of local Quakers and unfortunately we are not able to accept your booking. We understand that the DPRK does not fully support freedom of religion and as a Quaker venue we feel that we would not be living our own values if we were to allow the booking to go ahead”.

            Prior to this KFA comrades in Glasgow who tried to book a room in the Friends Meeting House were at first told that the booking was okay but then a few days later received an email saying that the meeting room was unavailable to KFA  and not giving a reason. Those two cases clearly demonstrate that the Manchester “local committee” was acting under instruction from higher powers.

  Chair of the UK Korean Friendship Association Dermot Hudson said “this is a deeply undemocratic move, denying KFA of the right to free speech, the right to association and the right to organise. Since when have Quaker values included discriminating against those with different beliefs to themselves? The Quakers have been shown up to another bunch of sanctimonious hypocrites”.

            The Quakers seem to be unaware of the fact that a Russian Orthodox Cathedral was consecrated in Pyongyang in 2006 to add to the roster of a Roman Catholic Cathedral and three Protestant churches in the capital. Ironically it was the heavy bombing by the United States Airforce which did much to undo the longstanding missionary work of earlier generations of Americans.

Day of the Shining Star in London

by New Worker correspondent

Andy Brooks remembers Kim Jong Il

Comrades and friends met in London last weekend to celebrate the birthday of Democratic Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who died at his post on 17th December 2011.

Kim Jong Il steered the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) through the difficult times that followed the death of great leader Kim Il Sung in 1994. He devoted his entire life to serving the Korean people in the cause of building a human-centred society, a cause that is espoused by democratic and anti-imperialist forces the world over.

Called by the Korean Friendship Association (KFA), the meeting was opened by Dermot Hudson who spoke about Kim Jong Il’s outstanding contribution to the world communist movement. Shaun Pickford gave a detailed and in-depth presentation on Kim Jong Il’s contribution to Juche and Culture, which is national in form and socialist in content, and NCP leader Andy Brooks recalled fond memories of when he took part in the commemorations in the DPRK in February 2000.

Every year the Korean people mark Kim Jong Il’s birthday, which has long been known as the ‘Day of the Shining Star’ in the DPRK.

Kim Jong Il was born in the midst of the struggle against Japanese imperialism, in a Korean guerrilla camp on Mount Paektu, on 16th February 1942. His early days were those of hardship and struggle, which ended in victory in 1945 and the liberation of Pyongyang. Like millions of Koreans of his generation, Kim Jong Il dedicated his life to the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) and the socialist system that they were determined to build in order to create a better life for the Korean people.

Kim Jong Il went to university where he developed his ideas in the political, economic and cultural fields. Like all Korean students, he took his turn at manual labour with the people in the fields and on the construction sites.

Kim Jong Il developed the Juche idea, applying it to all spheres of economic construction and for the promotion of north–south dialogue for the independent peaceful reunification of Korea. His modesty, faithful service, tireless work, total loyalty to Kim Il Sung and the Korean revolution, and undoubted ability meant that when the WPK considered the question of the succession – and this was decided long before Kim Il Sung’s death – Kim Jong Il was the unchallenged candidate to be the successor to great leader Kim Il Sung.

When Kim Il Sung passed away, Kim Jong Il told the Korean people and the world that they could “expect no change from me” and under his leadership the WPK won further victories. Natural disasters were overcome. Imperialist diplomatic isolation was broken and the intrigues of US imperialism exposed.

Now Kim Jong Un is following in the footsteps of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il to lead the DPRK into the 21st century. Democratic Korean citizens enjoy full employment, free education and medical care, virtually free housing and a vast array of consumer goods largely made in the DPRK itself. Democratic Korean scientists have mastered the secrets of the atom to guarantee the DPRK’s defence and energy needs, and Korean rockets now reach for the stars.