Friendship Meeting 6th April

THE DPRK DEFENDS ITS DIGNITY AND HONOUR

Public Meeting Celebrating the
Anniversary of the Birth of
President Kim Il Sung
"The Day of the Sun"

Saturday, April 6th , 2013, 2:00pm

MARCHMONT CENTRE
62 Marchmont Street, London WC1N 1AB

Organised by Friends of Korea

For further information contact Friends of Korea: email friendskorea@yahoo.co.uk

No to sanctions! No to war!

By New Worker correspondent

NEW COMMUNIST PARTY members joined other supporters of Democratic Korea outside the American embassy in Grosvenor Square in London on Tuesday to condemn the latest US war-games in south Korea that threaten the peace of the whole region. The two-hour protest picket, organised by the Korean Friendship Association, leafleted passers-by while a number of speakers took the microphone to denounce the “Foal Eagle” and “Key Resolve” exercises now taking place in the occupied south of the Korean peninsula.

Dermot Hudson of the KFA led the demand for an end to sanctions and for all American troops to leave south Korea while NCP leader Andy Brooks called for the release of Ro Su Hui, the south Korean peace activist jailed for four years for visiting the north last year.

Defend Democratic Korea!

Andy Brooks makes a point

by New Worker correspondent

Comrades and friends denounced the latest provocations of US imperialism at a solidarity meeting in central London last Saturday evening organised by the UK Korean Friendship Association (KFA). Dermot Hudson, the KFA’s official delegate in Britain, opened the discussion on the latest imperialist moves against Democratic Korea which include new United Nations economic sanctions against the DPR Korea and provocative war-games in the occupied south designed to rack up tension on the Korean peninsula. And NCP leader Andy Brooks spoke about the need to mobilise support for socialist Korea in Britain and condemn British involvement in the current US military exercises and deployment of the air power in south Korea.

But Democratic Korea is not defenceless and this was seen in the first of two short films from north Korea that were screened at the meeting. The skill and determination of the Korean People’s Army was displayed in Arms of Korea while the superiority of the socialist system was seen in Pyongyang – City of Free Education.

A solidarity message was endorsed and support for a picket outside the US embassy in London called for at the close of the meeting.

Recalling a great Korean leader

Dermot Hudson and Shaun Pickford

 By New Worker correspondent

COMRADES and friends met in central London on Saturday for a second meeting to commemorate the 71^st anniversary of dear leader Kim Jong Il and to celebrate the DPR Korea’s latest outstanding scientific achievements in atomic power.

Kim Jong Il followed in the footsteps of great leader Kim Il Sung to lead Democratic Korea and the Korean revolutionary movement until his last breath in December 2011. So it was fitting that the start of the event, organised by the Juché Idea Study Group and the Association for the Study of Songun Politics, was heralded with the playing of the Song of General Kim Jong Il that is irrevocably linked to the Korean communist leader.

The meeting began with openings on the Juché Idea, along with cultural films and discussion on the philosophy that guides the Workers Party of Korea in the building and defence of the DPRK.     

Dermot Hudson, who chaired the meeting, said: “Today 16^th February is the 71^st anniversary of the birth of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il, the sun of Songun. It is rightfully celebrated as the Day of the Shining Star by the Korean people and the progressive and revolutionary peoples of the entire world.

Today when the Democratic People's Republic of Korea faces unprecedented threats from US and world imperialism it becomes ever more important for Juché idea and Songun idea followers to uphold this occasion. Marking the birth anniversary of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il is an act of positive solidarity with the DPRK in its struggle against US imperialism.

“Today the DPRK is one of the few countries in the world that it is not a member of the IMF, World Bank or World Trade Organisation. It does not have a foreign owned or privately owned central bank. Moreover it does not have any foreign troops stationed on its soil and does not take orders from other countries, as has been demonstrated recently. This is the proud legacy of leader Kim Jong Il and why we uphold his birth anniversary

“We remember the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il on the occasion of the anniversary of his birth for manifold and excellent ideological and theoretical achievements as well his role as a great people's leader and constructor of socialism.

“Today the Korean people under the guidance of the dear respected Marshal Kim Jong Un hold the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il in high esteem as they complete the Juché revolutionary cause. Under Marshal Kim Jong Un the Korean people will advance along the road of independence, Songun and socialism charted by the great leaders comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and win final victory.”

Next Shaun Pickford of the Juché Idea Study Group spoke about the Kim Jong Il’s immense contribution to socialist philosophy. He said that Kim Jong Il’s classic work Abuses of Socialism Are Intolerable that was written soon after the counter-revolutions in the Soviet Union and the people’s democracies of eastern Europe, was a brave work that refuted the slanders of the imperialists and reactionaries against socialism and the socialist idea and exposed the fallacies of revisionism and opportunism.

Despite the intensification of the moves of the imperialists to stifle Korean style socialism the DPRK has held firm. During the period of the "arduous march" in the DPRK not one hospital or school closed down and now it was taking giant steps into the 21^st century to build a modern socialist republic.

            Many useful suggestions were made to actively expand and develop solidarity with the DPRK, including the need for a more vigorous expose of the south Korean puppet regime and to step up the campaign to free Ro Su Hui, the south Korean peace campaigner jailed for four years by the puppet regime. He was arrested in July 2012 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.

            And informal discussion continued over refreshments long after the close of the formal part of the meeting.

Remembering Kim Jong Il

Mun Myong Sin calls for solidarity

  By New Worker correspondent

LONDON comrades and friends gathered last Saturday to mark the “Day of the Shining Star”, the anniversary of the birth of Kim Jong Il, and to celebrate the continued advances of the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and their contribution to international peace and progress.

A film on the significance of Kim Jong Il’s life and work was shown, along with a photo exhibition on the work of the DPRK leader, who sadly passed away in December 2011, as well as portraying Democratic Korea’s recent technological, cultural and architectural achievements.

Addressing the meeting Comrade Mun Myong Sin from the DPRK embassy in London said that tensions are currently growing in the Korean peninsula due to the West’s interference.

Commenting on the recent UN Security Council sanctions imposed on the DPRK, Mun pointed out that the DPRK’s neighbours have launched hundreds of satellites for peaceful use, “but the Western media portray the launch of satellite by the DPRK as a threat”. He concluded by saying: “We really appreciate your support at this time, and for helping us to build socialism in our country”.

Michael Chant from the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (ML) exposed the unfairness of the new UN Security Council sanctions, and declared his full support for the DPRK’s independent right to pursue the peaceful exploration of space.

Dermot Hudson from the Juché Idea study group said: “The commemoration of the anniversary of the birth of Kim Jong Il is always celebrated by the Korean people as their greatest national holiday, as well by Juché Idea followers throughout the world. Now, with the threats by the US imperialists and others against the DPRK, it takes on even greater significance as celebrating it is actually a profound and meaningful act of solidarity with People's Korea in the face of these threats.

“Taking advantage of the collapse of socialism in several countries, the imperialists made a fuss about the end of socialism itself. The imperialists and those who turned their backs on the socialist cause resorted to despicable smear campaigns against socialism to justify their argument on the end of socialism. They directed the spearhead of their offensive to Korea that remained as a bulwark of socialism.

“At this critical juncture Chairman Kim Jong Il clarified the scientific accuracy and truth of socialism and the inevitability of its victory through his energetic ideological and theoretical activities, dealing a resolute counter-attack to the imperialists’ manoeuvres against socialism.

“He published a series of works including The Historical Lesson in Building Socialism and the General Line of Our Party, Abuses of Socialism Are Intolerable and Socialism Is a Science so as to lay bare the absurdity of the slanders and abuses of the imperialists”.

The meeting was a fitting tribute to the memory of the Kim Jong Il’s revolutionary contribution, and a timely gesture of solidarity when imperialism is renewing its pressure and threats against the people of Democratic Korea.

The meeting, at the Marchmont Centre in the heart of the capital, was organised by the Co-ordinating Committee of Friends of Korea which consists of the European Regional Society for the Study of the Juché Idea, UK Korean Friendship Association, New Communist Party of Britain, Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) and the Socialist Labour Party. It holds public meetings in London throughout the year.

• A Test For Peace

         New Worker editorial on the DPRK atom test

• DPRK's exercise of its right is a battle for defending sovereignty

          Workers Weekly commentary on the latest imperialist sanctions against DPR Korea

Friends of Korea meeting

Joint Celebration Meeting

Meeting to mark the “Day of the Shining Star” (the anniversary of the birth of Kim Jong Il) and to celebrate the continued advances of the people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and their contribution to international peace and progress.

Saturday, February 9, 2013, 7.30 pm

Marchmont Community Centre, 62 Marchmont Street, London WC1N 1AB

(nearest tube: Russell Square)

All friends of Korea and anyone interested in the DPRK are warmly invited to participate.

With a number of short presentations highlighting the significance of Kim Jong Il’s life and work and the international significance of the just stands of the DPRK. With a film; picture and literature exhibitions; and period for discussion and Q&A.

Organised by the Participating Organisations of Friends of Korea

friendskorea@yahoo.co.uk

A Red Salute to Kim Jong Il!

Andy Brooks talking about Juche

By New Worker correspondent

FRIENDS of Democratic Korea returned to the Marchmont Centre in central London last weekend to mark the 1^st anniversary of the passing of dear leader Kim Jong Il called by the Juché societies in Britain, electrified by the news that the DPRK had successfully put a satellite into Earth orbit.

 The achievement of Democratic Korea’s independent space programme was a fitting tribute to the memory of Kim Jong Il and the new leadership around his successor, Kim Jong Un. And that was a point stressed by all four speakers at the meeting on Saturday organised by the Juché Idea Study Group and the Association for the Study of Songun Politics.

 But first of all everyone stood to observe two minutes’ silence in memory of Kim Jong Il. A screening of Korea Changing Sorrow into Strength and Courage was followed by thoughtful contributions from Dermot Hudson and Shaun Pickford from the Juché society on the life of Kim Jong Il.

 Dr Hugh Goodacre, a lecturer at the University of London, opened discussion on the meaning of Juché that was taken up by New Communist Party leader Andy Brooks in his own contribution to the discussion. Brooks stressed the importance of independence and self-reliance in the philosophy of Kimilsungism and the Juché Idea.

 The general secretary of the NCP said that the DPRK and the Workers Party of Korea were under attack by right-wing and bogus “left-wing” revisionists as well as the bourgeois pundits who never even bothered to read what Kim Jong Il actually said. If they had they would see that Kim Jong Il had made an immense contribution to Marxist-Leninist theory and ideology.

 “In his 1982 work On the Juche Idea, Kim Jong Il brought together and systematised the Juché theory while his 1994 thesis Socialism is a Science affirmed that socialism would eventually become the economic system of the entire world because it is the only form of society in which people can be truly free,” Andy Brooks declared.

 All these points were triggers for a lively discussion amongst the activists and supporters of Korean-style socialism which could have continued well into the evening. But sadly time ran out leaving  just enough  to end  with the enthusiastic adoption by acclaim of a solidarity message to Kim Jong Un, the new leader of the Party and People of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.