Democratic Korea – a beacon of progress

Michael Chant, Andy Brooks and Thae Yongho

By New Worker correspondent

FRIENDS of Korea met at the John Buckle Centre in south London on Monday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the commencement of Kim Jong Il’s work at the Central Committee of the WPK on 19th June 1964 and hear a top DPRK diplomat talk about the Korean leader’s revolutionary work in the service of the Korean people.

The meeting opened with the screening of a new documentary about the Korean People’s Army. NCP leader Andy Brooks then opened the formal part of the celebrations which started with talks from Thae Yongho from the London embassy of the DPRK and Michael Chant from the RCPB (ML).

Comrade Thae opened on the vital role of Kim Jong Il in developing Songun politics and the Juché idea, starting at a time when Khrushchov had not long made his 20th Congress attack on Stalin and communists throughout the world were in turmoil. Michael talked about Kim Jong Il’s immense contribution to the struggle and the building of a human-centred socialist society that shines like a red beacon of progress in Asia and throughout the world.

Great leader Kim Il Sung, who developed Korean-style socialism and the Juché Idea,

 said that working people could only become genuinely emancipated if they stood on their own feet. In the western world Juché is simply described as “self-reliance” but it is much more than that.

 Juché elevates the philosophical principles of Marxism-Leninism as well as its economic theories and focuses on the development of each individual worker, who can only be truly free as part of the collective will of the masses. Kim Jong Il followed in his footsteps to lead the Workers’ Party of Korea to further victories in overcoming the natural disasters that wracked the country in the 1990s, breaking the imperialist economic and diplomatic blockade and pioneering the scientific and technical advance that has guaranteed the defence of the modern people’s government in the north of the divided country.

And today young leader Kim Jong Un is following the footsteps of those who have gone before him to build a better tomorrow for the Korean people in the DPRK

            This sparked off a lively discussion amongst the other comrades about the meaning and relevance of the Juché idea in the modern era which naturally overflowed during the buffet which included Korean sushi and kimchi.

The meeting was organised by the Co-ordinating Committee of the Friends of Korea, which brings together all the major movements active in Korean friendship and solidarity work in Britain today.  It is chaired by Andy Brooks and the secretary is Michael Chant.

The Friends of Korea committee consists of the New Communist Party of Britain, Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (ML), Socialist Labour Party, European Regional Society for the Study of the Juché Idea and the UK Korean Friendship Association. The committee organises meetings throughout the year in London, which are publicised by the supporting movements and on the Friends of Korea blog.

The role of Kim Jong Il in building Juché theory

Thae Yongho addressing the meeting

by New Worker correspendent

THE JUCHÉ Idea Study group of England last Saturday gathered in north London to mark the 50^th anniversary of the great leader comrade Kim Jong Il starting work at the central committee of the Workers' Party of Korea. This was a great landmark in the Korean revolution.

The meeting was addressed by Comrade Thae Yongho from the embassy of the Democratic Republic of Korea who gave an account of the vital role of Kim Jong Il in developing Songun politics and the Juché idea starting at a time when Khrushchov had not long made his 20^th CPSU attack on Stalin and communists throughout the world were in turmoil.

The Juché path gave a way forward for communists to go forward on the basis of developing their own independent policies based on the realities of their own situation while respecting and maintaining good terms with others.

Comrade Theo Russell also addressed the meeting on behalf of the New Communist Party and spoke of the history of Juché and Kim Jong Il’s role in developing it.

There was discussion from the floor, including a discussion on the damaging effect of the Sino-Soviet split of the 1960s and 70s, especially in the Third World where communists became engaged in fighting each other instead of working together to develop a path to socialism appropriate to their own concrete circumstances.

Red Salute to Kim Il Sung!

John McLeod speaking

By New Worker correspondent

FRIENDS of Korea met at the John Buckle Centre in London last Saturday to celebrate the birth of great leader Kim Il Sung with a panel of speakers who have all visited Democratic Korea over the years.

Kim Il Sung advanced and developed Marxist philosophy throughout his long and active life – a theme taken up by the panel, which included Michael Chant of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist), NCP leader Andy Brooks, John McLeod of the Socialist Labour Party and John Rainsborough from the UK Korean Friendship Association.

Born on 15^th April 1912, Kim Il Sung dedicated his life to the emancipation of the Korean people, which he did until his last breath in 1994.

Kim Il Sung developed and advanced Marxist-Leninist theory and led the struggle against Japanese colonialism and US aggression. He was a fighter, a thinker and a leader, Kim Il Sung was an outstanding communist of the 20^th century whose name will forever be remembered as the founder of the modern Korean communist movement that began amongst the patriotic youth of Korea when he was a student in the 1920s.

 Kim Il Sung founded the communist movement that liberated the country from Japanese colonialism, defeated the might of US-led imperialism in the Korean War and led the drive to build the modern, socialist republic that exists today in the north of the divided peninsula.

Kim Il Sung was a great commander in war and a great leader in peace. In the north of Korea, so brutally partitioned by imperialism, he built a modern communist movement dedicated to serving the working people of Korea and he led the people in the mass struggle to build a new life after they had won their freedom in 1945.

The Workers’ Party of Korea, with Kim Il Sung at the helm, led the battle for land reform, education and socialist construction in the 1950s and 60s and then pushed forward on the engineering, technical and scientific fronts to raise living standards and the quality of life for the millions of workers and peasants who had fought for a better tomorrow.

In western Europe communists understood the economic case for scientific socialism but ignored the philosophical aspects of the teachings of Marx and Engels. Though the role of mass action was clearly understood, the role of the individual was often ignored. Though the achievements of the Soviet Union led by Lenin and Stalin were studied, they were often not properly understood.

Kim Il Sung not only grasped Marxism-Leninism but he applied it to the concrete conditions of the Korean people. He knew that once the masses realised their own strength they would become unstoppable. He knew that serving the people was the be-all and end-all for the Korean communists and for the Workers’ Party of Korea that he launched in 1945. He developed Korean style socialism and the Juché idea – which elevates the philosophical principles of Marxism-Leninism as well as its economic theories – and focuses on the development of each individual worker, who can only be truly free as part of the collective will of the masses.

In the western world Juché is simply described as “self-reliance” but it is much more than that. Kim Il Sung said that working people could only become genuinely emancipated if they stood on their own feet. But the Juché idea doesn’t negate proletarian internationalism. The Soviet Union, People’s China and the people’s democracies of eastern Europe all closed ranks behind Democratic Korea during the Korean war.

The Korean people responded with their trade and assistance whenever they could, while Korean experts and advisers helped the Vietnamese, the Arabs and the Africans struggling to break the chains of colonialism and they continue to do so today. And Kim Il Sung’s successors, dear leader Kim Jong Il and leader Kim Jong Un are following his footsteps to build a modern socialist republic, where every individual worker is master of his or her own life.

The Friends of Korea committee consists of the New Communist Party of Britain, Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (ML), Socialist Labour Party, European Regional Society for the Study of the Juché Idea and the UK Korean Friendship Association. The committee organises friendship meetings throughout the year in London, which are publicised by the supporting movements and on the Friends of Korea blog.

Down with US war-games in Korea!

by New Worker correspondent
 

ANDY BROOKS joined other friends of the Korean revolution demonstrating outside the American embassy in London last week to protest against the latest US provocations on the Korean peninsula.

The NCP leader, along with other comrades and friends, picketed the US embassy in Grosvenor Square to call for an immediate halt to the "Foal Eagle" and "Key Resolve" exercises of the US imperialists in occupied south Korea and the hostile policy against the DPR Korea including the "human rights" racket.

outside the US embassy

The banner of the UK Korean Friendship Association (KFA), which organised the event, was draped over the hedge facing the US embassy while the demonstrators waved the Democratic Korean flags and gave loud-speaker addresses throughout the 90-minute afternoon protest action.

KFA members and supporters of the Juché Idea Study Group took turns with the microphone to denounce the south Korean puppets and their US imperialist overlords for launching the war-games that simulate the seizure of the nuclear facilities of the DPRK and a “regime change” invasion of the DPRK. They were followed by academics and other friends of Korea including Andy Brooks and other NCP members.

The 90-minute afternoon picket closed with rousing chants of  "US out of Korea", "Korea is One", "Yankee Go Home", "Long Live the Workers' Party of Korea" and  "Long Live Kim Jong Un" by the demonstrators undeterred by recent hysterical media attacks on the KFA in the bourgeois press. 

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.

A Shining Star of Korea

By New Worker correspondent

Andy Brooks,Hyong Hak Bong and Dermot Hudson

LAST weekend Koreans marked the 72^nd anniversary of dear leader Kim Jong Il, who steered the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea through the difficult times that followed the death of great leader Kim Il Sung in 1994. Democratic Korean leader Kim Jong Un headed the solemn tribute at the mausoleum dedicated to the two great leaders of the Workers Party of Korea in Pyongyang while other ceremonies were taking place throughout the country.

 Kim Jong Il devoted his entire life to serving the Korean people.in the cause of building a human-centred society, a cause which is espoused by the democratic and anti-imperialist forces the world over.

Following Kim Il Sung’s footsteps, Kim Jong Il led the Workers Party of Korea into the 21^st century to build a strong and prosperous democratic republic. Kim Jong Il was a leading Marxist thinker who made an important contribution to the modern communist theory as well as an astute statesman who led the Korean people through thick and thin to overcome natural disasters, the imperialist blockade and diplomatic isolation.

While ensuring the DPRK’s defence against the threats and provocations of US imperialism and its lackeys, Kim Jong Il worked tirelessly to ease tension on the Korean peninsula to pave the way towards the peaceful reunification of Korea.

In Democratic Korea Kim Jong Il’s birthday has long been known as the Day of the Shining Star. This year it is being celebrated at a time when the Korean people are racing ahead at a new fast speed of socialist construction, upholding the slogan put forward by the new young leader, Kim Jong Un:  "Let us raise a fierce wind of making a fresh leap forward on all fronts of building a thriving country filled with confidence in victory!"

Across the world overseas Koreans, progressives and communists held their own events in honour of Kim Jong Il, who was born on 16^th February 1942 and died at his post on 17^th December 2011.

British and Korean women get together

And in London comrades gathered at the DPRK’s London embassy to join the Korean people to honour the achievements of Kim Jong Il by laying floral tributes in front of the portraits of the great leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and meeting all the other friends of the Korean revolution.

 Andy Brooks, the chair of the Friends of Korea committee that had helped organise the reception, welcomed everyone to the event that had brought together so many of those actively involved in solidarity with Democratic Korea in London and the south-east.

In his opening the New Communist Party leader said Kim Jong Il had made an immense contribution to the arts as well as the theory and practice of the world communist movement. This was followed by a speech by DPRK Ambassador Hyong Hak Bong on the life and times of Kim Jong Il.

Dermot Hudson from the Korean Friendship Association talked about the meaning of Juché and Songun politics, then Michael Chant, the secretary of Friends of Korea and leader of the RCPB (ML) and Kath Cremer from the CPGB (ML) both spoke about the central role of the Korean revolution in the national liberation and world communist movement.

Finally Andy Brooks proposed a toast to the memory of the dear Korean leader to close the formal part of the proceedings and open the informal discussion that always flows between friends old and new at the bar and buffet.

Celebrating the achievements of Democratic Korea

 By New Worker correspondent

Shaun Pickford and Dermot Hudson

FRIENDS of the Korean revolution met to celebrate the 72^nd anniversary of the birth of dear leader Kim Jong Il at London’s Marchmont Centre on Saturday 2nd February to hear a first-hand report from top DPRK diplomats about the current situation on the Korean peninsula and contributions from Korean solidarity workers who included New Communist Party leader Andy Brooks.

Shaun Pickford welcomed Thae Yong Ho from the DPRK embassy in London who recalled Kim Jong Il’s life in the service of the working people of Democratic Korea.  Comrade Thae also talked about the DPRK’s current peace proposals which were also raised in the interview given by Ambassador Hyon Hak Bong on Sky News last week. Comrade Thae said that the US war-games in south Korea were not defensive but aggressive. US imperialism has concentrated its nuclear submarine forces in the region and the Americans have repeatedly tried to blackmail and threaten the DPRK .

Comrade Thae said that the stories in the bourgeois media about the events surrounding the execution of the counter-revolutionary traitor in the DPRK were false. The US imperialists and their pawns were using the “human rights issue” as a second means of attacking and putting pressure on the DPRK while the British ruling class were attacking  the DPRK and Korean-style socialism because they want people to believe that there is no alternative  to capitalism. But there is and Democratic Korea upholds genuine socialism with free education and medical treatment for all, full employment and pensions, and full equality to all its citizens.

This was taken up by Dermot Hudson of the UK Korean Friendship Association who followed with contribution on the Juché and Songun politics that had transformed the DPR Korea into a modern socialist republic, while Alexander Meads spoke about the achievements of Kim Jong Il from his earliest days to his last at the helm of the Workers’ Party of Korea.

Dr Hugh Goodacre spoke about Kim Jong Il’s proclamation of the programme for modelling the whole society on the Juché idea 40 years ago. This was a demand of the times and completely essential to prevent the rise of a new bureaucracy and the restoration of capitalism. The Juché idea is turning everyone into revolutionaries to build socialism – a magnificent achievement, an example for the working and oppressed people of the world.

But there are always dangers as NCP leader Andy Brooks stressed in a condemnation of the loathsome Jang Song Thaek, a leading Workers’ Party official who was shot in December after he was unmasked as a traitor who had embezzled vast amounts of money to live the high life abroad and reward his followers who were helping him plan a coup.

But: “The Korean people have closed ranks around Kim Jong Un and the Workers’ Party of Korea. They have taken firm and decisive measures to deal with Jang and smash his group to safeguard the people’s government and ensure that the country continues to build a modern socialist republic dedicated to the welfare of all working people.”

The DPRK diplomats took up many of these points during the question-and-answer session and during the informal discussion that followed.

The meeting was organised by the UK Korean Friendship Association (KFA) and the British Juché Idea Study Group, which regularly organises solidarity meetings and protest pickets in London throughout the year. The KFA also works side by side with the NCP, RCPB (ML), Socialist Labour Party (SLP) and the European Regional Society for the Study of the Juché Idea on the Friends of Korea committee, which also holds regular events in London.

Forward into the New Year!

 

Michael Chant at the piano while Hyong Hak Bong speaks

By New Worker correspondent

The turn of the year was heralded in communist style when friends and comrades gathered to welcome the New Year at the London centre of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (ML). NCP leader Andy Brooks and other London comrades met friends old and new at the annual social organised by the London Region of the RCPB (ML) at the John Buckle Centre in south London last weekend  that included diplomats from the DPR Korea embassy and many active in solidarity work,  the cultural front and anti-fascist struggle.

Progressive musicians provided the entertainment throughout the evening while the militant role of the RCPB (ML) throughout its life was highlighted by two RCPB (ML) leaders during the formal part of the proceedings.  Chris Coleman unveiled a plaque of John Buckle during his tribute to their leader whose life was tragically cut short in a terrible air crash in Madrid in 1983 while on his way to attend an international communist conference in Colombia.

Chris spoke passionately about John Buckle’s commitment to the communist cause and his prominent role in the defeat by mass action of the bourgeosie's attempt to develop a mainstream fascist party, the National Front, to attack the workers' and progressive movement. This was taken up by Michael Chant in a keynote address outlining the RCPB (ML)’s  continuing work to build the resistance to the ruling class offensive and its austerity programme and fight for a working class agenda and an anti-war government.

An essential part of that struggle is proletarian internationalism and this was raised by London’s  DPR Korean ambassador  who thanked everyone for their efforts to build friendship and solidarity with Democratic Korea. Hyong Hak Bong spoke about the resolute response of the Workers Party of Korea to root out the treacherous clique that had been unmasked and dealt with in December and the way forward that Kim Jong Un outlined in his New Year address to the people of the DPRK this year.

Eventually everyone said their goodbyes and made their way home as the evening ended in the spirit of confidence and optimism that always grows whenever comrades meet. 

• Party Socials Inaugurate the Work for 2014