Korean solidarity in Liverpool

by New Worker correspondent

The Korean Friendship Association of the UK took the fight to defend People’s Korea  to Merseyside by holding a vibrant afternoon meeting on Saturday 20th May at the Casa Bar in the heart of Liverpool’s university district.
Peter Hendy from the Liverpool NCP introduced the meeting saying that “the propaganda offensive against the DPRK remains unabated. To justify US military aggression against the DPRK the propaganda offensive remains relentless and continues unabated. For over six decades the DPRK has been subjected to US military intimidation, provocations, threats and extensive sanctions to politically isolate and destroy the DPRK economy. The US warmongers would like to destroy the DPRK”.
KFA UK Chairman Dermot Hudson addressed the meeting on the subject of the US threat to People’s Korea  pointing out that “In fact, the danger of war and threat to People’s Korea has increased greatly and taken a sinister turn. It is probably at its highest since the end of the Korean War or Fatherland Liberation War in 1953” . He denounced the recent US-south Korea summit and the so-called ‘Washington Declaration ‘ He also drew attention to the participation of British Royal Marines in recent military exercises in south Korea.
“The struggle to defend People’s Korea and expose the aggressive role of the US on the Korean peninsula is also part of the struggle for world peace and for anti-imperialist independence.
“KFA UK demands that all ongoing and planned military exercises by the US and south Korea in south Korea and the surrounding region should be cancelled . US troops should be withdrawn from south Korea along with any US nuclear weapons.

    "Dermot concluded by saying “We in the Korean Friendship Association of the UK(KFA UK) believe in defending People’s Korea , Korea of Juche with No Ifs or Buts . The DPRK is the most independent country in the world and has a unique socialist system . The DPRK is a country that abolished taxation yet has free healthcare , free education and even free housing".

The Casa Club was born during the epic struggle of the Liverpool dockers who were sacked when they refused to cross a picket line in the 1990s. The dockers’ struggle began in September 1995 and ended in a one-sided settlement in February 1998. But some of the dockers, who had been paid £130,000 for writing a drama about the dispute for Channel Four, used the money to buy a building to set up a communal hub, not-for-profit bar and an advice centre. It is now a charitable trust that welcomes labour movement use of its rooms and facilities.

DPR Korea: A true people’s health system

medical students in Pyongyang

by Dermot Hudson

The socialist healthcare system of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has a long history.
    On the 1st January 2023, it was 70 years since the DPRK introduced universal, free medical care. On the 1st January 1953, it was introduced in the DPRK according to the provisions of DPRK cabinet decree No 203 “On Enforcing Free Medical Care System for the People”, which had been adopted some weeks earlier on the 13th November 1952 under the guidance of President Kim Il Sung. Prior to that, free medical care for industrial and office workers based on insurance had been introduced in 1946 (two years before the NHS was created in the UK).
    The DPRK’s health service was not created under ideal conditions of peace but in the flames of war when the country was being pulverised by the carpet bombing of the aggressive US imperialists. Moreover, at the time the DPRK was not a rich or prosperous country, it was a new country which had emerged from the ruins of Japanese colonial rule.
    From the 1st January 1953 all medical care in the DPRK became completely free at the point of need for all. This includes doctor's visits, hospital treatment, convalescence and medicines. Even dentistry is included and also fares to hospital are paid. There are no hidden fees such as car parking charges or charges to watch TV in hospitals. Further legalisation by the DPRK in 1960 and 1980 legally buttressed free healthcare.
    The DPRK has the unique section doctor system, whereby doctors from a local clinic take charge of the surrounding area and visit people in their homes to give up check-ups and medical advice. Usually a local DPRK doctor looks after 130 households. This is a big contrast to the present NHS GP system, under which it is often impossible to see a doctor and only telephone or online consultations are possible. In the DPRK they say “Go to the doctor before you are ill”.
    Special priority is given to mothers who give birth to many children, the DPRK has many triplets. Concern for the health of women is something taken very seriously. There is the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital, which has over 1,000 beds. In recent years the Breast Tumour Institute of the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital was constructed.
    The DPRK has a dense network of medical establishments such as general hospitals, specialised hospitals, hospitals or clinics, from the highest down to the lowest unit of administration such as ri and dong. Factories have their own medical staff and even their own hospitals.
    According to data, there are as many as 9 000 public health agencies. The DPRK has witnessed the increase of hygienic and anti-epidemic bodies by 38 times, of hospitals by 53.8 times, and of doctors and pharmacists by 322 times during the period from 1946–2006.
    Already in the 1970s it ranked in the advanced countries in terms of the number of doctors, medical facilities and beds for every 1 000 people. According the World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2010 the DPRK had 143 hospital beds per 10,000 of population. This compares with 24.6 per 10,000 in the UK in 2019, 28.7 per 10,000 for the USA in 2017, and 124.8 per 10,000 for south Korea in 2018. The DPRK is way ahead of other countries.
    In 2010 the then director of the WHO Dr Margaret Chan said of the DPRK: “They have something which most other developing countries would envy.”
    In recent years the DPRK constructed new state of the art hospitals such the Okryu Children’s Hospital, the Ryugyong Ophthalmic hospital and many others. In the DPRK, hospitals are linked together by an advanced telemedicine system.
    A delegation of the British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea and the Korean Friendship Association of the UK was able to visit the Okryu Children’s Hospital that was completed in 2013. It has a total of 32,000 square metres of floor space, making it quite large – larger than many UK hospitals. We were only able to see a small part of the hospital as there was not enough time, however, what we saw was most impressive. The hospital was positively ornate, with marble floors and pillars. The hospital was decorated in light colours that gave a warm and cheerful atmosphere to the place. In the UK hospitals are usually regarded with fear and apprehension, but this hospital seemed such a welcoming place. We saw rooms for rehabilitating disabled children. There was a school within the hospital so that children do not miss schooling when they are in the hospital. We also saw a telemedicine room. Here the hospital is linked to other children's hospitals in the country so that doctors in different hospitals can consult with each other instantly.
    I also visited the Ryugyong Ophthalmic Hospital in February 2019. This was opened in 2016 and took only seven months to construct. It has eight floors with 100 inpatient beds. The hospital offers both inpatient and outpatient treatment. There is one doctor per room. The hospital was spotlessly clean.
    The DPRK’s healthcare system is self-reliant and operated with 100 per cent DPRK resources and labour, no foreign doctors or nurses work in DPRK hospitals. The DPRK medical care system showed its resilience when COVID‑19 struck the country in May 2022. The healthcare system was assisted by the Korean People’s Army (KPA), who were mobilised to help. The COVID‑19 epidemic was overcome within 91 days and the fatality rate was minimal. This was achieved without the dubious so-called ‘aid’ of the imperialist countries and south Korea.
    The universal, free medical care system of the DPRK is a true product of the people-oriented system, the socialist system and the popular policies of the Workers Party of Korea.

Honouring a great Korean revolutionary

Dermot Hudson and Theo Russell

By New Worker correspondent

Kim Il Sung was born on 15th April 1912 and his birthday has long been celebrated as the Day of the Sun in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and by everyone who stands by the DPRK. And on that day last week solidarity activists gathered at the Cock Tavern in London to recall the outstanding achievements of the leader of the Korean revolution.
    Speakers included Dermot Hudson, the chair of the Korean Friendship Association (KFA) that organised the meeting and NCP national organiser, Theo Russell. The Democratic Korean embassy in London sent a tribute that was read out at the meeting and messages were received from Korean friendship groups in Germany, Poland and Switzerland.
    In his tribute Dermot Hudson praised the successful test firing of the Democratic Korean ballistic missile as a great victory for Juche and self-reliance – the Korean-style socialism pioneered by Kim Il Sung that is followed by his successors in the people’s republic today.
    Kim Il Sung was a great anti-imperialist revolutionary who turned the DPRK into a fortress of militant anti-imperialism and totally opposed the line of compromise with imperialism. His life from beginning to end was one of principled and constant struggle against imperialism and for independence’.
    Theo Russell praised the life of Kim Il Sung as that of a great revolutionary . He said that the achievements of the DPRK are great and are due to the Juche philosophy authored by the great leader of the Korean people who worked tirelessly throughout his life for the communist cause.
    Shaun Pickford, the head of Staffordshire KFA focused on the international dimension of the DPRK and the Juche Idea. The first Juche idea study group was formed in Mali , West Africa and since then many international seminars on the Juche Idea have followed.
    This was followed by a general discussion on Juche and life in the DPRK and ended with the traditional refreshments and informal chat amongst friends of Korea old and new.

Down with the puppet regime!

by New Worker correspondent 

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined London comrades protesting outside the south Korean embassy in London last weekend. The picket called by the Korean Friendship Association (KFA) was to protest against the forthcoming war exercises and the current wave of repression unleashed in south Korea against the people by the US puppet regime. KFA Chair Dermot Hudson in his address exposed the fascist and repressive nature of south Korea citing the recent raid on the HQ of the south Korean Confederation of Trade Unions as well as arrests of leftist and progressive activists . He stressed that south Korea is a puppet regime with no legitimacy , a creation of the US imperialists and that south Korea is simply the occupied southern half of the DPRK.

People’s Korea’s Defence : guaranteeing the socialist system

A Friends of Korea committee seminar was held at the NCP Centre in London to commemorate on the anniversary of the passing of dear leader Kim Jong Il, who died on 17th December 2011. Chaired by Andy Brooks the symposium heard papers from Dermot Hudson and Michael Chant and video link contributions from supporters in London, the Midlands, the North and Scotland. This is the contribution from Dermot Hudson, the chair of the Korean Friendship Association.

Kim Jong Un

As we are gathered to remember comrade Kim Jong Il it is important for us to study the DPR Korea’s great achievements in the work of national defence . Indeed Kim Jong Il’s whole life was associated with the Songun (army first ) revolutionary leadership which began when he gave guidance to the Seoul Ryu Kyong Su 105th Tank Division of the Korean People’s Army.

    The issue of the DPRK’s successful defence upbuilding is one that has come into sharp focus . On the 15th December the Academy of Defence Science tested a high-thrust solid-fuel motor with a thrust of 140tf, the first of its kind in the country, at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground. This important test has provided a sure sci-tech guarantee for the development of another new-type strategic weapon system.
    This year has seen truly amazing and phenomenal advances in DPRK missile technology.The imperialists and their south Korean puppets have complained that the DPRK has carried out approximately 60 or so missile tests during the past year and have clamoured for more UN sanctions while imposing their own unilateral sanctions .

    On the 24th March the new type ICBM Hwasongpho-17 was tested.The missile, launched at Pyongyang International Airport, travelled up to a maximum altitude of 6 248.5 km and flew a distance of 1 090 km for 4,052s before accurately hitting the pre-set area in open waters of the East Sea of Korea. This was the first time for 5 years that the DPRK tested an ICBM , though tests of medium and short range missiles had been carried out in the intervening period .

    On the 18th November in the presence of Kim Jong Un, the general secretary of the Workers Party of Korea, the Hwasong Pho 17 ICBM was successfully tested at Pyongyang International Airport . The Hwasong Pho 17 reached a maximum altitude of 6,040.9 km and flew a distance of 999.2 km for 4,135s before accurately landing on the preset area in open waters of the East Sea of Korea.
    Kim Jong Un was accompanied by his daughter and his wife comrade Ri Sol Ju and comrade Kim Yo Jong , vice department director of the Central Committee of the WPK . The presence of the young daughter of the Korean leader symbolised the fact that the DPRK’s nukes guarantee the future of the DPRK’s children .
    The new type Hwasong-pho 17 ICBM has the ability to strike the US mainland . Thus it greatly strengthens and augments the DPRK's self-defensive potential .
    The DPRK’s ballistic missile tests fully reflect the will of the leadership of the Workers Party of Korea and the government of the DPRK to consistently bolster the national defence capacity of the DPRK in line with the decisions made by the 8th Congress of the Workers Party of Korea .    Earlier in 2022, on 6th January the Political Bureau of the WPK agreed to resume “temporarily suspended activities” meaning ICBM and nuclear tests , because ‘‘all the facts clearly prove once again that the hostile policy towards the DPRK will exist in the future as long as there is the hostile entity of U.S. imperialism.”.
    Unlike some countries both past and present , the DPRK saw through the nature of US imperialism. After all, it was US imperialism that had divided Korea in 1945 and had started the Korean war. The DPRK ‘s policy is absolutely correct . A few years ago, when there were the summits between the DPRK and US and also the DPRK and south Korea , some people said that the DPRK would unilaterally disarm itself and even open a McDonalds in Pyongyang. Nearly 5 years on , not a single nuke or ICBM has been dismantled by the DPRK and there is no McDonalds in Pyongyang and the DPRK is consolidating its national defence capabilities . Also the DPRK is raising militant anti-US slogans and intensifying anti-US imperialist education .
    It is worth mentioning Cuba here as this year also saw the 60th anniversary of Khruschov’s shameful capitulation during the Cuban Missile Crisis which saw the USSR kneel down before the US imperialists and agree to withdraw their missiles within 6 days and sell out Cuba by allowing UN inspections of Cuba. The DPRK’s independent and militant anti-imperialist stance contrasts with that of the former Soviet Union.
    The DPRK ‘s correct nuclear policy has now been fully enshrined in law and is a permanent state policy of the DPRK .On the 8th September this year the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly passed the historic law on On The State Policy On The Nuclear Forces which fully legalised the DPRK’s status as a nuclear power .
    The new law defines the mission of the DPRK nuclear forces as being “ to deter a war by making hostile forces have a clear understanding of the fact that the military confrontation with the DPRK brings about ruin and give up attempts at aggression and attack.”
    According to the new law the DPRK ‘s use of nuclear forces can only occur under certain situations , these are defined as follows:

 • ‘In case an attack by nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction was launched or drew near is judged’

• ‘In case a nuclear or non-nuclear attack by hostile forces on the state leadership and the command organisation of the state's nuclear forces was launched or drew near is judged’

• ‘In case a fatal military attack against important strategic objects of the state was launched or drew near is judged’

• ‘In case the need for operation for preventing the expansion and protraction of a war and taking the initiative in the war in contingency is inevitably raised.”

Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his speech to the Supreme People’s Assembly pointed out that “The legalisation of the policy of the nuclear forces in accordance with the unanimous desire and iron will of all the people is of tremendous significance. With this, the position of our state as a nuclear nation has become irreversible.”
    Needless to say the enemies of People’s Korea such as the Americans and their south Korean puppets, as well as the vassal states of the US are not happy about this .
    Even CND has chimed in with the clamour of the US imperialists and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office by saying that the DPRK’s Law on Nuclear Forces is a “very worrying development”. We answer this ‘criticism ‘ as follows:
    Firstly, the DPRK’S new law on nuclear forces does not make explicit reference to ‘first strikes’ or ‘pre-emptive strikes’,although it is implied that under certain very limited situations these may be carried out. There is no blank cheque for a pre-emptive nuclear strike by the DPRK but rather the DPRK’s nuclear weapons are a last resort and a deterrent .
    Secondly , the US has a nuclear first strike policy so why shouldn’t the DPRK have one ? Why do some people think the imperialists and big countries should have a monopoly on a nuclear first strike? Surely it is only fair that the DPRK should match the US policy of a nuclear first strike with its own?
    Thirdly , it is the US that first developed nuclear weapons and actually used them against a non-nuclear state when it bombed Hiroshima and Nagaski in 1945 . Moreover the US considered a nuclear first strike against the DPRK during the Korean war of 1950-1953 , during the “Pueblo Incident ‘ of 1968 and the Panmunjom incident of 1976 and other occasions . The US designated the DPRK a target of a US nuclear first strike in 2002. The US stationed 1,000 nuclear weapons in south Korea , at one point the number reached 1,700 . Supposedly the US withdrew these weapons in the 1990s , however the US refused to accept international inspections to confirm this and later stated it would ‘neither confirm nor deny ‘ the existence of its nuclear weapons in south Korea.
    Many believe that US nuclear weapons are still in south Korea . What is beyond all doubt is that the US and south Korea have on numerous occasions staged nuclear war exercises against the DPRK and US nuclear submarines and nuclear aircraft carriers have been in Korean waters as well US nuclear bombers overflying the Korean peninsula .
    Fourthly , Korea was divided by the US in 1945 and the DPRK was invaded by the US imperialists in 1950. At least 1.2 million civilians killed and the country completely devastated . The DPRK’s nuclear deterrent will ensure this does not happen again .
    Fifthly, is the DPRK supposed to fold its arms and just sit and wait to be invaded by the US imperialists .
    Sixth , the experience of the 1962 Caribbean crisis in which the USSR pulled its missiles out of Cuba and allowed UN inspections after only 6 days and without consulting the Cuban leadership shows that a small country cannot rely on a big country for its defence .Moreover recent events this year show that some big countries may not be such efficient allies as some may imagine . These countries have their own problems and internal contradictions so it would be unwise for the DPRK to rely on them.
    Seventh,the DPRK did all that it could to work towards a peaceful settlement of DPRK-US relations and issues on the Korean peninsula by holding two summits and one meeting with US president Trump as well as three Inter-Korean summits .It should be added that the DPRK carried out its first nuclear test 59 years after the US first introduced nuclear weapons into south Korea in violation of the Korean Armistice Agreement.
    In conclusion we would point out that the DPRK’s Law on the State Policy of Nuclear Forces is about defending the DPRK’s independence and territorial integrity as well as the socialist system of the DPRK . It is regrettably that some who style themselves as ‘progressives ‘ or ‘leftists ‘ share the desire of the imperialists for the dismantling of the socialist system of the DPRK or for ‘reforms ‘ and ‘opening up ‘.
    Bravo to People's Korea for declaring itself a permanent nuclear weapons state . The DPRK has rejected all attempts to disarm it and push it down a certain path . The DPRK also rejected so -called aid from south Korea which was conditional on the DPRK unilaterally disarming itself . The DPRK also rejected imperialist aid when the Covid 19 epidemic arose in the DPRK.
    The DPRK’ nuclear policy and its efforts to build up the national defence capabilities are its independent right to do so which no one from whatever quarter ;whether they are the imperialists or their fake left fellow travellers should try to interfere with. The great advances in the DPRK ‘s defence abilities which are surprising its enemies are a sure guarantee for the independence of the country that comrade Kim Jong Il worked hard all his life to safeguard and also guarantee the existence of the people-centred socialist system that is the legacy of comrade Kim Jong Il as well as the cradle of happiness for the Korean people.

Korean friends rally in Spain

Alejandro gives delegates a tour

by New Worker correspondent

Korean solidarity activists from all round the world gathered in Spain for the annual international meeting of the Korean Friendship Association in November. A British delegation headed by Dermot Hudson, the chair of the UK KFA, joined delegates from many other countries for the conference in the historic city of Tarragona in the autonomous region of Catalonia that kicked off on 12th November, the anniversary of the foundation of the KFA in 2000.
    KFA officials and members from Britain, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and the USA took part in the meeting as well a delegation of the Russian based International Solidarity Group with the DPRK. The meeting was nearly double the size of the KFA International meeting in Barcelona last year and several times the size of some previous meetings.
    Opening the meeting Alejandro Cao De Benos , the KFA President, said that the CIA, FBI, Interpol and MI6 could not defeat him and KFA. The FBI had tried to frame Alejandro on false charges but this had failed. But still cannot travel abroad due to the fascist Spanish authorities, the grandchildren and great grandchildren of the Spanish fascist dictator Franco, confiscating his passport. Alejandro's lawyers are fighting for the restoration of his passport and his right to travel.
    A message of greetings to the meeting from the DPRK Embassy in Spain was read out by comrade Alejandro Dermot Hudson, chairman of KFA UK read out the message from the Korea -Europe Cultural Exchange Promotion Agency of the DPR Korea which praised the work of KFA noting that KFA are the true friends of the DPRK and are expanding their ranks all the time.
    A message was also received from comrade Park Soo Churl the head of the Pyongyang Mission of the Anti-Imperialist National Democratic Front of south Korea which said in part that "Today the DPRK enjoys the greatest heyday demonstrating its prestige as a powerful country throughout the world thanks to the outstanding leaders.
    The 80 years-long history of the DPRK reflects the dignity of a party that reaches the highest level, national strength that is displayed throughout the world and the rosy future of a nation is guaranteed only when a nation is led by a great leader he said.
    The central theme of the meeting was the leadership of Kim Jong Un. In his keynote address Alejandro stressed that former socialist countries collapsed because they had failed to create a correct leadership system but the DPRK created an excellent leadership system. Today the DPRK is forging ahead under the leadership of Kim Jong Un. The progress in the DPRK is in sharp contrast to the corrupt and declining capitalist world .
    Or as Dermot Hudson pointed out in his speech "the DPRK was able to defeat Covid 19 within 3 months and basically by relying on its own resources as it rejected the fake humanitarian aid of world imperialism and the south Korean puppets . No other country has done this. In some countries Covid 19 still prevails after nearly three years since its first outbreak".
    The conference concluded with a commitment to redouble the work to build solidarity and friendship with the Korean people. And the next day Alejandro, who said that he had once declined an offer of a post in the Catalan regional government, took the delegates on a guided tour of old Tarragona including the famous Roman amphitheatre .

Picketing Broadcasting House!

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined other Korean solidarity activists protesting against the BBC bias at a picket outside Broadcasting House in central London on Saturday. The Korean Friendship Association (KFA) had called the protest to highlight the appalling bias of the BBC in its coverage of news from Korea that invariably reflects the lies of the American lie-machine and those of its south Korean puppets.
    Discussions were held with passers-by and the media during the 90-minute protest that also called on people to stop funding the state broadcasting network by cancelling their BBC licence fees.
    Dermot Hudson, KFA chair, said: “Recently there was an incident in the West Sea of Korea in which a south Korean puppet warship intruded into the territorial waters of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) basically invading the DPRK and violating its sovereignty but the BBC falsely reported that the DPRK had infiltrated south Korean waters and fired at south Korea…
    “The BBC not only pumps out false propaganda against the DPRK but it is also a regime change agency. We should never forget the role of the BBC World Service in the past in undermining and destroying socialism in the USSR and former socialist countries. Now the BBC is trying to do the same with the DPRK and beaming its lies into the country. We must defend People's Korea from regime change, from all attempts to force 'reform' or 'opening-up' on People's Korea.
    “We, the Korean Friendship Association of the UK, believe in defending People's Korea with No Ifs or Buts.
    “We believe the BBC should stop lying about the DPRK and instead produce fair, accurate and objective material about People's Korea.
    “We say don't pay your licence fee because if you do you are funding the BBC's lies about People's Korea."