Reply to "Socialist Fight " article " Defend north Korea against warmongering Trump "

                        22 September 2017
Recently the website "Socialist Fight "  of the Liasion Committee For the Fourth International ( Trotskyite)  carried an article "Defend North Korea against warmongering Trump "  which exposed the threats against People's Korea by the fascistic Trump regime of US imperialism . The article 
and has some positive material such as quoting the words of Marshal KIM JONG UN at the April 15th military parade in 2012 when he pointed out that the DPRK would never be blackmailed by US imperialism . The article does point that the DPRK was compelled to develop a nuclear deterrent. However whilst claiming to defend People's Korea , article it then rehashes extreme imperialist propaganda against People's Korea.
 The article starts off but saying it defends the DPRK , though  throughout the article it does not refer to People's Korea by its correct title The Democratic People's Republic of Korea  or DPRK for short but insists on using the shorthand of the imperialist media  calling the DPRK 'North Korea' (it might be slightly pedantic here to point out as some that in actually fact there is no such countries as 'North Korea' and 'South Korea' , just as there are no actual countries called ' Southern Ireland ' and 'Northern Ireland' ) .
    The article correctly points that the "  it is a workers’ state in the sense that there are no capitalists there and production is for need and not for the profits of individual capitalist enterprises. Therefore, despite its isolation, it does plan its economy relatively efficiently and there are no unemployed, homeless or beggars, such are seen in even the most advanced capitalist countries.  There is free medical care, education, and housing and there are no taxes. Literacy is 100%, compared to 54% in Pakistan and 63% India." This is indeed true and cannot be disputed . However bizzarely the article
calls the DPRK " a poor, semi-colonial nation " !!!??? .This is a slur on the DPRK which is a country of stout independence , something that is acknowledged by friend and foe alike including ex Tory Premier John Major who said that the DPRK has 'undiluted sovereignty . There is not a single foreign soldier stationed anywhere in the DPRK .The DPRK is no one's colony , unlike south Korea it is not a colony of the US and Japan and was always independent of the USSR and China. The DPRK is independent of China and has spoken out openly against Chinese big power-chauvinism .Some on the British left, dogmatists and sectarians try to  wrongly portray the DPRK as an extension of the USSR and China , such thinking not is a slur on the DPRK but does a grave disservice to the movement for solidarity with People's Korea . Moreover the DPRK has advanced socialist system based on Juche and a self-reliant independent national economy  which is enabling the DPRK to smash the US imperialist sanctions. Does the author of the article realise that saying that the DPRK is both a 'worker's state' and yet a 'poor ,semi-colonial nation' is deeply contradictory .
 As the article goes on it becomes worse and worse actually recycling imperialist slanders and misinformation about People's Korea. We find it  very odd that a socialist and anti-imperialist should draw so heavily on bourgeois and imperialist sources!
    The old 'famine' ,myth beloved of the bourgeois media and repeated ad infinitum , surfaces in the Socialist Fight article .To refute the famine myth once again  we point out that visiting the DPRK in 1996 although the situation was very difficult and the Korean guides were very frank with us about the massive challenges facing the DPRK , we saw nothing that would indicate an actual famine on the scale of what happened in some African countries. There was no one starving or begging for food. The claims about famine are blown out of the water by population figure: In October 2008 the DPRK population had grown to  over 24 million. This exceeded the growth rate in the population predicted by some experts. In 1996 the DPRK's population stood at 22.1 million so the population has increased by 2 million or 10%.If there had been a famine or mass starvation such an increase would not have been possible-it would have been static or even decreased. Some s claim that 10% of the DPRK's population died, if this was true that then the population would have decreased by 2 million and not increase by 2 million.
  The Socialist Fight article also draws heavily on materials from the pro-imperialist , CIA controlled sponsored scab outfit Amnesty International (AI). AI has never been a friend of socialist countries, and anti-imperialist movements .It was exposed sometime ago as being funded by the CIA . Today
AI produces glossy booklets , employs staff on high salaries and runs big advertising campaigns. Where is all the money coming from for all this? AI back in 1991 was used by a PR firm working for the US government to spread the false story about babies in incubators being killed by Iraqi soldiers which was used as a pretext for the 1991 Gulf War. The article also repeats nonsense about a 'total control zone ' in the DPRK . Much of this has committed from the discredited 'defector ' Shin Dong Hyuk who later admitted to lying and was revealed by the DPRK media to be convicted rapist . He now lives in luxury in south Korea and the US.
   The article even speaks of 'concentration camps' !!!. There are no concentration camps in the DPRK . This is again repeating imperialist propaganda and trying to equate the DPRK with the Nazis  ! The imperialists claim that there are hundreds of thousands of people held in camps in the DPRK , such camps would have to be massive and with a huge number of guards but I did not see such a thing in the DPRK countryside. Moreover the DPRK is very peaceful and calm you rarely see emergency vehicles rushing through the busy streets. If it what the imperialists say about "human rights " and " forced labour camps " in the DPRK was true, then you would say police or security personnel on the streets arresting many people and putting them in lorries to go to "labour camps " or "concentrations camps " but I saw no such thing happen. I did not see heavily armed police on the streets that you sometimes encounter in London , either on the streets or at railway stations or at airports . Indeed I was able to go for a walk near the Mansudae Assemby Hall the home of the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly  , the highest organ of legislative power in the DPRK and roughly equivalent to the parliament. Now in London the area around parliament is a restricted area where movement is controlled and armed police units patrol. However  in Pyongyang I saw no police or security personnel in the area surrounding the Mansudae Assembly hall. Of course the DPRK is a stable and harmonious unified society based on single hearted unity so there is no terrorism and no riots. In the DPRK there is unity between the  armed forces and civilians  so people do not fear or despise the armed forces.
   The also draws heavily on the Wikipedia which is another very dodgy source as much of the material in the Wikipedia on the DPRK is written by the south Korean fascist puppets  and is basically false. The Wikipedia itself was set up by Jimmy Wales , a US millionaire,  who is a supporter of neo-liberalism and conservatism . The article quotes from the Wikipedia the '10 principles ' that were supposedly set out in 1967, however the original of these cannot be found in English language DPRK texts .
  The author quotes imperialist statistics on infant mortality in the DPRK . In fact by 1991 this had fallen to 9.2 per 1,000 , so that figure quoted of 23 per 1,000 for the present day cannot be true. In fact the DPRK reduced infant morality from 204 per 1000 in 1944 to 9.2 in 1991 , a reduction of
95.5 per cent in the space of 46 years an outstanding achievement.
  The Juche idea and the socialist system of the DPRK  is criminally slandered by the author. How on earth can the most advanced idea of humanity , the most revolutionary communist idea of all time be described by the author of the Socialist Fight article as being a ' medieval doctrine ', this is ridiculous
and truly idiotic ! . The great leader President KIM IL SUNG defined Juche as being  'in a nutshell, the idea of Juche means that the masters of the revolution and the work of construction are the masses of the people and that they are also the motive force of the revolution and the work of construction. In other words, one is responsible for one's own destiny and one has also the capacity for hewing out one's own destiny"
  How can this be medieval ? Furthermore  Chairman KIM JONG IL wrote 'The Juche idea is a new philosophical thought which centres on man...The Juche idea defined man as the master who dominates the world, not merely as part of it, and thus established a new world outlook which, unlike preceding ones, regards the world and its changes and progress with man, its master,at the centre. The Juche viewpoint and stand on the world with man in the central place provide a sure guarantee for the independent and creative cognitional activities and practice of man who transforms the world and shapes his destiny...The Juche idea, the revolutionary world outlook representing a new era in history, the Juche age, is rightly leading the onward movement of mankind aspiring to independence and sovereignty, socialism and communism, while sweeping away all the reactionary and counter-revolutionary currents of thoughts. 
It marked a new, higher stage in the development of the working-class revolutionary theory. Therein lies another historic contribution of the Juche idea to the revolutionary cause of the working class and the cause of liberation of humanity "
   There are over 1,000 Juche Idea Study Groups in the world and he 82 friendship plaques from foreign supporters and Juche study groups on the Tower of the Juche Idea indicates that Juche has a large following across the world. Indeed, in every major continent there are groups dedicated to studying Juche. Since 1976 the DPRK has organised international seminars on Juche. The great Juche idea is also applicable to all counties as it teaches that every people should be independent and masters of their own destiny. President KIM IL SUNG  showed the way for the peoples of the capitalist countries, socialist countries and third world countries to independence. Indeed, the Juche idea reflects the aspirations of the peoples of all countries for independence. In addition, the revolutionary activities and teachings of KIM IL SUNG  have influenced socialist leaders throughout the world. We would suggest that the author of the Socialist Fight article actually reads the works of President KIM IL SUNG , Chairman KIM JONG IL and Marshal KIM JONG UN  and visits the DPRK to learn what Juche means rather than reading bourgeois dross on the Wikipedia !
  The articles prattles a lot about 'bureaucracy' but most surprisingly the liquidation of the counter-revolutionary traitor Jang Song Thaek is damned by the article.. In 2013 during an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau of the Workers' Party of Korea, the crimes of the traitor Jang Song Thaek were laid bare. Affected by the capitalist way of living, Jang committed irregularities and corruption which lead to a dissolute and depraved life. He used drugs and squandered foreign currency at casinos while he was receiving medical treatment in a foreign country under the care of the party. He also stole at least 4.6 million Euro of DPRK state money and squandered it in one year.  The special military tribunal of the Ministry of State Security found Jang guilty of corruption and attempting to overthrow the state. He was sentenced to death for his crimes.   . How on earth can you support such a corrupt character who was a puppet of Chinese revisionism and US imperialism ? Ordinary working people in the DPRK demanded the purge and execution of Jang , steelworkers even said that he should be thrown in the furnace for his treachery.It is ironic and contradictory to fume about bureaucracy but
then condemn the DPRK for taking successful measures against bureaucracy. In my view getting
rid of the counter-revolutionary factionalist gang in 2012 was probably the best thing the DPRK did.
  All in all the article is full of self-contradiction and does not defend People's Korea but repeats imperialist and bourgeois slanders against People's Korea  and even slanders the guiding idea and social system of People's Korea  !
 It is vital to broad a vigorous solidarity movement with People's Korea against US imperialism
and world imperialism. Surely one of the crucial aspects of this should be to defend the guiding ideology of the DPRK , the Juche Idea and the Songun Idea (army first ) idea and the socialist system of the DPRK from attack and slander , because attacks on Juche and the people-centred socialist system are part and parcel of the imperialist demonisation and de legitimatisation of  People's Korea .
  In the UK it is the UK Korean Friendship Association , the Juche Idea Study Group of England  and the Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK that defend uphold the Juche Idea and the Songun Idea. UK KFA is proud to do what is says on the tin and 'Defend the D P R Korea " with
no ifs or buts . Do not be fooled by fake friends of the DPRK , join us if you agree with us.

Dr Dermot Hudson .
President Association for the Study of Songun Poltics UK
Chairman Juche Idea Study Group of England
Chairman UK Korean Friendship Association
 .