Wednesday, 27 March 2019

Juche and Brexit- contribution of the Juche Idea Study of England to the Brexit debate

Britain was due to leave the European Union (EU) on the 29th March 2019 because the British people voted in a referendum to exit the EU. However, this departure has now been postponed and article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty (providing for member states to secede) will not be invoked until June 2019 or possibly later. The purpose of this paper is not to debate a no-deal Brexit versus different variants of Brexit deals, nor is there any point in discussing a second referendum as the British people clearly voted to leave the EU. The purpose of this article is to examine how the Juche Idea can be applied to a post-Brexit Britain and if there are lessons from the DPRK's experience in building an independent national economy that can be applied to the UK after Brexit. Some opponents of the Juche Idea in the UK argue that it is irrelevant to Britain or that it is merely an abstract thought that cannot be applied to Britain because it is an imperialist country. We aim to show that Juche would actually fit in very well to the realities of a post-Brexit Britain.

Firstly, it is our view that to apply Juche in Britain would involve having to leave the EU. The EU denies independence to its member states and it is really a vehicle for globalisation and neo-liberalism, despite some believing that the EU is a “socialist” and “internationalist” project. In fact, it was created as the economic and political counterpart of NATO in Western Europe.

The Greek case made it evident that it is impossible to negotiate a different policy inside the framework of the EU, other than fully adhering to its embedded neo-liberalism. The ability of the EU to impose its will upon anyone who attempts to choose a different course inside the EU was fully expressed in the Greek case. The EU showed its true colours in deliberately bringing down the left wing government of Tsipras in Greece and it managed to reinstate a government who aligned with its ideological goals. At every turn, the EU has favoured protectionism for big business and the wealthy, and tougher regulation for everyone else.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Left in Britain strongly opposed the UK’s membership of the EU. For example, the old Communist Party of Great Britain and Labour Left figures like Tony Benn were implacable opponents of the EU. In the 1975 referendum on Britain’s membership of the Common Market, continued membership was supported by the majority of the Conservative Party, Liberal Party and the dominant right wing of the Labour Party. Those advocating to leave the Common Market came from the left of the Labour and the Communist Party. At the 1979 general election, Labour supported remaining in the European Economic Community (EEC). However, after their defeat and with Michael Foot becoming leader, Labour turned decisively against the EEC. The 1983 Labour manifesto stated: “We will also open immediate negotiations with our EEC partners, and introduce the necessary legislation, to prepare for Britain’s withdrawal from the EEC, to be completed well within the lifetime of the Labour government.”

The mainstream Left and so-called progressives argue for continued membership of the EU because they believe that this union can be reformed, which will lead to the creation of a “People’s Europe”. However, the deeply embedded neoliberalism and authoritarianism of the EU as a class project means that we have to move beyond thinking in terms of “another EU” and reform of the EU.

In November 2018, French president Emmanuel Macron warned that Europeans cannot be protected without a “true, European army” to defend the EU from China, Russia and even the US. Many EU leaders, including German chancellor Angela Merkel, have expressed support for a “real, true” European army. This increased level of military co-operation will increase the power of Franco-German imperialism. An independent Britain must avoid all imperialist alliances.

The EU far from pursuing a progressive or just foreign policy has been very keen to impose harsh, draconian sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The EU has also imposed sanctions on Venezuela, while at the same time recognising the reactionary puppet imposter Juan Guaidó as “president “. Therefore, the EU is not on the side of progress anywhere in the world.

EU trade policies are having a detrimental impact on developing countries. The EU is trying to impose favourable trade agreements to bolster their economic hegemony on the world stage at the expense of the developing nations. An example of this is the Raw Material Initiative. The EU is basically a bloc of imperialist countries, so Brexit is a good opportunity for Britain to cut ties to the reactionary EU.

Historically, the leaders of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were critical both of the EU and its ideological foundations. The great leader President KIM IL SUNG in his seminal work "Let Us Embody More Thoroughly the Revolutionary Spirit of Independence, Self-Sustenance and Self-Defence in All Fields of State Activity' (1967) recognised the deeply reactionary nature of the EU pointing out that "The European Common Market”, the “integration of the world economy” and the like, loudly advertised by the imperialist powers today, all pursue the heinous, aggressive aims of strangling the economic independence of the newly independent states and subordinating these countries to their rule"
The great leader Comrade KIM JONG IL wrote in his classic work On Preserving the Juche character and national character of the revolution and construction " wrote that "We must" must smash up the vicious and cunning policy of the imperialists who seek to obliterate nations and the reactionary doctrines which try to justify this policy.
The imperialists’ reactionary policy of suppressing the Juche character of nations and obliterating national traits is now taking on a new form in the guise of gangster-like fuss about the trend towards a “monolithic” world. In the situation where each country and nation shape their destiny with their own ideas and systems, there can be no “monolithic” world which covers all spheres of politics, economy and culture. With social development and ties and interchange among different nations becoming closer, common features increase in the lives of nations. However, this process always presupposes the independent and individualistic development of nations and takes place on the basis of such development"

Establishing Juche in Britain would inevitably clash with membership of the EU because the EU project is about limiting the sovereignty of its member states and trying to integrate them into a “unified Europe” with a single free market. The EU aims to destroy independent and sovereign nations in Europe and create a single European super-state run by an undemocratic bureaucracy. Decision making in the EU is dominated by the unelected European Commission and the European Central Bank. The EU is part of the globalisation project of the imperialists, so leaving the EU is striking a blow for independence.

The remain lobby is spreading scare stories about shortages and price increases in a post-Brexit Britain, but this ignores the fact that it was the EU that ended cheap food in the UK. On the leave side, there is talk of getting free trade deals with various other countries around the world. Some right-wing Brexiters also want to turn Britain into a tax haven and a super exploitative economy, which would turn the UK into a sweatshop like south Korea or Singapore. However, we Juche Idea followers reject such reactionary and anti-people ideas. Moreover, the question of Brexit should not be seen in terms of making trade deals etc, but as an opportunity to build an independent national economy.

The Juche idea with its emphasis on self-reliance could be applied to a post-Brexit Britain. The UK can also learn from the DPRK's vast experience in building an independent national economy. President KIM IL SUNG taught us that "building an independent national economy means building a diversified economy equipping it with up-to date technology and creating our solid bases of raw materials ,thereby building up an all embracing economic system in which every branch is structurally interrelated so as to provide domestically most of the products of heavy and light industry and the agricultural produce needed to make the country wealthy and powerful and to improve the people's living condition".

The DPRK has a diversified economy that produces a wide range of products from cosmetics to rockets. Despite facing sanctions and blockades over many years, the DPRK’s economy has thrived and enjoyed a high rate of growth with industrial output value growing at 19.1 per cent per annum during the period 1957 to 1970. Furthermore, from 1946 to 1984, industrial output increased by 431 times and national income increased by 65 times. The south Korean 'Bank of Korea ' in 2016 estimated the DPRK's economic growth at 3.9 per cent per annum. These figures prompted Reuters (no friend of the DPRK) to write “North Korea 2016 economic growth at 17-year high despite sanctions: South Korea”. It should also be pointed out that the DPRK's dependence on foreign trade is minimal, as the percentage of foreign trade in the gross national product was estimated to be 4.8 per cent.

A post-Brexit Britain should take inspiration from the DPRK by first securing
economic independence and then building an economy that is diversified and able to meet people's needs. In the past few decades, industries in the UK have disappeared and there has been the rise of the retail sector, the finance sector and other non-productive sectors. In the UK, only 12 per cent of GDP comes from manufacturing industry, as compared to 30 per cent in 1970, which is a decline of over 50 per cent. Although the UK is amongst the wealthy countries of the world, its economy is dangerously unbalanced because it lacks a strong base of productive and extractive industries. However, these problems are not entirely the EU's fault as the longer term decline of British capitalism and the general crisis of capitalism have also been a big contributing factor. Nevertheless, the EU has greatly accelerated deindustrialisation.

Arthur Scargill, former leader of the National Union of Mine workers and President of the Socialist Labour Party, called for coal mines and cotton mills to be reopened. We would support this and believe that such an action would make a positive and practical contribution towards an independent national economy. Britain could easily produce many products that are now imported and greater agricultural self-sufficiency could be achieved.

Throughout the period of Britain's membership of the EU, unemployment has never been below 1 million. Many EU member countries have high levels of unemployment. A post-Brexit Britain based on Juche and self-reliance would strive to have a diversified economic structure, with all sectors serving the needs of the people and providing full employment.

A post-Brexit Britain should not become more dependent on other countries, neither should it try to compete with other capitalist countries by lowering wages and cutting social benefits. We should instead become self-reliant by relying on own resources. We must move away from dependence on foreign trade by expanding the internal market.

A truly independent Britain can only be achieved by leaving NATO, IMF, the world bank and other capitalist organisations. It would also be necessary to close all US bases and expel all US military and intelligence personnel from British soil.

Only Juche can create a sovereign Britain. We all know the problems associated with the notion of sovereignty, especially its association with nationalism, racism, and colonialism. However, this progressive form of sovereignty is based upon a social relationship that is different from that of bourgeois “sovereignty.” The “people” of this reclaimed popular sovereignty would be all working class people who are struggling against the policies of European capitalist classes.

There is an anxiety caused by people’s sense of a lack of control over their own lives, anger against a cynical political class and disbelief against the undemocratic framework of the EU. Thus, there is a desire for democracy as emancipation, independence, and justice. This discontent has also led the rise of right-wing parties, but only a Juche based party would achieve independence and true freedom. Therefore, Juche is the answer to the rise of the right-wing following the EU referendum.

Juche can help us to achieve a genuine “People’s Brexit” that would allow the people to take control of their country and destinies. Let’s build an independent and self-reliant People’s Britain under the banner of Juche!


Written by Dermot Hudson and  Shaun Pickford

Juche Idea Study Group of England March 2019.

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