I was carrying heavy bags of shopping but chose to walk home in order to avoid paying a bus fare so as to save money , especially after buying a lot of massively overpriced goods (the prices of basic commodities in capitalist societies like the UK are sky high , truly exorbitant )so I had a long trudge back to home taking over an hour .I remembered how in Pyongyang , the capital of the socialist Democratic People's Republic of Korea , it costs only 5 won for a ride on the Metro or the bus or tram which is roughly the equivalent of 3p in British money . The minimum fare for a bus in London with an Oyster card is £1.50, 50 times the cost in Pyongyang,outside London in the rural areas the bus fares are much higher as they are not flat rated like in London so can as much as £3 or £3 for a short journey.The cheapest tube fare(again with Oyster , much higher for a 'cash' fare) is £2.90 or 96 times the cost of a Metro fare in Pyongyang .I was told that in Pyongyang the cost of an annual season ticket on the Metro is about the equivalent of just under one euro.There is free travel for pensioners ,war veterans and the disabled as well. As I wearily lugged the heavy bags of shopping back through the miserable drizzling rain I thought how lucky Pyongyang citizens must be to be able to hop on a bus or tube when they wanted and not worry about the cost of transport,they could be home quickly instead of a long walk with heavy shopping .
The high price of food in the UK is driving many into poverty .Moreover health experts tell people to eat more fresh vegetables and fruit but these are often expensive leading to people having a poor diet. It might surprise people to learn that the NHS website says "Malnutrition is a common problem, affecting millions of people in the UK." A leaflet from the local authority said that in the borough in 2018 , 7,000 families visited a food bank because they could not afford to buy food. However when I visited the DPRK with my daughter in April 2019 , she was surprised by how cheap everything was .In People's Korea many goods are supplied directly to people either virtually free or a very low cost. I had visited the DPRK in September 2018 and came back in February 2019 and April 2019 , I found that the prices were exactly the same in the shops and that the exchange rate was the same . Some may not say that this is that remarkable .However some countries that have been under massive sanctions by the US such as Venezuela have suffered shortages and prices but looking around shops in the DPRK I could not see any shortages in the DPRK and there were no price rises. This is not because of a random chance but because of the solid independent national economy established by the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG and developed by Chairman KIM JONG IL and Marshal KIM JONG UN . Also it is a result of the people-orientated policies of respected Marshal KIM JONG UN who stressed in historic policy speech to the 14th session of the Supreme People's Assembly that "The slogan "Everything for the people and everything by relying on them!" encapsulates the people-first principle maintained by our Party and the government of our Republic. In all spheres of State and social life we have given top and absolute priority to what are oriented to the people and popular among them, unsparingly investing everything for their well-being. Over recent years our State has implemented gigantic construction projects in a bold manner. This is not because there is a surplus of funds in the country's coffers; those projects are aimed at providing our people, who are the best in the world, with better conditions for a happy, cultured life."
In People's Korea , people are the priority and the state takes care people's lives .People not only benefit from very low cost public transport and low commodity prices but also from virtually free of charge housing . To a Londoner living in a capitalist society this seems amazing , utopian in fact . In the area where I live , which is far from the centre of London , the average price for a modest 2 bedroom flat is £269,000 and the asking price for a 3 bedroom flat is £350,000 . Working people cannot afford to live in the centre of London where the cost of buying a 1 bedroom flat is £650,000 ( can be £1 million for a 2 bedroom flat ) or to rent is £2,000 per month !. In Pyongyang workers live in the centre of the city in modern developments such as Changjon Street. Apparently , it is easy to get a flat in the DPRK , I asked my guide from the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries , Mrs Ri , who is a young married woman with a child , how long it took her to get a flat , she said one year after being married she got a flat . In the UK a young couple would either have to try and get a mortgage to buy an expensive property and spend the next 25 years trying to pay it back that is of course if they the money for the deposit in the first place or they could privately rent a place but left penniless by the hight rent to the landlord , they could try to get 'social housing ' but there is a waiting list so they could wait 10,20 or even 30 years or the other option would to not get married and not have children !.
In the DPRK education and health care are free of charge . In England if we can get an NHS prescription it costs £9 nowadays and I am sure the price will increase next year . In People's Korea medical prescriptions are free .All education in the DPRK is free even university level . In the UK
the cost of going to university is £9,000 per team plus books , accommodation ,clothes and food .The DPRK even provides clothes for its university students. I remember visiting the Changwang Kindergarten in 2008 I was told how the children there got 5 meals a day including 120g of rice . Also kindergarteners in the DPRK receive Soya Milk which is delivered by special vans , these vans run even in the difficult period of the "Arduous march ". I can remember as a kid how the then Education Minister Margaret Thatcher decided to end school milk for children earning her the accolade 'Maggie Thatcher , milk bottle snatcher' , of course this was a portent , a taste of the future mayhem and hardship that Thatcher was to unleash on the country when she was prime minister from 1979 to 1990, grim years indeed !.
The DPRK not only provides a high level of social benefits to its citizens but its citizens do not pay
tax. Some might be incredulous at this but in fact as of March 1974 taxation was abolished by the the the great leader President KIM IL SUNG Revenues from state owned industries are used to fund social and cultural services and provide a high level of benefits. In Britain the tax burden is enormous ;income tax , national insurance , Value Added Tax , Inheritance Tax etc . Even the poor and unemployed did not escape from taxation as most goods plus electricity carry VAT on them . On top of income tax and VAT , people have to pay Council Tax , a most unnecessary tax . When I see
my council tax bill I think of the wonderful and happy lives of DPRK citizens who are not burdened with council tax.
To conclude my essay , the Democratic People's Republic of Korea founded by the great leader President KIM IL SUNG , led through the difficult years of the 'arduous march ' by the great leader
Chairman KIM JONG IL and now rushing forward in the spirit of self-reliance towards final victory under the leadership of respected Marshal KIM JONG UN , is indeed a people's paradise , a socialist paradise of Juche !
Long Live People's Korea !
Long Live Juche !
Glory to the memory of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG !
Glory to the memory of the great leader comrade KIM JONG IL !
Long Live Dear respected Marshal KIM JONG UN !
Dr Dermot Hudson
Chairman Juche Idea Study Group of England
President Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK
Chairman UK Korean Friendship Assocation
Chairman British Solidarity Committee for Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula
hon sec general general International Central Committee for Songun Study .
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