Dear comrades and friends ,
It is wonderful to be here in Germany , the land of Marx and Engels , the land of Ernest Thalmann . I thank KFA Germany for inviting me to speak .
Today I will speak about Defending People’s Korea and the reality of People’s Korea as well as making a few remarks about the nuclear policy of the DPRK . Recently the DPRK has celebrated the 77th anniversary of the foundation of the Workers Party of Korea and will soon celebrate the 96th anniversary of the formation of the Down With Imperialism Union .
.As I have argued in my book ‘ In Defence of Juche Korea ‘ and other writings , the DPRK is one of the most unjustly vilified and demonised countries in the whole world .
Propaganda against the DPRK is on an industrial scale . It comes from different sides , not just the establishment, the Right and the mainstream media but also some on the so-called “Left ‘ and even the ultra left such as the MLPD in your country . A lot of propaganda against the DPRK is rooted in orientalism , Euro-centrism and chauvinism as well being motivated by a hatred of the socialist system of the DPRK . At the moment the DPRK has been taken out of the news by the mainstream media partly due to the Ukraine crisis but also because to the elite the DPRK is a policy failure ; all their tactics against the DPRK have failed ; whether it is sanctions , the threat of force and military pressure and even Trump’s high stakes diplomacy . The mainstream media do not like to talk about failures , only success so the DPRK has been taken out of the news .Of course anti-DPRK propaganda is still there ,it is as if it were still playing in the background . So-called specialist websites such as NKNews , which has now been proven to be funded by among others the US Army Pacific Command , the US Dept of Defence , the Japanese Foreign Ministry and south Korea Unification ministry , play a big role in publishing fake news about the DPRK . The head and founder of of NK New Chad O'Carroll who worked for the CIA linked Marshall Fund had previously been writing on the so-called colour revolutions in Libya, Tunisia and other middle eastern countries but was suddenly reinvented as “north Korea expert “ .O Carroll is also linked to a shadowy NGO called the ‘House of the Rising Stars a body believed to have links with Western intelligence agencies .. Indeed O Carroll is an international man of mystery , no one knows the true nationality , he is variously described as Irish , American or British .He is a very nondescript looking individual whom you can imagine behind a desk at Langley , Virgina . O'Carroll in the past has used the name Tad Farrell .Another key figure in NKNews was Hamish McDonald who is now with the Royal United Services Institute and also was a researcher with the FCO . Join up the dots and you will see what is , as they say .
NKNews operates out of south Korea and is registered in a US tax haven in Delaware ,USA where in the past other CIA front companies were registered . . It is important to expose NKNews because firstly , it is a major source of anti-DPRK propaganda , secondly , it brands itself as an ‘independent source ‘ so is used by the mainstream media to provide a fig leaf of ‘balance ‘ . I have come across people who even think that NKNews is an official DPRK website . We must always expose NKNews.
In my own country the BBC or British Brainwashing Corporation takes the lead in spreading disinformation about the DPRK .The BBC, which is known to progressive people as the British Brainwashing Corporation , has consistently lied about the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea(DPRK). Its coverage of the DPRK is one sided and exaggerated to say the least. On several occasions BBC reporters have used tricks and subterfuges to enter the DPRK .
The BBC has taken upon itself the role of a shock brigade in the propaganda war against People’s Korea.The BBC is a state broadcaster closely linked to British imperialism and US imperialism .It’s staff are vetted ,so that no one with pro DPRK , pro socialist views can work for the BBC or indeed anyone to the Left of Genghis Khan , in the BBC it is very much ‘No lefties here John ‘ . The BBC promotes the ideology of market totalitarianism and liberal fascism .
What is disgusting is that not only does the BBC lie about People’s Korea but it expects us to pay for its lies in the form of the BBC licence fee .
It would take too long to list all the lies told by the BBC about the DPRK but here are some examples: On the 10th of February 2016 the BBC reported that former Chief of General Staff of the Korean People’s Army General Ri Yong Gil had been executed . This has been proved false. General Ri was elected to a position at the 7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea held in May 2016 and was promoted in April 2017 (by order of Marshal Kim Jong Un) and a month ago was appointed vice Marshal of the Korean People’s Army , far from being dead !
In May 2016 BBC reporter Rupert Wingfield-Hayes signed a statement admitting that his reporting was biassed and inaccurate. Amongst other things Wingfield-Hayes claimed that children at the Okryu Children's Hospital were not ill and were actors!!!
The BBC consistently demonizes and smears the DPRK by using clichés like “impoverished”, “totalitarian “ and “ isolated “ . Rather than being impoverished the DPRK has a rapidly growing economy, it is a people-oriented society and rather than being isolated has diplomatic relations with over a 100 countries
I am not going to list every anti-DPRK propaganda outfit or organisation as they are many and various , some such as Choson Exchange even claim they are helping the DPRK by trying to restore capitalism there ,however I will just mention one more anti-DPRK outfit , which is known as LINK or Liberty in north Korea .This is actively trying to recruit in UK universities . On their website , it openly says that their revenue increased by 27% but expenditure increased by 49 % , a big gap ! . It is not hard to guess where the money for that shortfall is coming from ! The CIA and NIS , US multinationals and wealthy right wingers in capitalist countries. I would also call out a number of academics for spreading disinformation and falsehoods about the DPRK .
For years many liberal academics were bribed by south Korea , sometimes given teaching jobs in south Korea and even south Korean wives or mistresses . Some UK universities have received funding from south Korea . This is the reason why the academic world is hostile to the DPRK .
What is the reality of People’s Korea , what is the country on the other side of the mirror of lies created by imperialism ? . Let me speak as someone who has visited the DPRK 18 times in the past 30 years . My first visit was in May 1992 and my last visit in October 2019 .
Let’s examine some of the lies that are used to demonise the DPRK and stifle solidarity with it . Firstly , the old horse chestnut repeated ad infinitum is that “they are all starving in north Korea “ , that there is a “famine “ or they will be a “famine “ next month or next year or something . In fact, visiting the DPRK countryside on several occasions I came to know that the stories about crop failure and famine are untrue. I have never seen anyone starving in the DPRK or begging for food . On one of my visits in October 2015 , I went with my guide , a young lady from the Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies , across Pyongyang on foot late at night and did not see any homeless people sleeping in shop doorways or in pedestrian underpasses .
One frequent lie is that "Pyongyang is the city of the elite" (and by the way , the "elite' is never actually defined by the hack writers of imperialism) . Usually the people writing this kind of thing have never been to the DPRK , the nearest they have got to the DPRK is the south Korean puppet capital of Seoul but they have never set foot on the soil of the DPRK. It is reminiscent of the notorious anti-communist hack-writer and MI5 informant George Orwell who wrote two so-called 'novels' about the Soviet Union without actually visiting the place .
We were privileged to visit both the Pyongyang KIM JONG SUK textile mill and the Ryuwon Footwear Factory . These two factories are just two of many factories in Pyongyang . In the past I have visited the Pyongyang Bag Factory and the Pyongyang cosmetics factory . Pyongyang also has major industrial enterprises such as the Kim Jong Tae locomotive factory plus two power stations . So rather than Pyongyang being a "city of the elite '' many Pyongyang citizens are actually industrial workers , others are waitresses , shop assistants , drivers ,railway workers etc . In fact Pyongyang is a city of workers , a proletarian city. In fact probably one of the more working class cities I have actually been in .
Sadly my home city of London lacks industry. In the past there were many factories in London but due to de- industrialization caused by capitalist crisis plus policies of successive governments Labour and Tory as well as the EU , many factories have been closed in London. I struggle to think of a single factory located near to my home . Pyongyang is a very productive city , it does not rely on international finance or retail for its wealth but instead on productive industries. In fact it also a self-reliant city as it has farms producing its food located within the boundaries of the city .
At the Ryuwon Footwear factory ,in the south west of Pyongyang we were told that the factory ,which has 600 workers, has its own gardens producing food for the workers. This is not only an example of Juche and self-reliance but it is also environmentally friendly as it reduces the carbon footprint by eliminating the need to transport food to the factory . The DPRK is truly ingenious !
Visiting the Pyongyang KIM JONG SUK textile factory on our last day was truly informative . This factory is named after the anti-Japanese revolutionary heroine Madame KIM JONG SUK who is also known as the Mother of Korea .The factory has 1,600 workers (very few UK factories have that number of workers ) and has extensive grounds . It is located very near to the centre of Pyongyang , something unthinkable in London. It is also nicely situated by being near the banks of the River Taedong . We were told there are blocks of flats behind the factory for workers as well as a hostel on site. This is a pleasant contrast to London and other capitalist cities where workers have to spend hours travelling into work . I remember with my old job it used to take an hour each way to get into work . Worse still, we have to pay very high fares to travel into work. I paid £2,000 for a 1-4 zone annual travelcard in London but workers at the KIM JONG SUK textile mill do not need to travel into work paying high fares. It really is a workers' paradise . I would point out that even if the workers did have to commute into work , the cost of a Pyongyang Metro ticket is 5 won, the equivalent of about 3 pennies in English money.
I asked about working conditions and was told that workers get 2 hours of break per day ( compare this to 30 minute lunch breaks in the UK or people being made to work through their lunch break) . The guide also said that the state took special measures for the health of the workers. The factory had its own kindergarten and creche plus a sports hall, house of culture (including a cinema) , a restaurant and a sports court . We were shown a fishpond where people could just sit and relax quietly during their break . We also noticed workers planting trees and gardening in the factory compound . Despite being a working factory it was spotlessly clean and the surroundings were quite pleasant .
At both factories , the Pyongyang KIM JONG SUK textile mill and the Ryuwon Footwear factory , the workers seemed to be working with ease. There was no sign of the workers being pushed around or bullied by supervisors.Workers in the DPRK belong to trade unions which take an active part in encouraging workers to participate in production . Constitutionally in the DPRK people have the right to work and the duty to work . There are no zero hours contracts ,people have permanent jobs with holidays and sick pay. Wage differentials exist but a low. These exist to reflect different levels of skill and experience.
A central allegation against People’s Korea is that there is massive repression with forced labour camps everywhere. The evidence offered for this is from so-called ‘defectors ‘ . One of these Shin Dong Hyuk was indeed imprisoned but not from birth as he falsely claimed but because he raped an underage girl.
So what of these claims about human rights? If labour camps existed on the scale claimed by Western politicians , journalists and so experts they 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 Assembly 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 see 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.
I did not see the police oppressing anyone on the streets. I did not see anyone get arrested or the police in the DPRK shoot anyone dead ! In the USA , the so-called "land of the free " , which is the country behind the clamour about " human rights in the DPRK , the police regularly shoot down people, most of them black. I remember visiting my wife’s country Brazil in 2007 seeing an ugly scene of a police officer with a gun held to a young man’s head pushing him up against a wall, I have never seen this in the DPRK.
Another favourite tabloid myth is that you can a limited number of hair styles allowed , that norms for hairstyles are laid down by the state . Well we visited the barber shop at the fantastic Munsu water park in East Pyongyang . Here you can get a haircut for about 2 euros. We saw pictures of suggested hairstyles on the wall . One of the delegation asked what if you wanted one not shown , “We will try our best to do what the customer suggests “ was the answer . I told the barbers about the stories floated in the Western media and they were shocked at the idea !
Lastly I am going to mention one insidious myth that has been created by the hired academic and journalists of imperialism , the idea that the DPRK is somehow fascist . Of course this sounds rich coming from the US, a country that in the 50s ,60s and 70s exported fascism to the third world in the form of numerous military coups such as the one in Chile. There is no monopoly or finance capital (big business and big banks ) in the DPRK ..
Fascism in some countries has been associated with extreme expansionism and grabbing other people’s territories . Hitler used to talk about living space . However the DPRK has never tried to seize parts of China or Japan. The DPRK strongly respects the sovereignty of other countries and does not try to invade other people's countries. In today's world the most expansionist country is the United States which has bases in hundreds of countries . So some people have looked in the wrong place to find fascism, it is not the DPRK but the US that is fascist !
The Juche Idea itself is profoundly antifascist. It was conceived on the battlefields against Japanese fascism. The great leader comrade KIM JONG IL
explicitly condemned fascism and refuted the idea that socialism is 'totalitarian ‘and somehow similar to fascism saying that ;
“Totalitarianism served as the political idea of fascist dictators. Notorious Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy used totalitarianism as an ideological tool to justify their fascist dictatorship. The fascist dictators stamped out even the most elementary democratic freedom and rights of the masses of the working people and enforced unprecedentedly tyrannical policies, behind the misleading name of “national socialism”, claiming that for the sake of the whole nation and the whole state no working-class movement and no class struggle could be permitted. The reactionary nature of totalitarianism is that the interests of the working people are sacrificed for the sake of the rapacious interests of the reactionary ruling class under the pretence that the individual should be subordinated to the whole. What is meant by the whole in totalitarianism is not the whole of the popular masses but a tiny handful of privileged circles such as monopoly capitalists, major landowners, reactionary bureaucrats and warlords. Calling socialism, under which the popular masses are the masters of everything, “totalitarianism” is, ultimately, a preposterous lie which identifies the most progressive idea that reflects the demands of the popular masses with the reactionary idea of fascist rulers.”
Juche advocates the full realisation of man's independence and creativity. It is the complete opposite to fascism which stipulates the subordination of the people to the interests of the ruling class.
People who want to find fascism on the Korean peninsula should look no further than south Korea. In south Korea communists are suppressed, the National Security Law imposes jail sentences of 7 years for being a communist or even simply praising the DPRK or having any contact with tithe trade unions are also being repressed with the chairman of the south Korean trades recently being jailed. South Korea is the typical fascist state of the 21st century. In south Korea you can find Hitler themed bars and the south Korean army –check this out for yourselves-uses the song Panzer lied which has now finally been banned in Germany.
The idea that the DPRK is somehow fascist is another myth that has been created in the boardroom of a corporate PR company or deep inside the labyrinth of the CIA.
The torrent of falsehoods , myths and lies about the DPRK serve to demonise the DPRK and create an atmosphere in which a war against the DPRK could be justified . They are also part and parcel of the psychological warfare of US imperialism against the socialist system of the DPRK and the Juche Idea.
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There are many reasons why we should defend the DPRK and work to increase solidarity with it . The DPRK is the most independent nation on the earth that does not have foreign troops stationed on its soil and also does not send its troops to fight in other countries. The DPRK is not a member of the World Bank , IMF , APEC , the World Economic Forum or WTO . .There are no foreign banks in Pyongyang nor McDonalds , KFC or the like.
The DPRK is a country that can say and do what it likes without looking over its shoulder at others. The DPRK in carrying out ICBM and nuclear tests has not only defied the US and the UN Security Council but also the EU , Japan and significantly the big power chauvinists Russia and China . John Major, the former British prime minister even admitted that the DPRK , presumably unlike the UK, has ‘undiluted sovereignty’.
It is a society free from conflict and division. A society free from crime and terrorism.
The DPRK is a genuine socialist country. Despite the raging winds of anti-socialism and modern revisionism , the new wave of post-modernist anti-communism and the setbacks that have occurred, the DPRK is maintaining socialist principles. The DPRK is the most anti -imperialist country in the world . It carries out thoroughgoing anti-imperialist class education . It has an anti-US museum at Sinchon as well as many anti-US education centres and halls in many places . This contrasts to the revisionist led socialist countries in the past which failed to carry out anti-imperialist education and allowed unchecked massive ideological and cultural infiltration of imperialism. I remember visiting Hungary in the 1980s and seeing Madonna and Rambo posters on sale and was shocked to read that the USSR built a Pepsi Cola plant on its soil .
Moreover despite 72 years of sanctions and blockade plus natural disasters the DPRK is implementing popular welfare policies such as free education, free housing, free medical care without taking a penny from its citizens in tax.It is one of the most egalitarian societies in the world.
The DPRK achieved the miracle of eliminating Covid 19 without the timescale of less than three months and without imperialist aid . The fatality rate from Covid 19 in the DPRK was minimal . Moreover the DPRK has survived for nearly 3 years with its border closed when some countries would not last 3 days ! This shows the true might and superiority of the Juche-based self-reliant independent national economy.
Before I end my presentation I would like to address two issues , firstly the nuclear policy of the DPRK and also the 96th anniversary of the Down With Imperialism Union .
On the 8th of September 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 .
This move got criticised in the UK by the fake Left , revisionists and agents of imperialism . We answer the criticism as follows :
Firstly , the DPRK 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 nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear state . 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.
Fourthly , Korea was divided by force by the US in 1945 and the DPRK was invaded by the US imperialist in 1950 with at least 1.2 million civilians killed and the country devastated completely . 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 the experience of some big powers recently shows that such countries may not be an efficient ally as some imagine them to be.
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 2 summits and 1 meeting with US president Trump as well as 3 Inter-Korean summits .It should be added that the DPRK carried out its first nuclear test 59 years after
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 ‘. A few years when there were the DPRK-US summits and the inter-Korean summits some people claimed that the DPRK had sold out and the hostile forces predicted that the DPRK would unilaterally disarm , that it would ‘open up and reform ‘ and a McDonalds would open in Pyongyang . Four and half years later there are no McDonalds in Pyongyang or anywhere else in the DPRK and not a single DPRK nuke or ICBM has been dismantled and now the DPRK is stating the irreversibility of its nuclear status . What a big slap in the face this is for some people..
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 .
It is good to see a country standing up for itself and not taking any nonsense from the US imperialists!
The DPRK’s Law On State Policy of Nuclear Forces is the independent and sovereign right of the DPRK which no one should interfere in or take issue with !
On the 17th of October , it will be 96 years since the great leader President KIM IL SUNG founded the Down With Imperialism Union .The Down With Imperialism Union is basically the foundation stone of the Workers Party of Korea .
Today the ideas and spirit of the DIU are alive in People’s Korea of Juche led by dear respected Marshal KIM JONG UN .The DPRK and WPK are firmly pursuing the line of independence and anti-imperialism that was laid down by the DIU . The DPRK is the most independent country in the world . It is anti-imperialist. Whilst it is open to negotiations , the DPRK does not sell-out its independence or indulge in unprincipled compromise ;three years after the DPRK -US summit not a single nuke or ICBM has been dismantled . The DPRK is firmly upholding the line of self-reliance and self-development .At the same the DPRK is internationalist . The WPK is uniting with different communist and workers parties . In the past the DPRK has given assistance to Cuba, Vietnam , Egypt , Syria , Libya and the former People’s Revolutionary Government of Grenada . The DPRK’s record of proletarian internationalism is second to none, it is carrying forward the idea of the DIU on carrying out the world revolution.
I hope you will join us in KFA in defending People’s Korea and get out there and spread the message.
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