The imperialist and bourgeois mainstream media loves to talk about the so-called ‘crisis ‘ in People’s Korea and even has many times predicted the ‘collapse ‘ of the DPRK which of course has never happened and will not happen .Even in 1996 the hacks were predicting the end of the DPRK but 26 years on the DPRK is still very much here . The overpaid pundits of the mainstream media and bourgeois academia need to look much nearer to home to find crisis , chaos , confusion and decline !
Looking at the headlines today (Friday 18th of November ) we see the following ; “Autumn Statement: Jeremy Hunt warns of challenges as living standards plunge” (BBC) and “ Worst fall in UK living standards since records began, says OBR” (Guardian ) . Inflation in the UK is 11.1 per cent . the highest for 41 years and there are 1,244 , 000 people unemployed . In April 2023 energy prices will rise again and Council tax will increase by an eye-watering 20 per cent ! . Huge public spending cuts are planned . Yet they say that People’s Korea is in ‘crisis “!(?)
In People’s Korea the economy is stable . Everyone has a job , housing is virtually free . Metro fares are the lowest in the world and in terms of equivalent price almost unchanged since the 1990s .Visiting the DPRK in 2017,2018 and 2019 I could see no increases in prices in the shops that I visited. This year 10,000 new homes were completed in Songwha Street , Pyongyang and many co-operative farms witnessed a bumper harvest.
In January 2020 the DPRK closed its border and they have remained closed for almost 34 months and yet the DPRK is able to run its industries and feed and clothe its population . One could argue that this is a real miracle !
In Britain the government faces a huge state budget deficit . This year the government had to borrow £72.5 billion ! . Ms Liz Truss only lasted a few weeks as prime minister because she had planned to borrow even more money, sparking a crisis and causing the £ to fall in value . The Bank of England itself had to borrow money ! . In People’s Korea the Won ( the national currency ) is stable basically because the DPRK’s economy is a planned one and the state controls the exchange rate . The Won is basically at the same level as it was 10 years ago .
The DPRK government and DPRK banks do not borrow money . For one thing under the intense sanctions that the imperialists have imposed, the DPRK would not be allowed to do so . The DPRK has true economic independence as it is not a member of the IMF or the World Bank or WTO . The DPRK’s independent national economy and policy of self-reliance is a direct and practical application of the great Juche Idea authored by tPresident KIM IL SUNG and developed by Chairman KIM JONG IL .
Whilst the DPRK government does not borrow money at the same it is not cutting public spending but public spending has increased year after year . Indeed there probably have never been public spending cuts in the DPRK . Even in the years of the ‘arduous march ‘ , schools and hospitals in the DPRK remained open and the Soya milk vans for the kids were seen driving along the streets .
People’s Korea is a genuine socialist alternative to the crisis ridden imperialist countries .
Dr Dermot Hudson
Chairman Korean Friendship Association UK
Chairman British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea
President Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK
Chairman British Solidarity Committee for Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula
Hon Secretary general International Solidarity Committee for Songun Study
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