"People's Korea Today " issue 49 (January 2025)

 

Nâzım Hikmet friend of People’s Korea.

January 15th is the 123rd anniversary of the famous Turkish poet and writer Nâzım Hikmet who was a great friend of the Korean people . When the US imperialists started the Korean War (or Fatherland Liberation War ) Nâzım Hikmet campaigned against it even though he was suffering the repression of the Turkish fascist regime and later forced into exile .Turkey , a vassal state of US imperialism sent troops to fight against the Korean people on behalf of the American imperialists, Nazim wrote a poem calling for Turkish soldiers to surrender to the DPRK ,  a truly revolutionary action.

Who are you going to kill, Ahmet?

Your own yearning, which was realized in this land?

Does it rain in Korea?

Does the child cry under the rain

    over the dead body of his mother

   whose house you have burnt? 

Or don’t you see this anymore?

Or did you get used to it?

[…]

Ahmet, my brother

Surrender to your brothers

    [from “Letter” 1952]

The Turkish reactionaries decided t o deprive the poet in exile of his citizenship, after this poem was thrown from Korean airplanes onto the Turkish troops during a battle. His books were already forbidden by that time. He would never live to see his books republished in Turkey.

Nâzım Hikmet had fought in the Turkish War of independence in the 1920s . He had become a supporter of socialism and the new born USSR . The Turkish fascist regime imprisoned him many times for his poetry . Eventually he left Turkey and went into exile in the USSR where he died in 1963.

Report of Meeting of the British Group For the Study of the Juche Idea on the Theme of” Political Integrity and Juche” Held on Monday 6th of January 2025 at 1830 hours .

 The British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea held an online meeting on the theme of “ Political Integrity and Juche “ on Monday 6th of January at 1830 hours via Skype with the participation of members from London and Staffordshire as well as guests from KFA Germany and the People’s Korea Initiative of Poland .

Introducing the meeting , Dr Dermot Hudson ,chairman of the British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea said that the concept of political integrity is central to the Juche idea and that comrade KIM JONG IL had written about the subject a great deal in the early and mid 1980s.

 The secretary general of the British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea explained that  “Man, the social being (in the non-gender sense) has two life forms, according to the Juche Idea, one is physical existence and the other is social-political life. With the establishment of the Juche view on the purpose of life within the community the scientific approach to the

essence of man, the social being whose essence is determined by his/her social-political integrity.

Social-political integrity is a historically constructed notion, that develops with the needs of the era .The path to attain independence from all natural and social fetters can be realized through the agency of ideological consciousness and creativity. Having these qualities, can man, the

social being, achieve the position of master of the world. In class based societies, such as the feudal and capitalist social systems, the embodiments of social-political integrity are actively suppressed by the ruling class employing various means.A swell, by coercive methods, the

governing elites in capitalist societies use ideological means such as individualism, hedonism,consumerism and disillusionment.The political apathy experienced among the population in countries like Britain is the antithesis of the empowering value of social-political integrity.As can

be noted by the decadence and dysfunctionality of bourgeois society in its stages of decay,social-political integrity can be the key to the enlightenment of a better future worthy of the working masses. Only in socialist and communist societies can political integrity be fully realized, where social wealth and social relations serves the interests of the community.”

The secretary general concluded that “The Juche Idea brought to philosophical attention the concept of social-political integrity. Where

other ideologies have neglected this category, the Juche philosophy has brought the conception of social-political integrity to the forefront of revolutionary ideology. Having social-political integrity has a philosophical category, the Juche Idea once again demonstrates its creativity. So

lets increase our studies of the Juche Idea”

Dr Hudson said that true socio-political integrity had been realised in People’s Korea , the land of Juche . Every Korean is a member of a mass organisation. In People’s Korea there is single-hearted unity around the leader ,masses and party .There are no riots in the DPRK.

The Chairman of KFA Germany said that among the socialist countries the DPRK is the only one to have realised true socio-political integrity and the masses take part in political life as masters .

The online meeting concluded at 1950 hours GMT.

BGSJI and KFA UK on the 4th anniversary of the election of respected Marshal KIM JONG UN as General Secretary of the WPK

                                              BRITISH GROUP FOR THE STUDY OF THE JUCHE IDEA

 email juche007@yahoo.co.uk   
                                                  

London 11th January 2025
   The Association For the Study of Songun Politics UK(ASSPUK), the  British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea(BGSJI), the  Korean Friendship Association of the UK and the British Solidarity Committee for Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula(BSCPRKP)  issued the following joint statement on the 4th anniversary of the election of respected Marshal KIM JONG UN as General Secretary of the Workers Party of Korea by the 8th Congress of the Workers Party of Korea (WPK )which was on the 10th of January 

   Four  years have now passed since the historic 8th Congress of the WPK  elected respected Marshal  KIM JONG UN as General Secretary of the WPK on the 10th of January 2021,which placed at the head of the vanguard and supreme general staff of the Korean revolution.The election of respected Marshal KIM JONG UN as general secretary of the WPK reflected the unanimous will and desire of all members of the WPK and the entire Korean people to have him as the head of the Party and the Korean people. It was a great manifestation of the single-hearted unity of the Korean people around the Party and leader as well as at the same time a reflection of the great trust and faith of the Korean people in respected Marshal KIM JONG UN as the supreme leader of the Korean revolution.

During the past few years general secretary respected comrade KIM JONG UN has led the Korean people along the straight road of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, the great and true road of Juche. Respected Marshal KIM JONG UN has worked hard to implement the decisions of the 8th Congress of the WPK. He has led the struggle for socialist construction and initiated many projects. He has worked to continuously improve the living standards of the Korean people. A programme of socialist rural construction has been embarked upon and the new Regional 20 x 10 policy has been implemented.Moreover, he has organised responsible work to resolutely smash anti-socialist and non-socialist behaviours. Also, respected Marshal KIM JONG UN wisely led the work of building up national defence..

We are convinced that with respected Marshal KIM JONG UN at the helm of the Party, new and greater victories will be achieved. We are sure that greater successes will be made in implementing the decisions of the 11th Plenum of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea.

Glory to General Secretary respected Marshal KIM JONG UN .

BGSJI
KFA UK

                        

BGSJI and KFA UK support the 11th plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea .

 BRITISH GROUP FOR THE STUDY OF THE JUCHE IDEA 

 email juche007@yahoo.co.uk   
                                                

       London 11th  January 2025

 The  British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea(BGSJI), the  Korean Friendship Association UK (KFA UK)  issued the following joint statement  in support of the 11th plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea which was held from 23rd December to 27th of December 2024;

The 11th plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea took place from the 23rd of December 2024 to 27th of December 2024 under the guidance of respected Marshal KIM JONG UN , the general secretary of the Workers Party of Korea ,

As the Korean Central News Agency reported "The noble idea and mature leadership ability of the great Workers' Party of Korea, which is determined to bring earlier the final completion of the sacred revolutionary cause of Juche under the uplifted banner of the people-first principle, are bringing a great change and vigorous leap forward in all fields of state building, making each year of this land a brilliant peak of success and victory in the history."

The meeting reviewed the great achievements of the past year . These achievements included a bumper harvest in agriculture as well as the construction of 10 000 flats in the Hwasong area of Pyongyang. In industry the production plans were fulfilled in the following sectors ; 127 percent for rolled steel, 106 percent for nonferrous metals, 103 percent for nitrogenous fertilizer, 101 percent for electricity, 110 percent for coal, 101 percent for cement. Grain production increased by 7 per cent . The production of timber and aquatic products also increased .Flood damaged areas were rehabilitated.   These achievements were testimony to the correctness of the leadership of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea .

At the plenary meeting a course for the coming year was charted ;there will be further increases in industrial production and the completion of 50,000 new flats in Pyongyang will be wound up .There should be further growth in agriculture . Also there should be further improvements in health and education .

In his concluding speech respected Marshal KIM JONG UN turned his attention to the international situation and the security environment around the Korean peninsula . Marshal KIM JONG UN clarified that " The U.S. is the most reactionary state that regards anti-communism as its invariable state policy, the alliance between the U.S., Japan and ROK has expanded into a nuclear military bloc for aggression, and the ROK has turned into an out-and-out anti-communist outpost of the U.S "

The line of the toughest anti-U.S. counteraction was clarified and put forward . This shows that the DPRK has no illusions about US imperialism and does not place any hope on negotiations with the incoming US president .

The historic 11th plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers Party has put forward an excellent blueprint for further growth and prosperity under the banner of self-reliance as well as a strong anti-US ,anti-south Korean puppet line . We applaud the decisions of the 11th plenary meeting of the 8th central committee of the Workers Party believing that they will further strengthen Juche socialism and provide a further impetus to the struggle against US imperialism .

Long Live the Workers Party of Korea !
Long Live People's Korea !
Long live Juche !

BGSJI

KFA UK

                     

BGSJI and KFA UK on the 66th anniversary of the Worker-Peasant Red Guard of the DPRK

   

BRITISH GROUP FOR THE STUDY OF THE JUCHE IDEA 

 email juche007@yahoo.co.uk   
                                                

       

                     

London 11th  January 2025
 The  British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea(BGSJI), the  Korean Friendship Association UK (KFA UK)  issued the following joint statement on the occasion of the  66th  anniversary of the foundation of the Worker-Peasant Red Guard :

It was on the 14th of January 1959 that the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung founded the Worker-Peasant Red Guards, a self-defensive volunteer militia force. The Worker-Peasant Red Guards inherited the tradition of the anti-Japanese armed struggle. It is an embodiment of the idea of the all-people in-depth defence system. The WPRG are organised at factories, industrial enterprises, farms and localities. The WPRG is the militant armed force of the people's democratic dictatorship and basically armed proletarians.

                                                                            

                               

                      

  The working people of the DPRK are very aware  of the truth that they themselves should defend their Republic, the cradle of happiness and Juche paradise, with arms in their hands, the Korean people grasped the idea of arms and Juche-oriented method of war of the Workers' Party of Korea and trained themselves to acquire marksmanship of never missing the target, though they found their days so full with production and construction, holding aloft the militant slogan "Rifle in one hand and hammer or sickle in the other!"
                                  

                                  
                          

Throughout its history, the Worker-Peasant Red Guards have smashed at every step the US imperialists reckless moves to unleash a new war and laid a solid foundation for the building of a prosperous and powerful nation in the flames of creation and innovation in revolutionary soldier spirit, standing side by side with the People's Army for the defence of independence and socialism. In September 2023 the Worker-Peasant Red Guard staged a parade for the 75th anniversary of  the foundation of the DPRK which showed both the strength of the Worker-Peasant Red Guard and its modern weaponry.
                        
     The great leader generalissimo Kim Il Sung and the great leader generalissimo Kim Jong Il paid great attention to building up the Worker-Peasant Red Guard into a powerful revolutionary militia force. Now the people's defence forces of Korea are giving fuller scope to the might of the DPRK as a military power. The Worker-Peasant Red Guard of the DPRK is a fine example of an anti-imperialist popular militia force and a revolutionary proletarian fighting force which is an inspiration to the revolutionary peoples of the world.
                                                        

 Today the Worker-Peasant Red Guards, under the command of respected Marshal Kim Jong Un, an ever-victorious iron-willed brilliant commander,  stand ready to defend their homes and workplaces from US imperialist attack thereby contributing to peace and security on the Korean peninsula
      We salute the heroic men and women of the Worker-Peasant Red Guard of the DPRK!

BGSJI
KFA UK

The Difference between London and Pyongyang .

 The Difference between London and Pyongyang .

When I visited Pyongyang the capital of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK ) or People’s Korea in April this year I was able to see the newly built Hwasong Street consisting of very modern good quality apartment blocks which was given free of charge to people . Now some people may say that London too has many new buildings  and good quality flats.

                            

                                              

However , there are very big differences . For a start in People’s Korea flats are given to people free of charge . In London ,for example a new 2 bedroom in the Haydon, Aldgate central London is being marketed for £1,650,000 , well out of the reach of not only workers but also the middle class . Or to rent a 2 bedroom  flat in central London can be anything from £2,000 per month to £15-16,000 per month  ! Again this is well out of the pocket of the majority of the population .This difference is itself stunning .

However the differences between London and Pyongyang are even more profound . In London many ordinary people have been forced out of central London by the high property prices and rents , many have moved into the suburbs . Even in the suburbs of London property prices and rents are high for example £1,600 per month for a 2 bedroom flat in Zone 4 (which would mean an expensive commute into the centre of London). Many working people have even moved out of London . In my old job , it was not unknown for staff to live in Kent or Hampshire and commute into London from there ,spending hours and hours each day travelling . Actual ‘social cleansing ‘ and ‘gentrification ‘ has taken place in London ,for example a big social housing estate at Elephant and Castle was demolished to make way for expensive private flats . In Pyongyang , a socialist city , a city of workers , working people actually live in the centre of the city,

When the new riverside housing development at Ryongru-dong in Pyongyang was commissioned in 2022 , residents included trolleybus drivers and street cleaners .Ordinary workers can be found in the centre of Pyongyang .Visiting the Pyongyang Kim Jong Suk textile Mill in October 2019. The Pyongyang Kim Jong Suk Textile Mill is actually near to the centre of Pyongyang . We were told that  there was a  blocks of flats behind the factory for workers as well as a hostel on site.So there was no need for workers to commute into work.

                       

It can be added that there is yet another difference between London and Pyongyang .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.

So Pyongyang is not a ‘city of the elite’ as hack writers  claim but a city of workers , a city of ordinary people.

Dr Dermot Hudson

(General Chairman KFA UK and deputy editor /reviewer PKT )