"People’s Korea The True Version" speech made by Dr Dermot Hudson KFA OD for UK to the Staffordshire and north midlands regional meeting of UK KFA

The title of today’s meeting is "People’s Korea  The True Version". We aim to refute some of the numerous lies  spread about the Democratic People’s Republic of  Korea,  in the mainstream media . Usually the media like to talk about “North Korea “ , although in fact there are actually no such country as north Korea or indeed south Korea , Korea division’s was totally artificial, basically being imposed by the US imperialists . Before 1945 there was no geographical or physical or racial division in Korea but a US army colonel took a pencil and ruler and drew a line across the map of Korea.  This was a crime of great enormity, dividing a whole people ! In my talk I will instead refer to People’s Korea or Juche Korea (Juche being the guiding ideology of People’s Korea ) or use the initials DPRK .

  Today the DPRK is the most demonised and abused country on earth with lies about the country being produced on an industrial scale. Much misinformation comes from the south Korean puppet propaganda machine which is then recycled by the Western mainstream or if you like bourgeois or imperialist media who in some cases print stories which they know are untrue. Then you have shadowy outfits and think tanks that are closely linked to the CIA and the south Korean National Intelligence Service. One example is NKNews , an internet based news service that is in fact includes on its staff former US and south Korean army officers . 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 “ . 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 multi-nationals  and wealthy right wingers in capitalist countries.

 Enough of anti-DPRK propaganda! Lets move on to the true version !  I have visited Juche Korea 14 times starting in 1992 and the last time was in August this year . During my visits to the DPRK I not only visited Pyongyang but also Panmunjom, Kaesong , Sariwon , Sinchon , Mt Myohyang , Samiyjon and Mt Paektu .

Lets look at some myths and compare them with the reality . One of these is people are starving and that there is a famine etc.  In August  this year travelling to different parts of the DPRK by road we saw lush fields of crops .  However the imperialists had been making propaganda that the DPRK was affected by drought and that there would even be  a massive famine. However during our visit it rained several times and we were told that the effects of the drought had been overcome.

In fact visiting the DPRK countryside on several occasion I came to know  came to know that the stories about crop failure and famine are untrue . Also some elements  have spread stories about " reform  " and "opening up " and even the" restoration of capitalism"  ,these too are true because  in the countryside you could see the Red flag proudly displayed on the collective farm fields.The significance of this is that ideological and political mobilisation is being used to stimulate production.

In 2015 thanks to my dependable and reliable guide Ms Ri I was able to walk about the centre of Pyongyang which not only afforded me the opportunity of fresh air and exercise but gave me the chance to see the reality of the DPRK even more deeply before. Some enemies of the DPRK say that visitors to the DPRK simply stay in hotels and go around in tourist buses  but do not really know the country . This was proved untrue . I encountered busy and bustling streets full of people. In the pedestrian underpasses there were no homeless people that you would expect to see in the capitalist countries . Indeed in London some pedestrian underpasses at night are full of homeless people , drunks , drug addicts criminals  but in Pyongyang there is no such thing. Indeed the DPRK is a highly moral and disciplined society that does not have drug addiction nor does it have pornography or the so-called "sex industry " that the capitalist countries have which distorts human values and blights lives.

 One  lie was proved false during our August 2017  visit was about military service . The Wikipedia, which some  rely on greatly , claims that the DPRK has 10 year compulsory military service . However in reality it is usually 3 years and there is no conscription because everyone wants to join the Army to fight the Yankees and defend the country , so there is no shortage of recruits for the army so no need for conscription. It is worth mentioning here that the Wikipedia was actually set up by a right wing libertarian millionaire .

Another claim made about 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 Assemby 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. The British newspaper "The Guardian" that in one year  944 people had been killed by police in the USA so far this  year ! . In the UK armed police units have been responsible for the loss of life notably innocent Brazilian electrician  Jean Charles De Menezes and Mark Duggan (which sparked the 2011 riots ).

     Visiting the newly modernised and expanded Sinchon Ri Museum in 2015 and 2017 I could see just who the real human rights abusers are ! Sinchon ri is the  fateful place where the US imperialists and local class enemies committed the crime of murdering 35383 people or one quarter of the population (can you imagine the death toll if the same thing was done in London , it would 2.2 million people dead!).It is an understatement to say  the US imperialists are just as bad as Hitler’s Nazis.

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 hair cut 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 !

What of living standards in People’s Korea ? Well education is free as as is health care and housing is virtually free of charge .Taxation was abolished in 1974.

No visit to Pyongyang is complete without  a visit to the amazing Pyongyang Metro.The cost of ride on the Pyongyang Metro is the equivalent of  0.003p(according to a google currency converter) so it is virtually free and war veterans get completely free travel.The Pyongyang Metro is  clean, free from vandalism, graffiti , capitalist advertising and dirt ! I told my guide how dirty the London Underground is and she asked why given the high fares on the Tube they cannot kept it clean ! The Pyongyang Metro is very safe as the platforms are wide and each station has 2 "security girls"  who ensure the safety of passengers. In London ticket offices are being closed and the numbers of staff reduced.

 During my last visit in August we learnt an interesting fact . In the DPRK a mobile phone costs only 0.32 dollars for 3 months with 200 minutes of calls per month! This is incredible when you compare to the high costs of mobile phones in the UK . Most people in the DPRK have mobile phones .It is a true peoples paradise.

When we visited in August there was no war hysteria despite Trump’s fire and fury threat. People in the DPRK were not bowed or intimidated by the US imperialist threats . They were going about their business quite normally and calmly . Indeed when I attended the Karoake and dinner on the last night the idea of war seemed quite surreal and far off. However the Korean people have a heightened anti-US,anti-imperialist spirit. Two days before we arrived there was a massive rally against the UNSC sanctions. New anti-US posters have gone up in the streets of Pyongyang .We also saw members of the Red Young Guards marching up Kwangbok street with Red flags and placards which called for smashing the 'secret warfare' and 'regime change' plans of the US imperialists and world reactionaries . This was a deeply inspiring sight  as it showed the revolutionary and militant nature of People's Korea guided by the great Juche idea, the idea of independence and self-reliance .

The DPRK is facing increasing threats by US imperialism which get worse nearly every day . In fact there are so many it is hard to list them all ! You had Trump’s speech at the UN in which he talked of exterminating the entire Korean nation , several rounds of UNSC and US sanctions , numerous military exercises and overflights of US nuclear bombers.

On the 21^st of November there was another twist in the anti-DPRK vendetta of US imperialism.  Fascist warmongering Trump announced that the DPRK had been re listed as so-called "state of sponsor of terrorism ". At the same time the Trump regime slapped yet more sanctions on the DPRK (surely they have run out of targets to sanction !)  The DPRK had previously been on the list of "state sponsors of terrorism " but have been removed in October  2008 after the DPRK had demolished a a cooling tower of a nuclear power station as part of an agreement under the  6 party talks. The criteria for deciding that a country is a "state sponsor of terrorism " is extremely subjective and hazy , it is basically a way for the US imperialists to say "We do not like you" . Some countries were removed from the list after submitting to the will of the US imperialists .

  The re-listing of the DPRK as a so-called "state sponsor of terrorism " is a prime example massive hypocrisy and double and triple standards by the US imperialists . It is the US that is the biggest and No 1 terrorist state in the world. It is the US that created ISIS in order to destablise Syria and have created terrorist gangs in many countries . Since the end of the second world war the US has carried out over 100 coups in different countries as well as assassinations such as those of Patrice Lumumba and Salvador Allende not to mention failed assassination attempts on Fidel Castro. The US also militarily intervened in many countries throughout the world.

    The US has also had a number of terrorist incidents within its own borders . Basically as the DPRK Foreign Ministry says "  The U.S., the kingpin of all kinds of terrorism who cannot even prevent terror in its own territory, is acting like an "international judge on terrorism" while attaching or removing the label of "state sponsor of terrorism" on sovereign countries. This is clearly an absurdity and a mockery to the world peace and security."

    The DPRK has absolutely nothing to do with terrorism . This is because of the nature of its social system . The DPRK has never tried to impose its ideas on other countries unlike the US and other imperialists and big power-chauvinists .

   The re listing of the DPRK as a so-called "state sponsor of terrorism " is an attack on the ideology and system of the DPRK . It is basically an attempt to stifle the Juche-based socialist system.

 However guided by the great Juche Idea , the Korean people do not care whether the US lists them as a "state sponsor of terrorism " or not . It will smash any additional sanctions with the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance and the self-development first idea !

  Moreover the DPRK will more fully implement the line of developing the economy and nuclear force in parallel . The US will pay for its rash provocation of relisting the DPRK as a "state sponsor of terrorism "

It is time to take a real stand and defend People's Korea from the threat of US aggression . The US is quite openly threatening the DPRK with annihilation , with being "eliminated " from the face of the globe .

Why should you defend the DPRK ? Because it 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 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

It is a society free from conflict and division. Free from crime and terrorism.

The DPRK is a genuine socialist country. Despite the onslaught of revisionism and anti-socialism the DPRK is maintaining socialist principles. Moreover despite 60 years of sanctions and blockade plus natural disaster 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.

We in the UK Korean Friendship Association, which is part of the Korean Friendship Association with 17,000 members worldwide , are the most active consistent and active defenders of People’s Korea in the UK . No ifs and buts , we do what is says on the tin and “Defend  the D  P R Korea “ whether it is on the internet, facebook , on the streets and even the BBC ! We do not make half-hearted statements. We do not tolerate two-faced fake friends of the DPRK in our ranks but wholeheartedly support the DPRK and its socialist system and its right to independence . We appeal to you to join us.