The Korean Revolution Museum is an imposing building on the Mansu Hil that was first constructed in 1972 . In front of the museum stand ,looking out over the thriving and pulsating realities of thriving Pyongyang city ,the statues of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG and the great leader comrade KIM JONG IL .The Museum is in a direct line with the Party Foundation Monument on the east side of Pyongyang .It has a floor area of over 50,000 square metres. The museum is so big that to go around all of it would take days if not weeks .
The interior of the Korean Revolution Museum has ornate marble floors and columns .It is absolutely spotlessly clean .Indeed the whole area around the museum is amazingly clean and pristine , such as a contrast to the dirty and greasy streets of central London which are strewn with fast food wrappers. You could almost eat your lunch on the ground in Pyongyang. The cleanliness of the area reflects the great pride that the Korean people take in the museum.
In the front part of the museum there were the the waxwork statues of the great leader comrade
KIM IL SUNG and Chairman KIM JONG IL against the background of Mt Paektu. They looked amazingly lifelike .We paid our respects to them.
This time we were shown around the halls which depicted the building of the new people's country and the foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea . We had an excellent guide from the Museum and our guide comrade Lee translated for us . We learnt about the liberation of Korea from Japanese imperialist rule which was achieved by the struggle of the guerillas led by the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG .
We went around the section about the land reform which was carried out in March 1946. After Korea was liberated from Japanese imperialist colonialist rule , Comrade KIM IL SUNG set about the work of carrying out deep and thorough going democratic reforms . Number one on the list was
the land reform .The land question had existed for centuries and still exists in many countries of the world .The question is a simple one but some do not dare to solve it ! . It is basically that that there is uneven distribution of land and the those that work the land do not own it. Comrade KIM IL SUNG solved this is a simple and direct way by redistributing the land of landlords over 5 hectares to the toiling farmers free of charge without paying compensation to the landlords.This was unique in the world , I read how the other socialist countries actually paid some compensation to the former landlords . In some neo-colonial countries the so-called "willing buyer , willing seller " principle was enforced meaning in effect no land reform was carried out . In the UK today it is a fact that most of the land is owned by big landowners, monopoly capitalist corporations and property companies and banks .Basically comrade KIM IL SUNG smashed feudalism and landlordism into the ground !
Next we learnt about the nationalisation of basic industries, which ensured national ownership and democratic control of industries, and the carrying out of other reforms such as the Law on Sexual Equality which freed women from centuries and centuries of feudal oppression and also abolished prostitution .I can truthfully and honestly say that I have never seen a prostitute in the DPRK ! Women have always played an important role in the DPRK .I noticed the picture of Ho Jong Suk who was a member of the first government of the DPRK .There was a whole room devoted to the revolutionary exploits of Madame KIM JONG SUK, the mother of Korea and immortal anti-Japanese revolutionary heroine who played a key role in the building of the new Korea as well as the liberation of women such as by setting up the Korean Democratic Women's' Union, a mass organisation of Korean women. Regrettably Madame KIM JONG SUK passed in September 1949 at an early age .There were pictures of her funeral.
The guide told us about how the name of the DPRK was chosen .Comrade KIM IL SUNG had
proposed the title " Democratic People's Republic of Korea " but some counter-revolutionary evil factionalists opposed it saying that no other country had such a title , insisting that it should be called either a "Democratic Republic "or " People's Republic ". Comrade KIM IL SUNG pointed out that the word people must be included in the state title to reflect the people-orientated nature of the state.
Comrade KIM IL SUNG's arguments won the day and the unique title of 'Democratic People's Republic of Korea ' was adopted .The title is a unique one and reflects the truly unique nature
of the DPRK .
It should always be emphasised that the DPRK is a unique and independent state which is it's own master and is not a puppet of anyone else nor a creation or a copy of another country . Too many on the British left see the DPRK as in some way beholden to the USSR or China or both or as being
a creation of those countries whereas in fact the DPRK is the fruit of the Korean people's struggle
and the creation of the hands of the Korean people led and guided by the great leader comrade
KIM IL SUNG.
Another unique line of the DPRK that was established early on was the line of the independent national economy .We looked around the room detailing the independent national economy and how the DPRK constructed socialism on the ruins of war . The DPRK chose the road of self-reliance rejecting the great power chauvinists We also learnt about the creation of the self-reliant Juche-based munitions industry in the DPRK . From the early days the DPRK was able to produce its own tommy guns ,rifles and mortars.
Significantly , we learnt about the division of Korea due to the US imperialists and also the Fatherland Liberation War provoked the US imperialists . The guide and translator did not mince
words when describing the US imperialists and the damage they have done to Korea. Today US sanctions and blockades still remain in force obstructing the efforts of the Korean people to build socialism.
At the end our delegation had a picture taken in front of the Museum with the statues of the
great leaders comrade KIM IL SUNG and KIM JONG IL in the background.
Dr Dermot Hudson
President Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK
Chairman Juche Idea Study Group of England
Official Delegate KFA for UK , Chairman UK Korean Friendship Association.
Chairman British Solidarity Committee For Peace and Reunification on the Korean Peninsula.
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