Report Back from Juche Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the 73rd anniversary of the foundation of the Workers Party of Korea

                                            
The Juche Idea Study Group of England , UK Korean Friendship Association and Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK held a meeting, on the 13th October at 2.15pm to report back from the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the DPRK and also celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the foundation of the Workers' Party of Korea and 92nd anniversary of the Down With Imperialism Union.  The meeting was attended by members of the ASSPUK, JISGE and UK KFA as well the New Communist Party , Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain ML , progressive people ,students and members of the overseas Korean community .The meeting was honoured by the presence of representatives of the DPRK embassy in London.
    Dr Dermot Hudson opened the meeting saying that the anniversary of the foundation of the Workers' Party of Korea an event of great importance , moreover recently amazing events such as the inter-Korean summit have taken place . Dr Hudson said that recently a delegation that he was part of it had attended the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the DPRK.
   Comrade Kim Song Gi , Minister Counsellor of the DPRK Embassy addressed the meeting saying that the anniversary of the Workers Party of Korea(WPK) is a great event as the WPK is the force leading the Korean people forward . He said thanks to efforts of the WPK and respected Marshal KIM JONG UN the 5th inter-Korean summit was held . Moreover the WPK is pursuing people-orientated policies and is taking care of people's lives.
  A message of greeting from the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain ML was read out ,
 James Taylor UK KFA Communications Secretary and first time visitor to the DPRK gave an account of his visit to the meeting saying that "It was in 2004 that I first became interested in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, popularly known in the west as North Korea, and that I first heard of the Korean Friendship Association and the Juche Idea Study Group of Britain. I’d read some online biographies of President Kim Il Sung....Indeed, another thing that struck me about Pyongyang very quickly was its cleanliness. There was literally no rubbish on the streets at all. People had great respect for their city, and this is no doubt a result of the feeling of collectiveness, of working together for the benefit of each other that permeates in the DPRK. Looking out of the window at the hotel there was nearly always people sweeping the streets and tending to the grassland areas (not, as some have suggested, foraging for food or eating the grass!) We stayed at the luxurious Koryo Hotel in central Pyongyang, not far from the main rail station. Disappointingly for me we never got to travel on any mainline trains on this trip, but they could be regularly heard when going outside the hotel, again betraying the myth that the network is dead and any trains parked up are only for show. Also worth pointing out that the hotel had full power the entire time we were there. An evening stroll through Pyongyang one time showed the streets to be busy, shops and bars were mostly full and lively, even after 8pm"
   A report from Mitchell Wells KFA Scotland was read out by Dr Hudson , it said in part "Of course many other myths and lies about the DPRK were refuted during our stay. There are disabled people in Pyongyang, women do ride bikes, there is more than one tv channel, and people do sing and dance and enjoy themselves. One of the things the Koreans are keen to put across, is their pride in what they are doing. They so often say "we made this with our own efforts" or "everything we do is for us and to raise our standard of living". As I mentioned before, you will no doubt be hearing in detail from others about all the places of interest that we visited, but i will just end on this. As the American journalist Lincoln Steffens said after spending time in the early days of the Soviet Union ""I have seen the future, and it works" A lively Q and A followed with questions about industrial democracy and workers control in the DPRK , sanctions , public transport fares , and free beer rations. Dr Hudson made a speech on the anniversaries of the WPK and DIU saying that "The WPK has been leading the Korean people for over seven decades now . The WPK is a genuine mass party. It has members in all sections of society from waitresses and drivers to senior officials and generals .The symbol of the WPK is a sickle , a hammer and a Korean writing brush , this is different to other communist parties which simply had the hammer and sickle... The WPK has always maintained revolutionary and class principles, holding high the red flag of socialism even when others threw it down. Under the banner of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism the WPK is not only the leading force of the Korean people but a shock brigade of the world revolution."
  Some suggestions were made for future activities. A message to respected Marshal KIM JONG UN was adopted. Shaun Pickford Chairman of Staffordshire KFA presented the DPRK embassy with a gift of north Staffordshire oatcakes . Generous refreshments ,provided by the DPRK embassy, were served.
An exhibition of books ,publications, small souvenirs including the works of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG , Chairman KIM JONG IL and respected Marshal KIM JONG UN was held. The meeting was a successful and productive one with a good atmosphere and disciplined attitude by the audience.
 Meeting concluded at 5.15pm