Firstly, it
is a great honour to be here in Pyongyang , the capital of Juche Korea , for the 17th time , to mark the
107th anniversary of the great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG ,the
founder of Juche Korea .
I am grateful for the invitation to address
this seminar.
There is a
Korean saying that seeing once is better than saying a thousand times .in many countries,
they say ‘seeing is believing’. Therefore the best way of learning about the
achievements of People’s Korea and studying the Juche idea is to actually visit
the DPRK .Visiting the DPRK in person is one of the best ways of dispel the poisonous
propaganda of the imperialist mass media which demonizes and vilifies the DPRK.
Though my visits to Juche Korea , I came to know about the invincibility and
durability of Juche-based socialism and became more deeply convinced of the
correctness of the Juche idea which was authored by President KIM IL SUNG and
developed in depth by the great leader Chairman KIM JONG IL.
I became a Juche idea follower in the 1980s
but first visited the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in May 1992 and
have visited the DPRK over 16 times.
Sometimes it seems only like yesterday when I first stepped off the plane and
placed my foot on the soil of the Juche socialist motherland for the first time.
Each time I visit the DPRK I learn something new.
After a few
days in the DPRK I became more certain of the superiority of the Juche idea and
Juche-based socialism. As a Korean comrade said to me “As you can see socialism
is victorious in our country “.One night I lay awake in my comfortable
apartment and reflected on how solid and durable the DPRK,was, that it would
last for eternity that it could never collapse. I recalled visiting revisionist
Hungary in the 1980s, where bourgeois ideology and culture had infiltrated
deeply. Hungarian people had negative attitude to socialism. I could tell that socialism in Hungary would
collapse like a sandcastle which it at the end of the 1980s.Compared to Hungary
the DPRK was the real thing, a genuine socialist country centred on the popular
masses , it was socialism that had been chosen by the Korean people themselves
not something imposed from the outside or a gift or a special favour of another
country . Great President KIM IL SUNG
led the 20 year long anti-Japanese armed struggle ,liberated Korea and set
up a new people’s country in 1945. The
Juche idea, the guiding idea of the revolution and construction in Korea was
authored by President KIM IL SUNG not in a living room or a quiet library but
on the fierce battlefields of the anti-Japanese armed struggle. I learnt of the
anti-Japanese armed struggle not just by reading books but by visiting the
Korean Revolution Museum and the Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery in Mt Taesong .
Visiting the Korean Revolution Museum again
last September I learnt about the original , Juche-orientated path to socialism
that the Korean people hewed out under the leadership of President KIM IL SUNG.
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 those who 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
land was sold rather than being redistributed. 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.
Visiting the
DPRK many times I could see that imperialist propaganda against the country was
and is false .During the most difficult period of the mid 1990s when the DPRK faced recurrent natural
disasters and the blockade of the enemy, the imperialists talked about “famine
“ and “mass starvation” . Yet visiting the DPRK in 1996 we There was absolutely
no sign of any 'famine' or even queues for food. Indeed visiting the Changgwang
Kindergarten in 2008 I learnt that each child receives 5 meals a day.Each child gets 120g of rice per
day a far cry from the alleged starvation that the imperialists press claims
takes place. Similarly visiting the Pyongyang Orphans school I saw well stocked
dining room and kitchen.
The DPRK has
full employment, people are guaranteed the right to work by the Constitution
and this is underpinned by socialist planning and the independent national
economy. Taxation was abolished back in 1974 and the agricultural tax in kind
was abolished in the period 1964-1966.Housing is supplied virtually free of
charge. The Pyongyang Metro is one of the cheapest in the world with a flat
rate fare of about 2p and I am told an annual travel card costs less than 50
cents but in London it costs £2000!
Education at
all levels is free started from kindergarten right up to university level. DPRK
university students are not burdened with heavy debts, their accommodation and
clothing is supplied free of charge. Education has good quality facilities.
Health care
is also free including prescriptions and dentistry. The DPRK public health
system is a self-reliant people centred socialist healthcare system. There is
no hidden fees or costs either in DPRK hospitals() It includes the section
doctor system whereby doctors actually give check-ups to patients in their
homes and make rounds of localities. . I saw the Ryugyong Opthamlic Hospital
opened in 2016 and constructed in the space of 7 months .It is was very clean
and has a high staff ratio.
In recent
years the hostile forces have imposed sanctions on the DPRK but from my recent
visits I could see there is no effect
Going around
Pyongyang , there seemed to be economic stability . There were plenty of cars
on the roads and a lot of construction work going on .Not only were the prices
in the shops the same but the shops were
well stocked with many different products available ..People looked well
dressed .
How
is the DPRK able to maintain a stable economy , a high level of social benefits
and a high rate of construction in the face of such severe sanctions by the
imperialists .What is the secret weapon of the DPRK in combating the sanctions
? It is self-reliance . Respected Marshal KIM JONG UN defined self-reliance
as the treasured sword for prosperity. Respected
Marshal KIM JONG UN said in his New Year Address for 2019 that
"What
we are convinced of once again as we proudly review the past year when we made
rapid progress while paving our way by our own efforts with belief in our own
strength in the face of harsh economic blockade and sanctions, is the truth
that our state is fully capable of dynamically advancing along the road of
development of socialism of our own style by dint of our people's great
strength and efforts, without any external assistance or any other's help"
The DPRK's self-reliance is not an abstract
concept but a basic principle that is applied in real life. I saw this for
myself at the Ryugyong Kimchi Pickle Factory where imported machinery had been
replaced with DPRK produced machinery. Seeing the reality of the DPRK I
realised that self-reliance based on the Juche idea, is the road to true prosperity and increasing
living standards . Importing equipment means that growth does not benefit your
own country but benefits others. Money that was spent on importing foreign
machinery can instead be spent on accumulation, on improving public and
cultural services , on improving living standards. I am convinced that the
sanctions of the hostile forces will fail and that the DPRK will build
socialism even stronger and purer than before.
To conclude
visiting the DPRK many times I have become convinced of the superiority of the Juche idea and that the road charted
by President KIM IL SUNG and Chairman
KIM JONG IL ,which is today carried forward by dear respected Marshal KIM JONG
UN , is the road to final victory and an example for all humanity .
Thank for listening.
GLORY TO THE
MEMORY OF THE GREAT LEADERS COMRADES KIM IL SUNG AND KIM JONG IL !
LONG LIVE
JUCHE –BASED SOCIALISM!
LONG LIVE
DEAR RESPECTED MARSHAL KIM JONG UN !
Dr Dermot
Hudson
Chairman
Juche Idea Study Group of England
President
Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK
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