Wednesday 31 July 2019

US defeat in Korea-yesterday and today -speech by Dr Dermot Hudson given to the meeting of the ASSPUK, JISGE and UK KFA 27.07.2019

                                                       


Nearly one month ago Trump made an unprecedented gesture and became the first US president to actually set foot in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , a country that the US has never recognised diplomatically and has imposed massive sanctions against. Trump made this gesture at a very significant place , Panmunjom . This was the place where the US 66 years ago on this victory signed the Korean Armistice Agreement , acknowledging the military defeat and failure of the US in the Korean War or as it is known in the DPRK , the Fatherland Liberation War. It can be said that maybe Trump was recognising the political defeat of the US in Korea, some 66 years after the US acknowledged its military defeat . On July 27th 1953 US general Mark Clark signed the armistice agreement with the DPRK basically ceasing hostilities ( it should be noted that this was a ceasefire not a permanent peace treaty) , Clark admitted rather wearily that “"In carrying out the instructions of my government, I gained the unenviable distinction of being the first United States commander in history to sign an armistice without victory.". Similary Trumps visit to Panmunjom was one of desperation. The meeting was held at Trump's request. The DPRK did not request it . No one can say that the DPRK entered into talks because of sanctions . Indeed under the banner of self-reliance the DPRK is winning victory after victory against the sanctions .
It is clear that Trump is scared by the idea that should the dialogue process fail , the DPRK will return to nuclear tests and ICBM tests . This has been clarified by a recent DPRK Foreign Ministry statement. Trump had staked his reputation on the fact that the DPRK has not carried out nuclear or ICBM tests , he knows as shown as a DPRK ICBM blasts off from the launchpad , then it is the end for him !
The meeting at Panmunjom was brought about by the DPRK's nuclear deterrent and the Songun policy! The Songun policy and nuclear deterrence of the DPRK have been proved correct . What happened on June 30th was only possible due to the Songun policy of the DPRK and its development of nuclear weapons . Those who whinged and whined about the DPRK developing nuclear weapons should do well to consider that , had the DPRK not developed nuclear weapons , the Korean peninsula would now be a war zone .
Today we will look at the first time the US was defeated in Korea.It is not the purpose of this speech to give a blow by blow account of the Fatherland Liberation War nor to explain who started the war , you may find an excellent account of this in the book 'The US imperialists Started the Korean War ' .Nor I am going to detail the atrocities of the US in the war which saw the deaths of 4.2 million people and the US use of biological and chemical weapons, these are well documented. Instead I will talk about how the DPRK defeated the US .
he Fatherland Liberation War was a truly herculean and titanic struggle which saw the Korean people defeat US imperialism for the first time in world history. It was a David and Goliath Struggle.The US threw huge armed forces into the war including those armed forces of its satellite countries which included Britain. British men were basically cannon fodder for US imperialism . It is significant that the UK found itself fighting not only on the same side as US imperialism but with Apartheid South Africa, Colombia of the death squads, fascist Greece , Haile Selaissie's Ethiopia and other very reactionary regimes against an independent , progressive ,democratic and anti-imperialist government . Thus the Korean war was a totally reactionary one that held back the liberation struggle of the Korean people and the reunification of Korea.
Indeed the British role in Korea for the past 150 years has been a most shameful one. It was Britain that secretly helped Japan to invade Korea and colonise Korea.
When the war broke out on the 25 June 1950 , the odds against young People's Korea surviving let alone defeating US imperialism seemed very slim indeed because the US had a population more than 20 times the size of the DPRK's and nearly 100 times the size of the DPRK in terms of landmass. Moreover the US had waged over a 100 wars of aggression and had emerged as the victor in the Second World War . As part of the allied forces the US had seen off Imperial Japan , Nazi Germany and fascist Italy. The US had emerged as the boss of world imperialism . It had a huge military machine and a global empire of military bases across the world .The US was and is the bulwark of modern colonialism, international gendarme and strangler of independence and national liberation .On top of this the DPRK not only to had to fight against the US but also the forces of the south Korean puppets , armies from 15 satellite countries of the US and the Japanese fighting secretly in Korea wearing the uniforms of the south Korean puppet army .
The Korean people led by the great revolutionary leader and national hero Marshal KIM IL SUNG, a true military strategic genius and ever-victorious iron-willed brilliant commander fought a fierce anti- imperialist, anti- US struggle against US imperialism and the allied forces of international reaction. It was a fierce class struggle against the enemies of the people. The US fought a truly racist and genocidal war. The order of the US commanders was to shoot everything in white and most Korean civilians wore white. It was no coincidence that George Lincoln Rockwell the founder and leader of the American Nazi Party served as a lieutenant commander in the US imperialist forces during the war.
The Fatherland Liberation War was a just national liberation war as well as a fierce anti-US, anti-imperialist struggle .It was a sacred war for Korean reunification .At the same time was a war to defend the independence and freedom of the Korean people . Also it was a war to defend peace and security and the eastern outpost of the socialist camp.
How could a small country like People's Korea fight against the US and its puppets and vassals? The answer was in the powerful revolutionary leadership of Marshal KIM IL SUNG , the Juche idea and the Songun idea as well as the heroic self-sacrificing spirit of the Korean people and the young Korean People's Army. The Korean people fought in the spirit of self-reliance and fortitude guided by the Juche .The great revolutionary leader Marshal KIM IL SUNG stated“We must solve our problems no matter who is helping us and what help we get......Victory must be won by our strength” The efforts of the Korean people that were primary in defeating the US imperialist aggressors.
Some people like to draw attention to the internationalist assistance given to the Korean and in particular point to China and the USSR. Of course it is true that such assistance was given and not just by big countries but by all socialist countries.In the capitalist countries the working class and revolutionary movement opposed the war by holding demonstrations and strikes. In the UK the Communist Party of Great Britain and “Daily Worker “ opposed the war , as did some Labour MPs to their credit,for example the famous Welsh MP S O Davies. Even in the US there were protests against the war. In the oppressed colonial countries the revolutionary peoples intensified their anti-imperialist struggles. In particular the revolutionary forces of Malaya and Thailand stepped up their armed struggle. However the best internationalist aid and assistance has no effect unless the revolutionary forces of a given unite and wage a powerful struggle. History knows many examples of revolutions that were given unstinting assistance but came to nothing because the internal revolutionary forces were not strong enough and the quality of leadership was lacking.
The great leader comrade KIM IL SUNG always stressed that the outcome of war is not determined by weapons alone but the ideology of those holding the weapons.
During the Fatherland Liberation War totally new tactics based on the Juche Idea were applied. For example the Korean People’s Army developed tunnel warfare, a new concept. An article by overseas Korean writer Han Ho Suk wrote that “North Korea's expertise in digging tunnels for warfare was demonstrated during the Vietnam War. North Korea sent about 100 tunnel warfare experts to Vietnam to help dig the 250 km tunnels for the North Vietnamese and Viet Gong troops in South Vietnam. The tunnels were instrumental in the Vietnamese victor
On the 25th June 1950 at dawn guns boomed and jets of flame shot out . The south Korean puppets intruded several kilometres deep into the territory of People' Korea. The south Korean puppet army, under the direct command of the US Military Advisory Group , had launched an armed invasion all along the 38th parallel on a preconceived war plan. The south Korean puppets started their aggression against the DPRK over the whole length of the 38th parallel, intruding one-two kilome­tres deep in the directions of Haeju, Kumchon and Cholwon. The south Korean puppets bragged their radio they had captured Haeju(which categorically disproves the account of US, Western and south Korean historians the DPRK attacked first) . The destiny of the DPRK was hanging in the balance, what could it do against the onslaught of the south Korean puppets who were backed by the biggest military power in history ? The great leader Marshal KIM IL SUNG called meeting of the Cabinet of the DPRK and demanded that the south Korean puppets stop their aggression at once . The south Korean puppets refused to do so . So the great leader Marshal KIM IL SUNG ,declaring that the Yankees had misjudged the Koreans, ordered the Korean People's Army and Korean Peoples Security Forces to go over to an immediate counter-offensive.
Thus the KPA and KPSF went over to an immediate counter-offensive pushing the south Korean puppets back .This was something unprecedented in the history of warfare! . Generally when a state is attacked or invaded by another state it takes some time to even adopt a defensive posture to resist the aggression. However thanks to the original Juche-orientated revolutionary military thought and strategy the forces of the DPRK were able to launch a decisive counter-offensive after halting the south Korean puppets in their tracks and allowing them no breathing space.
The great leader Marshal KIM IL SUNG had accumulated precious experience during the 15 year long armed struggle against the Japanese imperialists. He developed original Juche-orientated military tactics, the like of which had never been seen before.
On the third day of the war , 28 June, Seoul the south Korean puppet capital was liberated by the KPA .This was disastrous for the south Korean puppets who had orgininally boasted of "having breakfast in Haeju, lunch in Pyongyang and dinner in Sinuiju" . This had not happened, instead the victorious DPRK wiped out the south Korean puppet forces and liberated south Korea,. The hated colonial reactionary ruling machines were smashed and land was distributed to the peasants free of charge. The US started to heavily bomb all of Korea and drew into the war forces from some satellite countries. This did not stop the advance of the Juche-orientated Korean People's Army commanded by the great leader Marshal KIM IL SUNG. The KPA smashed the Yankees at Osan .Torpedo boats of the KPA Navy sunk US cruisers and destroyers.
The great leader Marshal KIM IL SUNG personally commanded the Taejon liberation battle.I. The U.S. 24th division was totally destroyed in the Taejon battle on July 20, that was the 20th day after its arrival in south Korea. A young People's Army took prisoner Dean himself. He was the first division commander of U.S. imperialist aggression forces to be taken prisoner in the Korean War. This was a great feat of the heroic Korean People's Army to have captured a Yankee general.
In the first stage of the war the Korean People's Army liberated 90 per cent of the territory of south Korea and 92 of the population. A truly remarkable accomplishment that was achieved by the self-reliant revolutionary armed forces of People's Korea under the command of the great leader Marshal KIM IL SUNG .Visiting the Fatherland Liberation Museum this year we were able to see the section of the Museum which detailed the liberation of Seoul in June 1950 including the freeing of political prisoners being held by the south Korean fascist puppet regime.
The US threw into the war unprecedented numbers of troops and amounts of materials. In fact 73 million tons of war materials were used in the war .The war raged on until July 27th 1953 when the US kneeled down and signed the Armistice Agreement.
During the three-year long Fatherland Liberation War, the U.S. imperialists lost over 1,567,000 men, including more than 405,000 of their own armed forces, and an enormous amount of combat equipment and war supplies, including over 12,200 aircraft, more than 560 warships and ships, over 3,200 tanks and armoured vehicles of different types, more than 13,350 trucks and 7,690 artillery pieces of various types. The loss suffered by the US imperialists was nearly 2.3 times greater than what they had suffered in the four years of the Pacific War during World War II. Even official US statistics showed during each of the three years of the Korean War they lost double the number of troops lost in each year of the Vietnam war.
The right wing and extremely anti-communist US military historian Bevin Alexander , who himself had been a US army officer during the Korean War, referred to the Fatherland Liberation War as being ‘the first war we lost’
Former US State of Secretary Marshall said that “the myth was blown away. We are not a strong country as others thought. The infamous Senator J R McCarthy admitted “we suffered a serious defeat in Korea “ . McCarthy’s remark prompts me to think whether Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were really executed(on the 19 of June 1953 a month before the US defeat) as scapegoats for the US defeat in the Fatherland Liberation War .As the great leader generalissimo KIM IL SUNG said “In this great struggle our people fought determinedly as one in mind under the correct leadership of the party and government and thereby withstood the harsh trials of war honourably and won a historic victory inflicting an ignominious defeat on US imperialism and its running dogs “
The US imperialists also suffered irretrievable political and moral defeats. It was a great victory for the Korean people and opened up a new era of anti-US, anti-imperialist struggle. Indeed Korea was the war before Vietnam !. The executive secretariat of the Organisation of Solidarity with the People’s of Asia, Africa and Latin America said on the 19th of June 1968 “ under the superb leadership of the Marshal KIM IL SUNG the People’s Army and the people of Korea who inherited the traditions of the glorious anti-Japanese armed struggle fought heroically and defeated US Imperialism in the defence of liberty of the fatherland and the gains of the revolution, making a great contribution in the anti-imperialist national-liberation struggle of the peoples throughout the world and the struggle for peace in Asia and the world.
This historic victory of the Korean people has shown that no force on earth can ever bring to their knees a people who fight for the independence and liberty of their country
There can no doubt that he victory in the Fatherland Liberation War was due to the outstanding an brilliant commanding art of the great leader Generalissimo KIM IL SUNG , a military strategic genius .


The US and Donald Trump should study the history of the US defeat in Korea and draw the lesson from it and end their hostile anti-DPRK policy totally , otherwise an even greater defeat is staring them in the face !

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