Dr Dermot Hudson , chairman of the British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea, chairman of the UK Korean Friendship Association and President of the Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK has published a new book 'The Famine That Never Was - the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the ‘ Arduous March ‘ period- the myth of the famine in the DPRK exposed '.
Dr Hudson had been planning to write the book for some time , in fact ever since 1996 when he visited the DPRK in June of that year and saw for himself that there was no famine in People's Korea.At the time the Western imperialist media published reports of a massive ‘famine ‘ in the country . Various claims have been made that up to 3 million people died and even today opponents of the DPRK and Juche cry ‘but they are all starving in north Korea . Such assertions are part of the mainstream media’s campaign of vilification of People’s Korea .
Was there really a famine in the DPRK in the 1990s , what is the truth ?
Surely such a famine is not possible in People’s Korea, socialist country centred on the popular masses . In fact many famines have not been due to natural disasters but due to unequal and inequitable distribution of resources.
The myth of a severe famine and mass starvation in People’s Korea is part of the propaganda effort by the Western imperialist mass media to demonise People’s Korea. Moreover it is a form of cynical post-modernist anti-communist propaganda based on the idea that ‘socialism has failed’ and also propaganda against the Juche idea . When the reports about the alleged ‘famine in the DPRK were circulated , some self-styled ‘ Marxist-Leninists ‘ said ‘ this shows that you cannot build socialism in a small country , only in a big country ‘ others claimed that that the DPRK needed to reject Juche and go for in for ‘reform’ and ‘opening up ‘ like a certain country .Some did not try to refute the propaganda against the DPRK but instead just said we should send aid to the DPRK
Of course we do not deny that the DPRK faced a very difficult situation in the mid 1990s caused by external factors as well as some natural disasters , so the DPRK used the term 'arduous ‘march ‘ to refer to that period. However the imperialists exaggerated the difficulties of the DPRK to portray the DPRK as a very backward and underdeveloped country or as being on the verge of collapse.
The book uses eyewitness accounts as well as population statistics to refute the myth of the 'famine ' as well as detailing the achievements of People's Korea in context.
The book is a must read for all friends and supporters of People's Korea as well as those who question the narratives of the mainstream media .
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