Solidarity is stronger than nuclear bombs

“THE WORLD is full of distorted information about Korea,” Comrade Jong In Song from the Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea told anorth London seminar last Saturday.
The seminar was organised by the Friends of Korea coordinating committee and chaired by Harpal Brar with a platform that included Andy Brooks of the New Communist Party, Michael Chant of the RCPB (ML); Godfrey Kramer of the CPGB (ML) and Dermot Hudson from the British Juche Society.
And it took place against a background of rising threats from the United States concerning DPRK plans to test a missile.Comrade Jong continued: “Why are the Americans currently attacking Korea?”he asked.
“Today is the 56th anniversary of the start of the US war against Korea –the Fatherland Liberation War. Why do we still commemorate this year? Andwhy is the western press still hostile to the DPRK?”
Comrade Jong gave a detailed account of the events leading up to the war that began in 1950. This was just five years after the Korean people, led by Kim Il Sung had thrown out the Japanese imperialist occupation forces.
During its long occupation of the Korean peninsula, Japan had suppressed culture, education and economic development, leaving the Koreans without a functioning infrastructure.
In 1945 the end of the Second World War saw Soviet troops in the north of Korea and Americans in the south. This division was supposed to betemporary. Korea was one of the victor nations in the battle against fascist Japan and expected to be united and left to enjoy the peace.
Comrade Jong explained why the first item on the agenda for the new DPRK government in 1948 was the production of pencils. Getting the economy on its feet was not possible without a mass literacy campaign to educate the people– hence the need for pencils.
The Americans accused the North Koreans of invading the south in 1950 but that was a ridiculous claim to make against a country only two years old, struggling to establish an economy and an infrastructure.
When they launched their attack, the Americans used one third of their total ground forces, one fifth of their air force, their entire Pacificfleet and contingents from 15 satellite countries, totalling in excess oftwo million troops – all against the tiny DPRK.
One week before the attack, US statesman John Foster Dulles had visited theUS troops in the south of Korea to approve plans for the invasion, which they boasted would take only one day.
They spoke of breakfast in Kaesong, lunch in Pyongyang and supper at the Chinese border. They had three alternative plans: plan A was to occupy the whole Korean peninsula and use it as a US base; plan B was to continue over the border and invade the young People’s Republic of China and plan C was to carry on over the north-eastern border to invade Siberia.
At the time the US alone had atomic weapons and Washington hawks were keen to make the most of this advantage as quickly as possible with a dash for world domination and the defeat of world socialism.
But the American plans were not to be because the tiny nation, the DPRK, led by Kim Il Sung, did not give way and let the imperialists pass. Instead they put up the mightiest resistance.
What they lacked in weapons and technology they made up for in sheer courage and commitment to defend their homeland – and ingenuity in finding new ways to wage a partisan war against the enemy.
The war ended in 1953 with an armistice – not a peace treaty – signed between the DPRK and the Americans, which has left the country divided by the American occupation of the south and still technically in an unfinished war.
The terms of the treaty specified that a peace conference was to be established within three months to negotiate the terms of the peaceful reunification of Korea. But the US reneged on this and built a huge wall dividing the country in half.
Now the US imperialists still aim to conquer the world. “They try to disarm us,” said Comrade Jong. “That is ridiculous.”
He spoke of the need for solidarity movements “like this one here” to counter act the lies and the hostile propaganda in the western press.“Solidarity is stronger than nuclear bombs,” he said, “We are not afraid.”
NCP leader Andy Brooks paid tribute to Democratic Korea’s stand against US imperialism and pointed out that the DPRK has not only a right but a duty to protect its people against the continuing threat of invasion.
Michael Chant spoke of British complicity in anti-DPRK slanders and smears and the need to take a stand to defend that state.
The meeting ended with a strong message of support for the people for the DPRK that was unanimously supported.

pic: Michael Chant, Jong In Song, Andy Brooks and Harpal Brar at the seminar