Celebration in Pyongyang of the successful conclusion of the 8th
Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea in January 2021.
On May 21, the Friends of Korea (Britain) hosted a lively and
informative webinar on the current situation in the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK)
and the Korean Peninsula. Participants from Britain and Canada took
part in the discussion which provided a chance to learn about and
exchange views on the topic.
Andy
Brooks, General Secretary of the New Communist Party of Britain and
Chair of Friends of Korea (Britain), welcomed everyone and thanked them
for joining in, especially those
from Canada. He introduced Michael Chant, General Secretary of the
Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) and
Secretary of Friends of Korea (Britain), who
chaired the program. Chant set out the plan for the proceedings and
introduced Lesley Larkum -- a composer, violinist and teacher -- who
played the Korean folk song Arirang, the
anthem of the Korean reunification movement, which everyone appreciated.
In the first presentation, Michael Chant provided a historical
overview of the DPRK's struggle for its right to be during the last
more than 70 years in the face of U.S. aggression, war
and brutal sanctions. He highlighted the principled stand of the DPRK
to uphold its sovereignty and dignity under all conditions and
discussed recent developments in that country brought
into focus by the decisions taken at the 8th Congress of the Workers'
Party of Korea held in Pyongyang this past January. The main thrust of
the 8th Congress, he noted, was that it
reiterated the DPRK's determination to uphold its self-reliant Juche
outlook, strengthen its independent economy to counter the brutal
sanctions regime of the Anglo-Americans, and
defend itself against threats and aggression from the U.S. and others.
Britain is participating in the illegal sanctions the European Union
has imposed against the DPRK, Chant pointed out,
despite having withdrawn from the EU. He noted that in the current
period, the DPRK will be developing and strengthening its international
relations in support of the cause of peace and
justice everywhere, extending a hand of friendship to all who
reciprocate. Chant underscored that in terms of its relations with the
U.S., the DPRK has no illusions and will engage in
relations on the basis of "goodwill for goodwill and power for power."
The next speaker was Dermot Hudson, the Chair of the Korean
Friendship Association in the UK. He informed participants of
the Association's work to build people-to-people
relations between the two countries to support the just stands of the
DPRK in defence of peace on the Korean Peninsula and to oppose
disinformation about the DPRK carried out by the
monopoly media. One of the things Hudson noted, in light of the
atrocities that Israel is committing against the Palestinians, is that
the DPRK has always stood with the Palestinian people,
rendering material and political support over many decades. He reminded
participants that the meeting was being held on the 41st anniversary of
the Gwangju Uprising when students and
workers in that city rose up and held power for several days in May
1980 to defy the U.S.-backed Chun Doo Hwan military dictatorship in
south Korea, and affirmed their right to
democracy and empowerment. Hudson observed that May 21 too was the
first day of the Moon-Biden meeting in Washington, DC and expressed
doubt that anything good for the Korean
people would come of it.
The last presenter was
Philip Fernandez, spokesperson of the Korea
Truth Commission (Canadian Chapter). He spoke of how the framework of
the Biden administration's new DPRK
policy, based on a pragmatic approach of "diplomacy and stern
deterrence," is doomed to fail because the DPRK conducts its foreign
relations on the basis of principle and upholding its
right to be. Contrary to the disinformation carried by the imperialist
system of states that the DPRK is a violator of human rights, Fernandez
pointed out that it is the crippling sanctions
imposed by the U.S, Canada, Britain and others that constitute gross
human rights violations and collective punishment against the people of
the DPRK, which is doing its utmost to defend
the rights of its people against this aggression.
Fernandez
mentioned, among other things, that whenever the Korean
people have made headway in building inter-Korean relations and
strengthening the movement for reunification, the
U.S. imperialists have intervened to sabotage these efforts. In the
context of next year's elections in south Korea, Fernandez noted that
the U.S. is working behind the scenes to install the
anti-communist People's Power Party in office. This is to undermine
relations between north and south and push back the 2018 historic
Panmunjom Declaration that raised the hopes of the
whole Korean nation for the strengthening of inter-Korean relations.
One of the sitting politicians of the People's Power Party in the
legislature, Tae Yong-Ho, who defected from the
DPRK Embassy in London in 2016, has now joined the anti-DPRK campaign
to slander and isolate his birthplace, Fernandez noted. He pointed out
that in a recent interview, Tae Yong-Ho
called the DPRK a "slave state" while praising Britain as a land of
"freedom, democracy and human rights."
The decisive
factor in the future of Korea are the Korean people
themselves, not anyone or any other power, and their drive for peace
and reunification will eventually succeed,
Fernandez underscored in concluding his presentation.
Following
the presentations, Michael Chant informed participants
that the DPRK's embassy in London had sent a message of greeting to the
meeting and wished it success.
The discussion which
ensued emphasized the importance of speaking
out in defence of the DPRK and its right to be in the context of the
continued attacks on it by the U.S. imperialists
and their allies. There was strong sentiment to continue the fruitful
discussion of this meeting.
The event concluded
with a short video of a visit to a music school
in Pyongyang in 2013 during the 60th anniversary celebrations of the
Victory of the Fatherland Liberation War,
followed by a clip of the playing of The Internationale
at the close of the Workers' Party of Korea's 8th Congress.
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 15 - June 15, 2021
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/MS51154.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
