Meeting demands “Hands off Korea!”
Southall’s Saklatvala Hall
was the scene for a lively and spirited public meeting organised by the
Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) in solidarity with the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on Saturday 12 June 2010.
The meeting welcomed the participation, for the
first time since 1966, of the DPRK in the football World Cup, which had opened
the previous day in South Africa, and also dealt with the new provocations and
threats of war being made against the socialist country in the wake of the 26
March sinking of the south Korean warship, the Cheonan, most likely as a
result of United States or south Korean ‘friendly fire’.
The meeting began with a showing of ‘Game of their
Lives’, an excellent documentary film about the DPRK’s participation in the
1966 World Cup and especially about the friendships forged between the players
and the working class people of Middlesborough and Liverpool, where they played
their games.
Speakers at the meeting, which was chaired by
Comrade Harpal Brar, were Comrades Ella Rule and Keith Bennett of the CPGB-ML,
Comrade Michael Chant of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain
(Marxist-Leninist) and the guest of honour, Comrade Jang Song Chol of the
embassy of the DPRK.
Comrade Keith pointed out that, in this World Cup,
“there is just one team representing a nation where sport does not serve the
interests of big business, but rather those of the working class; one country
where football, and all sports, are at the service of people’s enjoyment,
education and health; where there is opportunity and access for all; and where
sport is used to promote international friendship and peace, rather than
jingoism and chauvinism.”
He contrasted this with the attempts being made to,
“conflate England’s participation in the World Cup with British
imperialism’s filthy war in Afghanistan”, for example in Prime Minister
Cameron’s visit to the country two days previously, where, according to the Evening
Standard, in a film of British soldiers, to be sent to the England players
in South Africa, one squaddie boasted: “Just like you, we have to hit the
target under pressure.”
“For British imperialism,” Comrade Keith
continued, “scoring goals is all about massacring the people of oppressed
nations so that their resources can continue to be pillaged; so that their
oppressive rule can be maintained both at home and abroad. With the predatory
war in Afghanistan becoming ever more unpopular among the working class, not
least among those communities who have traditionally provided much of the
cannon fodder for British imperialism’s bloody adventures, what better way to
try and shore up support than by seeking to conflate the natural affinity that
people feel for their country’s team with the completely indefensible wars it
is waging around the globe.”
Concluding his remarks, Comrade Keith said that, “for
too long there has been too little solidarity with the just struggle of the
Korean people in this country”. Recalling the words of James Connolly, on
the eve of Dublin’s Easter Rising of 1916, that, “the cause of labour is the
cause of Ireland, the cause of Ireland is the cause of labour. They cannot be
dissevered,” he continued:
“Likewise, the cause of Korea, is the cause of the working class, the cause of anti-imperialism, the cause of the
anti-war movement. They, too, cannot be dissevered. That is the message we
should take from this meeting: An anti-war movement that stands in solidarity
with Korea will be a movement worthy of its name. A working class committed to
defending Korea will be a working class increasingly able to assume its
historic mission of becoming the ruling class.”
Comrade Ella Rule, in her speech, went into great
detail on the sinking of the Cheonan, decisively demonstrating that,
whilst the exact cause of this tragic incident remains to be determined,
absolutely no credible evidence had been produced to link it to the DPRK, which
also had nothing to gain from such an action, but rather a great deal to lose,
whereas numerous independent articles and studies had raised a large number of
questions, which the United States and south Korea, in their zeal to pin the
blame on the DPRK for political reasons, had conspicuously failed to answer.
Comrade Ella noted that the purpose of putting
pressure on the DPRK, over an incident for which it bore no responsibility, was
to find a pretext to ratchet up sanctions, imposing further suffering on the
people and constraining the country’s economic development. Moreover, US imperialism has a strategic need to constantly keep tensions high on the Korean peninsula as,
without such a high degree of tension, they would find it difficult to hang on
in south Korea, whose occupation is a crucial link in their strategy of being
able to confront China and Russia.
Further, the reactionary regime in south Korea had also hoped to use the incident to push up their vote in local elections,
held at the beginning of June. However, the outcome had been quite contrary to
their expectations – the ruling party had been trounced in the elections, with
significant gains being scored by those political forces standing for
reconciliation with north Korea, against war and for democracy.
Concluding her remarks, Comrade Ella noted: “A
number of ‘smoking guns’ lead unfailingly to the conclusion that it is the DPRK
which must be believed in this debacle. These include the original response of
the US and south Korean authorities, denying that it could have been the DPRK
behind the sinking; the delay in publicising the supposed discovery of markings
on some torpedo case allegedly found at the scene; the unexplained existence of
a third buoy at the salvage site, and the special attention paid to it that was
denied to the remains at the other two buoys; the failure to mention the Foal
Eagle naval exercises of the United States and south Korea that were taking
place in the region at the time; and the failure to invite relatively
disinterested parties such as China or Russia to participate in or monitor the
investigations.
“The other point is that it makes no
sense that the DPRK would torpedo this ship and then deny having done so. What
would be the point? If it had decided to torpedo the ship in protest, for
example, at the provocative nature of the Foal Eagle military exercises, then
it would have said so. If, on the other hand, it was anxious to avoid further
sanctions, then it would not have decided to torpedo the ship – as indeed it
did not.
“One has only to ask the question cui
bono ? (who benefits?) to realise that the DPRK will certainly not have
torpedoed the Cheonan. On the contrary, it is US imperialism and its
south Korean puppets who certainly do benefit from concealing their
responsibility for the accident, and who moreover have a consistent policy of
seeking to raise tensions on the Korean peninsula, contrary to the DPRK’s
consistent policy of seeking to broker peaceful reunification and cooperation
with the south.
“The anti-war movement in Britain should give its full solidarity to the DPRK and demand that the United States and south Korea cease all their provocations and threats against the country.” (For a
detailed treatment of this subject, see “Hands off Korea, The sinking of the
Cheonan”, Proletarian, No 36, June 2010)
In his warmly-received message of solidarity,
Comrade Michael Chant of RCPB(ML) not only expressed his party’s fulsome
solidarity with the DPRK and the Korean people, but also the strong view of his
party that its relations with the CPGB-ML were not merely fraternal, but those
of actual comrades-in-arms in the struggle against imperialism and for
socialism and communism.
Resolutions
Following the speeches, the meeting unanimously
passed a resolution on the Cheonan incident, which reads in full:
“This
meeting expresses its full solidarity with the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea (DPRK) in the face of the campaign of lies and slanders being waged
against it in the wake of the sinking of the south Korean vessel, the Cheonan.
These lies and slanders are being used to justify enhanced sanctions and
further aggressive military exercises. These, in turn, are aimed at isolating
the DPRK, imposing suffering on its people, and considerably increase the
danger of a new Korean War, something that would be a disaster, not only for
the Korean people but the whole world. The attempt to blame the DPRK for the
sinking of the Cheonan is itself a despicable provocation as not a shred
of real evidence has been produced. What really remains to be established is
whether this was a tragic accident caused by incompetence and disregard for
human life or a more sinister ‘false flag’ operation cooked up by the US imperialists and their south Korean servants. If the United States and south Korea have nothing
to hide, they should admit the investigation team assembled by the National
Defence Commission of the DPRK, present all their supposed evidence to it and
grant it all necessary and reasonable access. They should also admit impartial
investigators from China, Russia and from non-aligned and neutral counties on
the same terms.
“This
meeting denounces the British government for having once again slavishly echoed
the lies and slanders of the US imperialists and south Korean reactionaries and
for preposterously demanding that the DPRK, an innocent party, be punished.
Sixty years ago, a Labour government sent national servicemen to wage war
against the Korean people, costing some 1,000 of them their lives. Ten years
after Britain at last established diplomatic relations with the DPRK, it is
high time that a page was turned to a new era of friendship and cooperation
with the Korean people on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and
non-interference in internal affairs.
“This
meeting expresses its full support for all the measures taken by the DPRK in
self-defence and says:
“HANDS
OFF KOREA!”
A further resolution, also adopted unanimously,
marked the tenth anniversary, on 15 June, of the conclusion of an agreement
between the top leaders of north and south Korea, to promote peace,
cooperation, reconciliation and reunification among the Korean people, at the
time of late President Kim Dae Jung’s visit to the socialist north.
This resolution noted:
“Following the signing of the Joint Declaration, a
new vista of hope began to emerge on the Korean peninsula: long divided
families held emotional reunions, cultural exchanges were held, extensive
economic cooperation combining the respective strengths of each side was
developed, and the two sides joined hands in the international sporting arena.
While all this was welcomed by the Korean people and their friends, it gravely
concerned imperialism and other reactionary forces. Having manoeuvred to bring
Lee Myung Bak to power, representing the most pro-imperialist section of the
south Korean big bourgeoisie, the first step taken by his regime was to put
into reverse the ‘sunshine diplomacy’ pursued by his two predecessors. The 15
June Joint Declaration and all the subsequent agreements that built on it have
been unilaterally and arbitrarily nullified. As a result, cooperation has
reverted to confrontation and military tensions are once again growing on the
Korean peninsula, dashing the hopes of the Korean people for peace and
reunification. The entire Korean people bitterly condemn Lee Myung Bak for his
treachery, as was again demonstrated in the decisive defeat handed by the south
Korean people to the reactionary forces at the recent local elections.
“This meeting expresses its resolute solidarity with
the Korean people, north and south, in their struggle for reconciliation,
cooperation, and independent and peaceful reunification; and for a return to
the letter and spirit of the June 15 Joint Declaration.”
Following the conclusion of the formal part of the
meeting, all comrades and friends carried on with lively informal discussions
as to how best to take forward solidarity work with the heroic Korean people
over a Korean buffet, curry and drinks.