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Independent politics and the Juche Idea Paper presented by Keith Bennett to the seminar called by the Institute for Independence Studies, December 16 1995 Dear Friends from the Korean Juche Academy and other Korean visitors, Comrades and Friends, I would like first to thank the Institute for Independence Studies, and particularly its Secretary, Hugh Stephens, for taking the initiative to organise this timely and important seminar and for having invited me to speak. For those of us who, over a number of years, have been students of the Juche Idea, and for all friends of Korea generally, it is a pleasure and privilege to have a delegation from the Juche Academy visiting London so that we might learn from them, exchange views and deepen our ties of mutual understanding. I think these sentiments are shared by those who have taken the trouble to come here today, despite the many pressures on everybody's time and the onset of the Christmas festivities. Our seminar is being held in a significant and fitting place. As many will know, this building has been connected to the radical, democratic, working class and socialist movements of London, Britain and the whole world for some two centuries. It was here that Lenin edited editions of Iskra, and the Great October Socialist Revolution and many other milestones in humanity's long march towards independence and freedom are recorded in the priceless collections of the Marx Memorial Library. I believe that all this adds weight to our deliberations today. The October Revolution changed not only a country but also the world. Particularly, its salvoes and reverberations echoed across the Asian continent, which was already plunging headlong into the anti-colonial national liberation struggle. And as President Kim Il Sung so graphically relates in the opening pages of the first volume of his reminiscences, 'With the Century', Korea was by no means an exception to this great historical trend. Under the guidance of such outstanding patriots as Mr Kim Hyong Jik, the father of great President Kim Il Sung, the Korean national liberation movement, which had been dogged by defeat and despair, started to find a new road whereby the leadership of the struggle would be vested in the hands of the working masses and where the freedom of the country would open the way towards the building of a new society based

on socialist principles thereby giving real meaning to the concept of independence. This development of political theory and practice in the eastern hemisphere was paralleled in the western, by the work and teachings of James Connolly, Irish patriotic martyr and revolutionary socialist working class leader, who wrote that the freedom of his country must, above all, mean, not the freedom of some chemical combination that constituted a landmass, but rather the freedom of the exploited and oppressed people that lived on the island of Ireland. Starting from the mid-1920s, the group of young communists around Kim Il Sung applied and developed Marxist-Leninist ideas to the difficult, concrete and unique circumstances of the Korean revolution against Japanese imperialism and other reactionary forces. It was in the course of this struggle, against odds that at times must have seemed completely impossible, that the Juche Idea was created and developed, with its belief that people are the masters of their own destiny, that they are capable of working miracles and that a new society should be built reflecting their interests and demands and in order to serve them. It was on the basis of this idea that the Korean people waged the bitter and protracted armed struggle against Japanese imperialism, founded a new democratic Korea, fought mighty US imperialism to a standstill in the Fatherland Liberation War of 1950-53 and reconstructed the country from the ruins of war so that it became a fully-fledged socialist country with a considerable industrial base. In this period, the Juche Idea, which defends the revolutionary principles and essence of Marxism-Leninism, was further developed, both to successfully withstand the onslaughts of modern revisionism, as well as varieties of 'left' opportunism, and to meet the needs of the changing and developing situation. By consistently maintaining independent politics, the Workers' Party of Korea has been able to hold high the banner of socialism in the context of a constantly changing and complicated situation. And in the course of this, the Korean party, state and people have made an enormous contribution to the world revolution, something affirmed most recently through the adoption of the April 1992 Pyongyang Declaration, 'Let us defend and advance the socialist cause'. This declaration, adopted in the course of President Kim Il Sung's 80th birthday celebrations rallied the broad international socialist forces for a fresh start in the crisis situation brought about by the frustration of socialism in the former Soviet Union and the countries of central and

eastern Europe, to the extent that it has to date been signed by well over 200 parties and organisations on the five continents. It declares that the socialist movement is an independent movement, as well as one characterised by unity and solidarity on the national and international scale. It concludes by stating that the people who fight in firm unity for the cause of socialism are sure to emerge victorious. This declaration reflects the spirit of revolutionary determination of the Korean people and we can be sure that it is in this spirit that they will deal with the problems in their present situation, characterised by continued and cunning imperialist attempts to blockade and strangulate the DPRK as well as a series of natural disasters. The Korean people's struggle to maintain their independence and build socialism has inspired solidarity, admiration and respect on the part of people around the world. One aspect of this is the global interest in Korea's guiding Juche Idea. Since the first overseas Juche study organisation was founded in Mali in the late 1960s, the work to study and disseminate this idea in various forms has acquired a global character, with hundreds of study groups active in a diverse range of countries. In liaison with the Juche Academy in the DPRK, the International Institute of the Juche Idea, based in Tokyo, is working to organise and coordinate this work. Under this overall umbrella, regional institutes have for long done excellent work in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The inspiration of brothers and sisters in the three continents provided powerful encouragement for the formation of the European Regional Society for the Study of the Juche Idea in October 1985. Over the ensuing decade, many European states, political parties, social organisations and so on, which adhered to socialism, have disintegrated and disappeared, so the fact that the European Regional Society is around to mark its tenth birthday is itself grounds for congratulation. Moreover, in addition to the regional seminars, in a number of European countries those associated with the society have consistently been engaged in valuable work, organising study groups, facilitating academic exchange between their countries and the DPRK, publishing books, introducing the Juche idea to progressive political parties and deepening their understanding of scientific socialism on this basis. But in a self-critical spirit, and because anniversaries are always a good time to take stock, we should honestly state that the work of the European Regional Society, and of adherents of the Juche Idea in Europe generally,

is still very far from reaching its potential. Certainly, it lags far behind the work of friends and comrades in Africa, Asia and Latin America who have not only disseminated the Juche Idea more widely and extensively at all levels of their society, but who have also, in a great many instances, integrated and applied it in their own ongoing struggles for national liberation, development, democracy, social justice and socialism. Without seeking to make an excuse for our own shortcomings, there are, of course, reasons for this discrepancy. The countries and peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America, who for centuries have been the victims of racism, colonialism, slavery, imperialism and genocide, are the mighty revolutionary forces and storm centres of our time. European society, taken as a whole, whatever its achievements in terms of science or culture, even in the initial development of scientific socialism, has been corrupted and corroded by Europe's parasitic relationship to the rest of humanity. As the socialist movement exists within society and as a part of society, it can hardly be immune from this process itself. As Engels and Lenin ascertained, the material basis for this exists in the form of that portion of imperialist super-profits that has been used to buy social peace at home for the exploiters, through, in the words of Comrade Kim Il Sung, creating labour aristocrats and seeking to disorganise the fighting ranks of the working class from within through the stinking ideas of racism and national chauvinism. Throughout the oppressed nations, hundreds of millions of men, women and children wholeheartedly identify with socialism because it is inextricably bound up with their struggle for a decent life, in which the first, essential step is the securing and safeguarding of national independence. But for more than a century, the mainstream of what has been considered as the socialist movement in west European society has, to a great extent, seen its fundamental role as being to secure an improved position for the upper stratum of the working class and for the middle class, within a world order that rests on a fundamental division between a small minority of oppressor nations and the vast mass of oppressed nations. Therefore, to their shame, European socialists have again and again stood on the wrong side of the blood line separating imperialism and socialism, oppression and freedom, from the so-called 'scramble for Africa', through the First World War and the Fatherland Liberation War in Korea, to the Gulf crisis and war, and the present imperialist strategy of blockading and starving anti-imperialist independent countries.

In the face of the grave, indeed crisis, situation prevailing at present, one cannot simply rely on old certainties. Nor can generalities or phrases learned by rote suffice. Serious work needs to be undertaken with a view to developing an independent politics for the working and oppressed people of this society. Events this week in Brixton, south London, provide further proof, if indeed further proof were needed, of the fact that extremely acute social and class contradictions are present in British society and it would be a foolish illusion to believe that a climate of social peace can be guaranteed. Furthermore, as we look at the magnificent class struggle now underway in France, we can see a reflection in the rising tide of industrial militancy, such as in the struggles of the Merseyside dockworkers and the Scottish postal workers, as well as the JJ Fast Foods strikers in north London and the Hillingdon Hospital workers in north west London. These strikes are taking place in a context where a combination of government legislation and the objective situation, including scientific-technological advances and the constantly changing composition of the working class, serve to ensure that such workplace-based struggles can no longer be seen as purely economistic but rather immediately raise major political questions. And since the days of the miners' great strike of 1984-5, and before that disputes waged by Asian women workers, such as that at Grunwicks, the ability of workers to sustain their strike action has increasingly centred on the mobilisation of the vast and multi-layered support to be found within the wider community. We live in a time not only of great changes in the world, but also in British society. The likely prospect of a Labour government for the first time in the memory - indeed in most cases of the lives - of the younger generation; the process of European integration, and the splits in the ruling class this is engendering; the development and future of the fledgling and threatened Irish peace process; the decline of traditional manufacturing industry and the shift in the centre of international economic gravity to the Far East; the rising tide of national feeling among suppressed nations within Britain itself, specifically Scotland and Wales; and the changes in class structure and composition, with an ever- increasing proportion of the working class being drawn from women, national minorities and other oppressed layers, the eroding of the hitherto secure and privileged positions of many middle class and professional layers, and the burgeoning number of those who are homeless,

permanently jobless and generally excluded from all the institutions that are commonly held to make up society, are just some of the vital questions for which the answers cannot be found in existing scripts, but which must be taken up and solved independently. Adherents of the Juche Idea in Britain should, I believe, use its method and standpoint to seriously begin the work of solving the problems and addressing the vital issues of our contemporary society. Among them are: The nature of the Labour Party and how should it be approached, both strategically and tactically. This must include a concrete analysis of trends, and in certain instances, personalities, within it, and how they relate to wider and broader social forces, as well as the present and future relationship between Labour and the trades unions. In turn, the relationship between the trades unions and the working class itself should also be addressed. Following from this, a careful study should be made of Arthur Scargill's proposal for the formation of a Socialist Labour Party, with due regard to his unique stature in the British working class movement and his outstanding record of class struggle, which, in theory and practice, goes far beyond the stage of social democracy, and indeed in very real ways has posed the fundamental question of state power. On this basis, due account must also be taken of tactical questions, such as those of timing and the balance of class forces, as well as the dangers posed to such a project by entrist sects with a proven record of intrigue, splitting and wrecking. A proper analysis should be made, too, of the communist movement and of the ways of revitalising it, expanding its ranks and achieving its unity. It is also necessary to have a proper understanding of other political parties that, to varying degrees, may be said to adopt progressive positions, particularly the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party, as well as the great number of non-party single issue and ad hoc groups and campaigns that, to one extent or another, represent an articulation of the peoples' alienation from capitalist society and their desire to lead an independent life. * A proper class analysis should be made of British society, both in terms of the economic, scientific and technological changes, and of the relationship of the class factor to the national question. This includes the growing demand of the peoples of Scotland and Wales for some act of

self-determination; the likely impact of developments in Ireland on such cities as Glasgow and Liverpool, as well as the whole of the working class and society in Britain; and developments among the various national minority communities, including the class relations within those communities, and their significance, positive and negative, for such questions as the fighting spirit of the working class, the building of an anti-racist movement, the development of anti-imperialist solidarity activities, and so on. * Study of the national question and class analysis must also embrace the question of European integration, the splits and realignments it is causing in the Conservative Party and the ruling class, as well as in the Labour Party and other social forces, and its relationship to the restructuring of inter-imperialist relations and international relations generally. And it must equally address the view developed by the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru, not to mention important political forces in Ireland, such as the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), that the European dimension provides a space for the enhancement of national aspirations that have hitherto been squashed beneath Britain's archaic and anachronistic constitutional arrangements. This far from exhaustive, but still somewhat daunting, list of tasks crying out to be done represents only my own initial thoughts on the subject. Comrades and friends will no doubt wish to add, modify and delete. The point is that serious work, study and discussion should be undertaken, and hopefully a start on the exchange of views can be made today, both during the seminar and informally afterwards. Serious study and research is indeed called for, but if we are to pose the right questions, let alone hope to come up with the right answers, we cannot retreat to ivory towers and bury our heads in books and research papers. Our theoretical project needs to be combined with going among the masses and getting actively involved in popular struggles. The Juche Idea, as a great philosophical contribution to humanity's science of liberation, is able to provide the key to rigorous scientific answers precisely because it emerged in the course and context of a sharp revolutionary struggle waged in the biting winds and snows of Manchuria and around Mount Paektu. Looking at the situation in Britain and the world, we need to equip ourselves above all with the revolutionary spirit and will epitomised by General Kim Il Sung and his comrades-in-arms,

embodied in some seven decades of rich and varied struggle by the man who is arguably humanity's greatest and most outstanding revolutionary. In the course of all our work, all progressive people should aim to strengthen unity and solidarity with the Workers' Party of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Korean people, who, led by great Comrade Kim Jong Il, the worthy successor to respected President Kim Il Sung, have made and are making a splendid contribution to the world revolution under such difficult and trying circumstances. All those around the world, and they are many indeed, who have benefitted from the solidarity and struggle of the Koreans, should bear in mind that now is a time when the Korean comrades are more urgently in need of solidarity, support and friendship than any other in the last 40 years. Such emergency tasks should, of course, be integrated into our own work and priorities, because the greatest solidarity that any people in the world can give to the Korean or any other people is to forge ahead along their own independent socialist road. LONG LIVE THE DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA AND THE WORKERS' PARTY OF KOREA! LONG LIVE THE GREAT JUCHE IDEA! LONG LIVE RESPECTED COMRADE KIM JONG IL! LONG LIVE THE STRUGGLE FOR GLOBAL INDEPENDENCE AND THE VICTORY OF THE SOCIALIST CAUSE!