Korean North-South
Summit a Blow against Imperialism
Speech by Chris Coleman of RCPB(ML) at KFSC Meeting,
July 1, 2000
Below we reprint the speech given by the National
Spokesperson of RCPB(ML), Chris Coleman at the Commemorative Meeting to Pay
Tribute to Comrade Kim Il Sung, organised by the Korea Friendship and
Solidarity Campaign on July 1. For report of meeting, see yesterday’s WDIE.
Dear Comrades and Friends:
We are very honoured to join with the other speakers, with
our Korean comrades, and with all of you here in paying tribute to the life and
work of the great leader President Kim Il Sung. It is both a solemn and a
joyous occasion; a celebration. The greatness of Kim Il Sung, so well
illustrated by the previous speakers, can be seen in the achievements of his
successors, and at no time more so than the last month. The immensely
successful holding of the North-South Summit in Pyongyang on June 14-15 and the
signing of the Joint Declaration were a great victory for the Korean people and
their leadership. They were achieved by adhering without the slightest wavering
to the guidelines for reunification laid down by Kim Il Sung, something so dear
to his heart as Keith Bennett has pointed out. And in no way compromising the
other tenets he held so dear regarding defending the independence and
sovereignty of the country, and defending and building the socialist system
which the people of the DPRK have chosen. Whatever the obstacles which
subsequently are put in place to frustrate progress, and undoubtedly there will
be many, in our opinion these events are a hugely important first step towards
reunification upon which the people of the DPRK, their party, the Workers’
Party of Korea, and their great leader, Kim Jong Il, are to be very warmly
congratulated.
The events are also a mighty blow against the schemes of
imperialism, especially that of the United States and Britain, to maintain
tension on the Korean peninsula, to isolate the DPRK and label it a
"rogue" state, and to justify the continued presence of US forces in
the south in line with the strategic aim to dominate Asia and the world. The
way in which the summit was conducted also proved a blow against the slanderous
propaganda of the monopoly-controlled media against the DPRK, its people and
its leader, which seeks to sow prejudice and disinformation in the minds of
democratic people. As such these events are an important contribution to the
world-wide anti-imperialist struggle.
There have, as we know, been other positive developments
recently, among them the fact that British officials are holding talks with
those of the DPRK, the lifting of some US sanctions, the welcome in Downing
Street and the White House given to the summit. As Keith has pointed out, it is
incumbent on all progressive forces to maturely apply pressure on the British
and American governments to put their words into deeds and to go further to
establish full diplomatic relations with the DPRK. But there can be no
illusions about the nature of imperialism. This month has also seen the 50th
anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War. And as the Memorandum recently
issued by the DPRK government incontrovertibly shows, the responsibility for
that terrible crime against humanity and its as-yet unresolved consequences
must be laid at the door of the US government, supported by the British Labour
government of the time and all subsequent British governments, including this
one. The current policies of the US and British governments to impose on the
peoples of the whole world their "Third Way" or "Progressive
Governance" on behalf of the financial oligarchies and their monopolies
threaten further terrible conflict and world war. Pressure must be put on the
governments to put their current words of peace into deeds. The main demand
must be that the United States withdraw its forces immediately from the south
of Korea as the major contribution to achieving peaceful reunification. It is
up to the world’s people too, including the British working class and
people, to rise up and under the banner of the rights of the workers and the
rights of the world’s peoples, take the matter into their own hands and
settle scores with imperialism once and for all.
Thus we can best honour the memory of the great leader, Kim
Il Sung. Thank you.
