Tuesday 4 February 2014

Old and New Lies -BBC Panorma "Educating north Korea " ASSPUK , JISGE and UK KFA



ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF SONGUN POLITICS UK

http://www.uk-songun.com/index.php email juche007@yahoo.co.uk

             The following commentary on BBC Panorama "Educating North Korea " was issued by the ASSPUK , JISGE and UK KFA.

     BBC's Panorama programme has acquired the reputation of an extreme DPRK bashing outfit after last year's offering of lies and distortions , true to form Panorama's "Educating North Korea " contained old lies and new lies .

   There are questions of how the programme makers obtained entry to the DPRK as the DPRK embassy in London appeared to be unaware as to how the programme had been made.

        The programme centred exclusively on the Pyongyang University of Science  and Technology(PUST) which had been built with the assistance of overseas Koreans and had been conceived during the period of inter-Korean co-operation during the so-called "Sunshine era " of a previous south Korean regime which had signed the June 15 declaration and unlike its successors was committed to reducing tension on the Korean peninsula and promoting inter-Korean exchange. PUST is just one  of 230 universities in the DPRK . In fact the programme could have said something about the massive and unprecedented educational advance in the DPRK . Before liberation there was not one university in the northern half of Korea but the number increased to 170 by the early 1970s. PUST is also just one of tens of universities in Pyongyang and is overshadowed by the larger and prestigious universities such Kim Il Sung University , Kim Chaek University of Technology and the University of National Economy . So why focus on PUST ? why not have a documentary about Kim Il Sung University which is home to 10,000 students and which is far more representative of DPRK society  . Well the makers of the programme did so because they see PUST as " Trojan Horse " to export bourgeois ideology and imperialist influence  into the DPRK so as to destroy Juche-based socialism from within . This tactic is known as the "peaceful transition" strategy .
                          Of course we in the UK Korean Friendship Association , the Juche Idea Study Group of England have never had any truck with those elements who under the guise of "friendship " and "co-operation " seek to  "build bridges"  which are really aimed at destroying Juche-based socialism by crafty means . An example of such organisations is the so-called "All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea" . We totally defend the DPRK and its socialist system.

The programme was full of inaccuracies and distortions. The programme began by slandering the supreme leadership of the DPRK over the recent incident of  the counter-revolutionary faction . It was basically a gratuitous denunciation.
                 The programme wrongly described Christianity as being banned in the DPRK when in fact there are three churches in Pyongyang , Catholic, Protestant and Russian Orthodox as well as an active Korean Christian Federation.

         PUST was described as being a university for the children of the "elite " , no evidence was actually offered to prove this . In fact that the students were shown performing cleaning work . In fact in the DPRK there is no such thing as an elite , unlike capitalist countries higher education is free of charge with students even receiving a monthly living allowance . In the DPRK all officials are expected to  do one day of manual labour per week and the Chongsan -ri method whereby there is a mandatory obligation on officials to go down to lower units and help them.
     It also said that there were no women students at PUST. However most DPRK universities  have at least 50 per cent woman students with some universities having up to 60% women. 
              As usual with the BBC and other western media the old horsechestnut of "labour camps " was brought up with a satellite image which could be anything being described as a "labour camp". Recently, the DPRK ambassador to the UK comrade Hyon Hak Bong explained that there are no such things as labour camps in the DPRK only places for re-education.

                                           Space does not allow for a piece by piece refutation of the programme .  However one thing amongst others stood out. Apparently, the interviewer seemed to find it shocking that a student had not heard of Michael Jackson , the deceased American entertainer and alleged child molestor . Does listening to Michael Jackson music help grow crops ? , does it help develop the cutting edge of new technology ? , does it contribute to improving living standards ? the answer to all these questions is no !. What this showed is the imperialist arrogance of the programme maker in thinking somehow the decadent culture of imperialism is superior to other cultures and must be forced on other countries regardless of their customs, traditions and tastes . In fact the people of the DPRK are better off without the degenerate whooping and screeching sounds of Michael Jackson !.
                   We, the ASSPUK, JISGE and UK KFA, condemn the BBC or the British Brainwashing Corporation for yet another slanderous and criminal hatchet job on People's Korea the land of Juche . Those who seek to destroy Juche socialism by underhand and devious means of " building bridges " will fail in the end and Juche-socialism will be victorious !

ASSPUK
JISGE
UK KFA

No comments: