Korean Peoples Army Soldiers c INTRODUCTION I have just returned from a visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, where / spent over two weeks as a guest of the Korean Association of Journalists. The division of Korea by United States imperialism and the refusal of the latter to withdraw its troops from the Southern part of the country have increased tensions still further and the possibility of a new war erupting in the area is fairly high.
In later issues of The Red Mole, we will write in detail about developments in the occupied section of Korea and the concrete measures to end this situation and re-unify the country which have been proposed by the Korean premier, Kim il Sung, It was felt that it was extremely important to publish immediately the interview this correspondent had with the Korean Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister, Pak Sung Cheul. Comrade Cheul is also a leading member of the Politbureau and the Standing Committee of the Korean Workers Party.
Before answering the questions / put to him, Pak Sung Cheul explained that what irritated the imperialists the most was the fact that the Northern part of Korea had risen from the ashes of the 1950-53 war. That they had completely rebuilt the country, developed its industry (according to U.N. statistics the standard of living in North Korea is the highest in Asia excluding Japan and completely wiped out rural poverty. I can confirm having travelled widely that however hard one looks it is impossible to find a single slum in Korea. The housing of the workers and the cooperative farmers in the countryside is extremely impressive. In fact one of the facts we will highlight in later articles is that the North Korean government has offered to give jobs to all the unemployed in South Korea; to provide free school and university education for all the children in South Korea who are not able to go to school and to relieve poverty by special shipments of rice. Needless to add the Pak Jeung Hi puppet clique has refused this aid, but it resures to me economic successes achieved Dy the North. The United States fears this example
Red Mole correspondent
with Korean Deputy Prime Minister almost more than anything else.
In case the United States provoked a war with Korea the task of revolutionaries would be clear. To give unconditional support to the Korean government and the Korean people and to immediately extend the solidarity movement in the imperialist countries to embrace Korea. As imperialism in South Korea masquerades as a "United Nations force"" a war in this region could also involve British troops. The duty of revolutionaries in this country would therefore be clearcut and simple.
Tariq Ali Red Mole: Only a few days ago the Korean People's Army destroyed yet another spy-boat sent into Korean territorial waters by the United States. This seems to be simply another incident in the chain of increasing military provocations which the United States has unleashed against your country. What in your view is the significance of these provocations and do you seriously believe that the United States can afford another war in Asia at this particular moment, keeping in mind the resistance of the Indo-Chinese and the American peoples? Pak Sung Cheul: It is well known to us that the United States imperialists are preparing a new war against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The military policy advanced by Comrade Kim il Sung is to turn the army into an army of cadres and to arm the whole people to fortify the country. We are prepared to deal blows against the enemy whenever it comes to attack us. Whether or not war breaks out depends entirely on the imperialists. On the Nixon administration. The government of our country has advanced a concrete solution to solve the Korean question. That is to leave the settlement of the Korean question to the Korean people themselves on a democratic basis and peacefully. But the United States has answered all these proposals with military provocations. They don't even bother to make counter-proposals. Even now their slogan is "Unify the country by victory over Communism."
At present, there are 60,000 U.S. troops in South Korea. There are 700,000 puppet troops, which means that the puppet army has doubled in size since the Armistice. There are more than 300,000 policemen in South Korea and the "Homeland Reserve Army" consists • of 2 million people. So if you add this all it amounts to an enormous repressive force. In order to arm the Pak Jeung Hi puppets the United States are spending between 200 and 300 million dollars every year. Apart from this they have introduced nuclear weapons and guided missiles. And then they say in their propaganda that it is the North which is trying to provoke a war. They blame us for their own military provocations.
The Pueblo is an excellent example of this. This was a spy-ship which intruded waters. But they say that our force crossed the military demarcation line an captured the ship from the south. There were 50mm guns on the ship, and how come a small group of North Koreans could take it back. When the ship intruded into our territorial waters our patrol boats asked them to stop, but they opened fire on us and tried to escape. There then followed a sea battle inside our territorial waters and we sank the ship. But the Americans say that we have captured the ship and urge us to release the crew. How can we? They are dead at the bottom of the sea. The U.S. should ask us for permission to recover the bodies from the sea bed.
The reason the United States are increasing their military provocations against us is for their future war propaganda. They want a pretext to attack us and their present their military provoca tions as defensive measures. To explain to their people that the new war is a defensive war. That is why they make provocations. So we say that the situation is fraught with danger of war breaking out in our country.
As you saw for yourself when you visited Panmunjom, we are in a state of armistice. The United States has put South Korea on a war footing. And we too are prepared if they attack us.
At the time of the Pueblo the U.S. said that there would be reprisals and they mobilised their Pacific Fleet. The situation was extremely tense. Can you say that the tension has been removed? We say no. If the United States makes reprisals then we will make reprisals as
well.
On both sides of the demarcation lines there are troops. They're in a state of war footing. And the enemy makes surprise attacks against our side every day. Sometimes these last an entire day. And we must repulse them. We cannot sit back with folded arms. These incidents could well develop into a large battle involving divisions and battalions. -And the internal dynamic of the class forces in South Korea: what effect could they have?
As Comrade Kim il Sung has taught us: wherever there is oppression there is always revolution. The rule of the Pak Jeung Hi clique in South Korea is military fascist rule. There is no democracy at all in South Korea. In these circumstances there have been many anti-puppet manifestations in South Korea. Revolutionary parties and revolutionary organisations exist in South Korea. Since 1960 when the people rose brate American defeat and overthrew the Syngman Rhee puppet regime, there have been many manifestations of revolt. So fighting between the people and the puppets could break out at any time. When a people's uprising takes place in South Korea the United States will try and crush it. The South Korean people will ask us to help them.
We are of the same nation. We have struggled together before. We will help them. It is our revolutionary duty as proletarian internationalists. And so the danger of war exists all the time.
In a word, as long as there are United States forces in Korea the danger of war exists. That is why if the United States were interested in peace it must withdraw its troops from South Korea. And if war breaks out it will not be the same as in Vietnam. Here we have the Korean people's Army which is a very strong regular army and if we need help we will ask both China and the Soviet Union with whom we have treaties of alliance.
Do you know what the imperialists say? They say that it is thanks to the stationing of U.N. forces that peace is maintained. Who are these U.N. forces? U.S. troops. They say that the puppet army in the South is very large and if the U.N. were not present it might attack the North. This is the logic of robbers and we know the realities. There can only be peace if the U.S. troops withdraw and allow the Korean people the right of self-determination.
We Koreans are not afraid of imperialism. We have some experience. We fought it for three hard years and defeated it and are prepared to do so again, but we don't want another war. That is why we ask our friends throughout the world to urge a U.S. withdrawal from South Korea and to put pressure on the imperialists. -Many revolutionaries in the imperialist countries underestimate the new rise of militarism in Japan, yet in Asia it is seen as an extremely serious development as the recent Pyongyang meeting between Kim il Sung and Chou en Lai shows. What role do you think Japan will play in helping U.S. imperialism in Asia and do you think that Japanese troops could be used in Asia again?
Revolutionaries in Europe obviously don't understand the present situation in Asia clearly. You know that before World War I! Japan was one of the three great imperialist powers. Though it was defeated during the war the productive forces in Japan were not destroyed. It is twenty-five years since the last war ended and since then the Japanese economy and productive forces have developed phenomenally. Particularly at the time of the three-year war in Korea, Japan was enriched by supplying war materials and since the beginning of the war in Vietnam Japan has virtually become a supply base and a base of attack. In the capitalist world the productive capacity of Japan is second only to the United States. Japanese imperialism today is therefore busy seeking markets.
The Japanese imperialists say that they have no army. But what they have is a self-defence corps and that is an army...a modern equipped army.
According to the Japanese its strength is 300,000, but its real strength is much greater. All its senior officers were commanders during the Second World War.
The Japanese have a treaty of alliance with South Korea. South Korea has a treaty with the United States and the United States has a treaty with Japan. It is a triangle of imperialism. Sato (Japanese Prime Minister) has declared publicly that the "38th parallel is our frontier . They have already prepared operation plans for Asia and particularly for our part of the world. The Japanese imperialists are once again dreaming of a "Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere' etc. The United States on its part is interested in building up Japanese militarism as the new shock brigade for Asia. The Japanese Army has started learning Korean and we have information -that they are undergoing extensive training in terrain similar to ours. We regard it as an extremely dangerous development, and of course the dog Pak Jeung Hi is pleased. He has served as a Japanese puppet before. When a war breaks out in Korea the Japanese Army will participate in it. -Has your position on the Sino-Soviet dispute changed and what are your relations with Cuba and Vietnam at the moment?
No. There is no change in our position. We want to unite these countries in order to accelerate the process of world revolution. As for the Cubans and the Viet namese peoples, we regard their struggle as our own and are in complete solidarity with them.
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into our territorial waters. It was clear. But they say we captured the ship on the high seas. On the 5th June we sank a U.S spy ship because it was in our territorial
i n 1953