74 Years of Progress and Prosperity Under the Banner of the Juche Idea~ ~Konstantin Krystallis ,KFA Greece Communications Secretary, KFA Greece Head of Cultural Office Founding Member of the Juche Idea Study Group of Greece

                                                              

 Dear Comrades and friends from all around the world. I would like to thank the organizers of this seminar and the participation of all the people, enabling such an interesting event to take place. 

The DPRK as we know it today, arguably began its history on shaky ground, with the devastation that the Japanese occupation brought upon it and the turmoil caused by the U.S. political invasion into the country, causing a dichotomy and installing a fascist regime to the South. Later on, that political invasion became an actual military invasion, which was utterly crushed by the will of the Korean People, under the guidance of its undisputed competent leadership. 

This all means that the DPRK had to practically start from scratch, and so it did. Despite internal attempts to bring its progress to a halt, factionalism was eliminated, revolutionary ideological education was preserved and guarded, and the people enjoyed the benefits of developing Socialism in all its essence. However, during the Cold War and especially at its dawn, with the USSR’s dissolution and the fall of the Socialist Eastern European Republics, the world was convinced that the DPRK will follow suit in either total collapse, or at least they would definitely proceed with more Capitalist friendly reforms and more lenient external diplomacy with the imperialists. 

Much to the imperialists’ disdain, the DPRK not only refused to turn down the banner of Juche and Songun, but on the contrary, it remained steadfast in its pursuit of developing Socialism with Korean characteristics and refused to even bargain its position, even during its most arduous times. Juche was what made the Korean People develop from basically a poor colony to a very respectable economy with a very good standard of living in a very short time, Juche was what made it survive through the 90’s when almost all other Socialist nations crumbled or faced major set-backs, and it’s Juche that enables the DPRK today, in the 21st century to be a shining example of Socialism where we could learn a lot from. 

Unlike the oh so praised social democracies of Europe, the DPRK didn’t have any benefits to harvest an advantage from. They never established any colony, never relied on cheap labour never relied on cheap labour and imports from poor nations and expensive exports into them, and never received dollars by the millions into its banks in return for total submission to the imperialists. The Korean People weren’t isolated, they never wanted that. They received (and provided) aid from their Socialist allies, but under no shady conditions. They remained independent, producing almost everything themselves, choosing their own social, economic and cultural policies, and having no military bases or armies on their soil. 

And with all that, it managed to create a society that bearing in mind the delirium we see today, should be studied in order for us to take examples from it and improve our own peoples’lives, providing a more egalitarian and meaningful society, with its focus on cultural development, construction, a strong and fair civil law system, housing the people, feeding the people and many more that we have neglected. We aren’t interested in all these, rather, we are interesting in promoting celebrities, making corporations rich, buying cars, clothes and other materials like watches or phones, all to satisfy our vain ambitions, corrupted by Capitalist venom, while we neglect the homeless person, the artist living a miserable life, the worker having little to no rights and all the hungry people who face the unjust law that benefits connections and profits. 

I am certain that in this specific seminar, many important speeches will unfold before us, and some of them will contain important ideological guidelines and a rich historical context. Taking that into consideration, I will try to avoid overlapping and make a small reference to Socialist culture of the Korean People.

Many who are brainwashed by Capitalist propaganda, have the tendency to believe that art is non-existent, or only coldy serves the “elite” (what really constitutes the elite in a socialist society?), while bearing little to no emotion. When I began studying the DPRK long ago, it was partly because of its music. As a musician myself, I can see the structure and quality of a composition from the very first seconds of it. And I need to point out that Juche Korean art doesn’t neglect western music and it doesn’t neglect its traditions. The Korean People, through all the hardships and all the cruelty they sustained, not only survived through it and kept their ideological basis intact, but also managed to make significant artistic contributions to the world, which is sadly considered negligible by the west, if we take into account the amount of people who even know of the DPRK’s artistic contribution, let alone those who respect it. 

Especially in music, the Korean People have created works of tremendous importance, whether that is in the form of major symphonic orchestral works, military ensembles, chamber music and traditional music or incorporation of traditional instruments in their orchestras and even more modern music such as their pop and light music ensembles. And while there is diversity, unlike what propaganda dictates, as we see music talk about the Fatherland, about its history, about its future, we also see music talk about love, work, people’s lives and genuine human emotions. It’s astounding what high level they possess, and the world does a huge disservice to the Korean cultural world with its neglect.

 Juche unleashed the Korean People’s potential and pushed forward into creating not only a much more progressive and sustainable society, but also one very rich in cultural depth, and if someone else can’t convince the people, then I hope that I as an organist, harpsichordist and composer, mainly specialized in the Baroque era of music, can convince people that music such as that produced by the DPRK, is scientifically impossible to be produced without genuine emotion, feeling and honest love for the art, which can’t be “forced upon” as the west wants people to believe.

We may not be citizens of the DPRK, sustaining its socialist society, but our role in KFA is vastly important, as “ambassadors” of Korean culture and defenders of true information, fighting against propaganda and misinformation and opening the eyes of the world into seeing that the DPRK isn’t some kind of Machiavellian, dystopian gray dimension of existence. It’s a country, like all others, with people, like all others, living their lives, like all others. They just live under a different system, one that looks upon the people, not profits, and cares about the people, not corporations. 

Let us defend the DPRK and safeguard its Juche philosophy, which provided the Korean People with the incentive to create an astoundingly rich society, all without the devastating flaws of the barbaric and inhumane capitalist system.

조선로동당 만세! 조선인민군 만세! 

조선민족 만세! 

조선민주주의인민공화국 만세! 

~Konstantin Krystallis 

KFA Greece Communications Secretary

 KFA Greece Head of Cultural Office

Founding Member of the Juche Idea Study Group of Greece