Welcome to BASE21

By Deirdre Griswold
Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea

War is never far from the thoughts of the people here. There are reminders of it everywhere.

This beautiful city itself was built on the ashes left after the 1950-53 war, when U.S. planes and troops carried out a scorched-earth policy as they withdrew toward the south, but never succeeded in breaking the morale of the Korean revolutionaries.

The Taedong River, which flows through the city between rows of graceful willows now clad in spring green, once had its fill of blood and floating bodies. But like Pyongyang itself, it has another, proud history. In 1866 when the USS General Sherman sailed upriver from the sea that separates Korea from China, its officers thought the peaceful inhabitants of Korea would yield up their treasures to the Yankee invaders armed with guns and cannons. But the ship wound up at the bottom of the river, and the first U.S. attempt to subdue Korea ended in ignominy.

Today two small replicas of the Sherman's cannons rest next to a plaque on the bank of the river, just above a dock where the USS Pueblo is moored as a floating museum to another failed adventure. The spy ship, loaded with eavesdropping equipment, entered north Korean waters in January 1968 pretending to be an oceanographic vessel. Suspecting the truth, Korean patrol ships tried to hail it, then boarded and captured the Pueblo. President Lyndon Johnson swore it had been in international waters and demanded the return of this "innocent" vessel.

One year later, the 82 crew members--one had been killed during the capture--were sent home, but only after Cmdr. Lloyd Bucher had made a full confession and apology to the Korean people. The Pueblo remains in the DPRK as a permanent testimony to Washingtontreachery.

Sailors tell guests of exploits

This April 26, two sailors from among those who had captured the Pueblo addressed a gathering of international delegations in Pyongyang who had come to show solidarity at a time of new war threats, this time by the Bush administration. The two are decorated naval commanders now, but they were young men at the time of their bold deeds.

One told with pride and some amusement how the ship had arrived at its present berth upriver from the West Coast of Korea. It had been captured in what Koreans call the East Sea--the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. A few years ago it was brought all the way around the southern part of Korea--through waters controlled by the U.S. Navy--in order to reach the Taedong River. It was a risky business, but the operation was approved by Gen. Kim Jong Il, the Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army and also Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Somehow--the Koreans aren't telling how--the ship was disguised and made the perilous journey without being recaptured by either the U.S. or south Korean navies.

The Korean people don't regard any of this as ancient history. It is fresh in their minds and governs how they respond when the present U.S. administration assails them as part of an "Axis of Evil." The unrelenting military pressure from Washington, represented by some 37,000 troops in south Korea and annual war games in which more than half a million U.S. and south Korean troops take part, plus the constant presence of nuclear-armed warships and planes in the sea and air surrounding them, are more than enough to convince the leaders of the DPRK to take every U.S. threat seriously and to plan accordingly.

This is codified in what is called the "army-first policy" formulated by Gen. Kim Jong Il. The post of president of the country has not been filled since the death in 1994 of Kim Il Sung, who led the DPRK to victory over both Japanese colonialism and U.S. imperialism. Kim Jong Il acts as the chief executive and, like his predecessor, has been accorded the title Great Leader.

This April 25, the country celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army. In 1932, Kim Il Sung had established this fighting force to consolidate and elevate the armed struggle against the Japanese colonial rulers, who had annexed Korea in 1910.

Early in the morning, Kim Il Sung Square in central Pyongyang filled with scores of thousands of superbly coordinated troops of the irregular army--what in the U.S. would be called reserves. Marching bands led unit after unit in a vigorous, bouncing high-step past the reviewing stand. Women soldiers were just as energetic and precise as the men, as were the student reservists.

Making the parade even more massive was the participation of vast crowds of people in civilian clothes, who created an ever-changing background by alternately raising flowery wands of different bright colors. The colors spelled out revolutionary slogans, then would briskly change to form the DPRK flag or a map of the Korean Peninsula.

While a few units marched with their guns, the emphasis was on the human element, not on the military equipment needed for national defense.

Pride in strong national defense

The army-first policy has guaranteed a strong, healthy, well-disciplined fighting force despite several years of arduous conditions for the people of socialist north Korea. It represents a sacrifice the people are proud of, and their respect for those in uniform is unmistakable, as is the 閘an of the fighting forces.

The land, factories, homes, hotels, parks, schools, hospitals, offices, museums, buses, subways--everything in the DPRK belongs to the people as a whole. No logos or brand names claim possession over any of it. When people talk about defending their country from the imperialists who would like to carve it up and swallow the pieces, they take for granted that it belongs to them, not to foreign investors or a wealthy elite, as in all the capitalist countries.

Many of the north Koreans who deal with foreigners--translators, guides, political workers--have been abroad and readily acknowledge that the DPRK, which has had to sacrifice so much for its independence, is still struggling to provide many items that people with money enjoy elsewhere, especially in imperialist countries. But they believe they have something much more precious: a people who are united behind their leaders, who share their achievements as well as their shortages, and whose culture and history are not for sale.

For that, the people of the DPRK are ready to lay down their lives if George W. Bush carries out his bullying threats. It is up to people around the world who believe in justice and the right of national self-determination to make sure that doesn't happen.