By Deirdre Griswold
February 28, 2020

The Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea has rebuffed threats made by the U.S. against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. In a recent statement, the party reinforces the spirit of defiance and self-reliance in the face of cruel imperialist pressure that has guided the DPRK since the division of Korea nearly three-quarters of a century ago.

For a long time the war makers in Washington have intensified economic sanctions against this heroic socialist country during the winter months, when the northern part of the Korean peninsula is especially affected by frigid weather. This year was no exception.

After having shown a willingness to sit down with Trump himself in order to reduce tensions, Korean leader Kim Jong Un told the Fifth Plenary Meeting of the Central Committee that the tense relationship with the U.S. now boils down to a clear standoff between Korean self-reliance and imperialist-imposed sanctions.

As the Workers’ Party statement explains: “The summit meeting and talks between the DPRK and the U.S. were held on three occasions and a June 12 Joint Statement was adopted at the Singapore Summit, aimed at establishing a new relationship between the two countries.

“However, the present DPRK-U.S. relations are still in deadlock. The U.S. is intensifying comprehensive sanctions and military threat upon its dialogue partner while wasting time away under the signboard of peaceful dialogue and negotiations.

“The U.S. double-dealing behavior reveals the true nature of the ‘peace strategy’ of the U.S. style. In a nutshell, the U.S. real intention is to capitalize on the DPRK-U.S. talks — which reflect the aspiration of the DPRK and the world for peace — for achieving its ulterior political and diplomatic purposes for the upcoming presidential election and the stability of state affairs, and completely stifle and crush the country through harsher sanctions.”

Rather than being crushed, the leaders of the DPRK say that the sanctions — the harshest of any out of 39 countries under the U.S. sanction regime — have only strengthened the determination of the Korean people to “defend the sovereignty, right to existence and security of the country and open a pivotal phase.”

The statement enumerates many accomplishments in new construction that have taken place despite the sanctions:

“In the end of last year, the country completed the construction projects of the city of Samjiyon, Yangdok Hot Spring Resort, Jungphyong Vegetable Greenhouse Farm and Tree Nursery and Phalhyang Dam of the Orangchon Power Station. The agricultural sector exceeded the peak-year level even under unfavorable weather conditions.

“Construction of the Wonsan Kalma coast resort, Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory, Tanchon Power Station and other major projects were pushed ahead, and multiple successes were achieved in all the sectors of the national economy, including the metal, coal-mining, building materials and light industries. All these are a deadly blow to the sanctions-almighty theory.”

People in the United States are subjected to a constant media attack on the DPRK, all to justify the horrendous treatment the ruling class here and its military have meted out to this heroic country, which refuses to bow down to the U.S. corporate elite.

It is important to keep Korea’s right to determine its own destiny explicitly on the agenda as we build the movement to end U.S. imperialism’s wars, invasions and sanctions around the world.