Review of Crossing the Line (2007) by M H — 20 Aug 2009

North Korea is the rightful democratic government of the Korean people. South Korea was a continuation of occupation regime under a new master, the US.

With US backing, the South Korean government carried out massacres of suspected leftists in which the north lost at the very least 1'500'000 people and likely as many as 4'000'000. By the end of the war more than half of the buildings in North Korea had been destroyed and around a quarter of the population were living in caves.

We must also remember the role of our "sanctions" upon the North. For example, the prohibition of the import of chlorine on the grounds it is a can be used to make chemical weapons. The point of is that without chlorine you cannot operate a water-purification plant, leading to the spread of Typhus, cholera and other diseases. Ironically, this blockade, ostensibly put in place to prevent chemical attack, in fact constitutes a biological attack.

The following things must be pointed out.

*Unlike capitalist countries, the DPRK has full literacy and half of the legislature is female.

*According to the CIA, the DPRK has a lower death rate than Germany and Italy and is only slightly worse the the UK.

*The proportion of DPRK citizens incarcerated is lower than it is in the USA.

*Unlike capitalist countries, the DPRK does not engage in imperialistic, exploitative trade relations.

*The DPRK has offered assistance to anti-imperialist forces throughout the world, including an attempt to help Syria protect itself from attack.

The only comment I'm going to make about the nuclear program is that the DPRK having nuclear weapons is an objectively good thing both for humanity and the Korean people.