Britain’s Shameful Role in the Korean War
Earlier this year , the Royal Navy ship the “HMS Spey ” , a 2,000 ton vessel equipped with 30mm guns, was sent to Korean Water. Its deployment in Korean waters, to supposedly ‘police’ or ‘monitor ‘ the totally illegal , unjust and unfair sanctions against People’s Korea which are aimed at crippling the economy of the DPRK and overthrowing the people-centred socialist system of the DPRK ,is a vile act of intimidation against People’s Korea . Last year British Royal Marine commandoes were sent to south Korea.
The British authorities are planning to repeat the past history when Britain participated in the Korean War (Fatherland Liberation War ) against the Korean people in 1950 as a satellite state of US imperialism.
The British role in the Fatherland Liberation War was truly shameful .The UK was one of 15 satellite states of the US that sent troops to fight against the Korean people . The other countries that form the roll of dishonour and disgrace are :Luxemburg, Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, France, Colombia, Turkey, New Zealand ,Canada, Australia , South Africa , Ethiopia , Thailand and the Philippines(Japan participated in the Korean War secretly). It is significant that the UK found itself fighting not only on the same side as US imperialism but with Apartheid South Africa, Colombia of the death squads, fascist Greece , Haile Selaissie’s Ethiopia and other very reactionary regimes against an independent , progressive ,democratic and anti-imperialist government . Thus the Korean war was a totally reactionary one that held back the liberation struggle of the Korean people and the reunification of Korea.
Indeed the British role in Korea for the past 150 years has been a most shameful one. It was Britain that secretly helped Japan to invade Korea and colonise Korea.
The government of Clement Attlee , which is praised in some quarters but was actually responsible for surrendering Britain’s independence by taking the UK into NATO and also purging communists from the civil service ,was a willing accomplice in the aggression against the Korean people. Attlee sent young men to fight in Korea against the Korean People’s Army commanded by the great leader Marshal KIM IL SUNG. Basically British troops were turned into cannon fodder and mercenaries for US imperialism. Attlee(Labour ) and Churchill(Conservative) sold the lives of British young men for a measly handful of US dollars. In fact, in order to pay for the cost of sending the troops to Korea, prescription charges were increased.
Among the British forces sent to the Korean front was the Royal Ulster Rifles which had Suppressed the Irish people and committed many atrocities during the northern Ireland troubles. The British Army held back the reunification of Korea in the 1950s and also held back the reunification of Ireland.
As Julian Tunstall who served in the 1st battalion of the Middlesex Regiment of the British Army pointed out in his book “I fought in Korea ” many of the British conscripts did not want to fight in Korea , as Tunstall said “Well if they want a war let them have one:let ’em fight it out ” we said “But we don’t want their war ”
Tunstall describes graphically the real nature of British imperialism and US imperialism i
” In the nine months I spent in Korea I felt most deeply about the outright discrimination against Koreans,whether in the north or in the south,by the white men of many Western and allegedly more civilised nations.Secondly, I saw a process of destruction in which there was no attempt to confine the war to what is usually demanded by military necessity…Officers gave such orders as ‘Shoot everything in White ‘ and ‘Take no prisoners ‘ . Since ‘everything in white includes virtually every Korean civilian ,it is not surprising that the greatest number of casualties in the war were civilians..
I will regret that I went to Korea to fight the people’.
Tunstall also details how those Koreans who helped the British forces either as translators or workers received nothing in return.
The British troops basically fought against the liberation of south Korea by the Korean People’s Army and helped to prop up the reactionary and fascistic puppet regime of Sygnham Rhee that had been on the verge of collapse just before the Korean War. The British troops fought to “rollback ” socialism and national liberation and to bolster the oppressive and exploitative rule of the south Korean landlords and capitalists. This is a crime, not something that should be celebrated or commemorated.
There should be absolutely no repeat of Britain’s shameful past in Korea . Today the British imperialists are now helping to prop up the decaying and reactionary puppet regime in the ROK . There should be no British assistance to the south Korean fascist puppets whatsoever and all plans for the participation of British forces in joint exercises with south Korea and the US should be cancelled.
Dr Dermot Hudson
Chairman Korean Friendship Association UK
Official Delegate KFA for the UK
Chairman British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea
Secretary General European Regional Committee For Friendship with the Korean People
Vice-Chair OCFIPGPP
