From the 1960s-1990s armed struggles for decolonization toppled apartheid & colonialism in Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa. This is the story of the north Korea's role in supporting this fight.
Pic: A north Korean mural of Namibian independence
Contrary to popular belief in the west, the anti-apartheid struggle wasn’t nonviolent. Armed resistance within and beyond South Africa played a significant role in apartheid's fall.
Pic: Nelson Mandela at an Algerian FLN Army camp, where he received training in 1962
Apartheid South Africa was a junior partner to imperialism in Africa. In the 1970s-80s, South Africa sponsored civil wars in socialist Angola and Mozambique, and supported the unrecognized settler colonial state of Rhodesia. South Africa had also ruled Namibia since WWI.
South Africa's was supported behind the scenes by the US. The CIA assisted South Africa's wars, and even helped spy on Black revolutionaries in South Africa. Beyond military support, the US was also a crucial trade partner and diplomatic supporter of South Africa internationally.
The fight against imperialism & South Africa united revolutionaries across southern Africa. North Korea joined other socialist & Third World countries in supporting this struggle, including Tanzania, Cuba, China, Guinea-Bissau, and the USSR.
Pictured: Cuban soldiers in Angola
Over 3,000 north Korean troops & 1,000 advisors aided Angola against South Africa and its UNITA proxies. North Korean soldiers also fought in Zimbabwe against Rhodesia, and officers went to Mozambique to aid the socialist FRELIMO.
Pic: FRELIMO's all women's brigade
North Korea also trained soldiers from the Zimbabwean African National Liberation Army, Namibia’s Southwest Liberation Army, and South Africa's uMkhonto we Sizwe. Some soldiers even received training in Pyongyang.
Pic: Namibian delegation to the DPRK
North Korea also fostered closer diplomatic and economic relations with these liberation movements. Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe all made diplomatic trips to north Korea during the 1970s and 80s.
Pic: Mozambican President Samora Machel with Kim Il-Sung
Defeat abroad and insurgency at home forced the apartheid regime to negotiate a peaceful transition of power in the 1990s. Yet many people in South Africa say apartheid has not ended. Black South Africans continue to struggle against white landowners and capitalists to this day
N Korea retains close ties with these nations. Mozambique & Angola have helped north Korea survive brutal US sanctions in contemporary times. Their historic friendship endures as an example of international solidarity.
Pic: Avs. Kim Il Sung and Mao Tse Tung in Maputo, Mozambique
June 25 marks the "official" start of the Korean War 75 years ago.
In reality, the war began as soon as US troops arrived in Korea in 1945 with the intent to crush our people's anti-imperialist, democratic revolution
Years before 1950, a de facto civil war broke out in US-occupied southern Korea, as progressive forces resisted the imperialist attempt to split apart our homeland and prevent the emergence of socialism and national sovereignty.
Well before 1950, a number of skirmishes along the 38th parallel, the majority initiated by South Korean aggression, had turned the peninsula into a tinderbox.
After June 25, 1950, the first phase of the war was marked by brutal US and South Kroean massacres—in the south.
We do not mourn Jimmy Carter. Today we mourn the 2,000 martyrs of Gwangju, who were slaughtered by the South Korean military regime with the support and knowledge of the Carter Administration.
On May 17, 1980, Col. Chun Doo Hwan of South Korea declared martial law in the face of a rising movement for democracy led by students and workers.
In the city of Gwangju, students rose up in protest. Soldiers at the scene killed a deaf man, Kim Gyeong Cheol—sparking a rebellion
The Gwangju Uprising seized control of the city for 9 days. The people of the city formed committees to govern themselves, organizing food distribution, medical aid, self-defense, and more. Many hoped the US would intervene on their behalf.
On New Year’s Eve, global media reported that Kim Jong Un no longer supports Korean reunification. But this is not true.
A thread 🧵
Kim Jong Un recently announced major changes in north Korea’s stance towards reunification. This marks a huge breakdown in inter-Korean relations after years of US, south Korean, and Japanese aggression.
However, north Korea has NOT abandoned reunification.
In a speech made on Dec 31 at the 9th Plenum of the Central Committee of the Workers Party of Korea, Kim Jong Un rejected south Korea’s formula for “reunification by absorption”— the idea south Korea should absorb the north, overthrow its govt, and abolish its socialist system.
As anti-imperialist Koreans, we stand unequivocally with Palestine, its people and its armed resistance against the Zionist occupation. This is neither a two-sided conflict nor a war: it is an occupation and a genocide.
🧵
As Koreans whose homeland is divided, we know imperialism is our common enemy. Following our liberation from Japanese colonialism and the beginning of independent socialist construction in Korea, the US split our country in two and indiscriminately bombed and killed our people.
There is a reason the Nakba and the division of Korea coincided in 1948, backed by the same imperialist interests. Both Korea and Palestine are geographically strategic sites for the US empire’s grip across the world.
Today marks the 73rd anniversary of the “start” of the Korean War. We've curated a list of educational resources that the US & south Korean governments desperately tried to erase from our history. In the face of blatant US propaganda, it is up to us to learn the real history 🧵
The Hidden History of the Korean War by I.F. Stone
In this new book, I.F. Stone challenges the dominant historical narrative about the Korean War and exposes the US' deliberate attempts to prolong the war.
Blowback, Season 3
Brendan James and Noah Kulwin expose US involvement in the Korean War using primary sources, vivid storytelling, and sharp historical analysis. The season also features interviews with Suzy Kim, Tim Shorrock, and Bruce Cummings.
#OTD in 1980, the people of #Gwangju rose up against Chun Doo-hwan's military dictatorship, calling for democracy in south Korea.
In response, with a green light from the US, south Korean police & soldiers massacred 2,300 people. We will never forget the martyrs of Gwangju. 🧵
In Oct 1979, former President Park Chung-hee was assassinated by his own head of security. Chun Doo-hwan then seized power via military coup.
On May 17, 1980, he declared martial law, using rumors of communism to close schools, ban political activity, and censor the press.
On May 18, 1980, thousands of students in Gwangju gathered to protest martial law and the closing of their universities.
Police & soldiers responded with brutal violence, beating students with clubs and rounding them up for execution. Students and bystanders alike were killed.