THE GREAT HELMSMAN KIM IL-SUNG

The news that a fulllength colour documentary film has been produced for the 60th birthday of North Korean leader Kim Il-sung entitled "The People Sing of the Fatherly Leader' comes as no surprise.

The only wonder is that the Korean documentary film studio waited for his 60th birthday and had not got around to it before. In fact the personality cult of the great Kim would have made even Stalin green with envy.

It is rumoured that he even received a visit from Tarią Ali himself, although the two leaders do not appear to have hit it off too well, as often happens in such circumstances.

According to the American journalist Harrison Salisbury, who is visiting North Korea, it is impossible to escape the all-pervasive influence of Kim Il-sung. His portrait or statue is to be found at every turn. Every room in the Pyongyang University — yes, named after Kim Il-sung - records how many visits to it 'our beloved and respected leader Comrade Kim Il-sung' has made.

A plaque in the local egg hatchery records that it was 'built under the solicitude of our beloved and respected leader, Comrade Kim Il-sung'. In the words of the leader, it proclaims: 'In order to improve the people's living standard it is essentia to produce more eggs at a lower price' The maxim of every petty trader is thus turned into the wisdom of the great 'Marxist, Kim Il-sung.

Kim's supporters obviously feel that North Korea-population 12 million—is too small a stage for the glory of such a great leader to be fully displayed. In order to prepare to take over the mantle from the ageing Mao Tse-tung, efforts are being made to publicize the genius of Kim on an international scale — through the nedium oi the bourgeois press.

Some while ago a full-page advertisement appeared in, of all places, 'The Times' to draw the world's attention to the worthy Kim whose genius might otherwise have gone unnoticed. Anyone who took their eyes off the Court Circular, the agony column and other regular features of that journal would have found an address to which they could write for further information.

What response there was to this advertisement is presumably known only to the government of North Korea and its advertising agents. Anyhow they were evidently not discouraged for a recent issue of the French weekly 'Nouvel Observateur' contained a double-page spread devoted to Kim Il-sung. One page had a large portrait of the beloved leader, looking surprisingly youthful for a man of 60.

The other contained a list of Kim's major works all on ofter, in French, for upwards of £1.50. For those wishing to be fully documented on this great man there is a three-volume biography totalling no less than 1,888 pages, which must rank it as one of the longest ever written.

A substantial section of the library of the Kim Il-sung university consists of the works of Kim, translated into many languages. The hens are said to be hitting record laying rates, thanks to the thoughts of Comrade Kim.

The name is worth remembering, the Koreans may be buying time on ITV any day now. And what about that colour documentary for BBC 2? as provocations Marchais wants undisputer mastery of any coalition in order to strike at left-wing militants and maintain control over the working class.

It is a recurrence of May-June 1968 which stands in the background of the current negotiations with the Socialist Party. Marchais wants its agreement to a minimum proa gramme reforms foreign policy tailored to suit the needs of the Soviet bureaucracy, notably suppor for a European Security Con ference. ( It was evident from his report that the Party is finding it difficult to impose its line on some of its representatives in local government who already operate as though kind of 'popular front' with the Socialists and the radicals already existed. He complained that they did not fight vigorously enough for the policy of the party.

However sharp the polemics between Marchais and Mitterand, they are not about principled questions, but rather about methods parliamentary electioneering and manoeuvring.

Discussions are continuing with the CP insisting on the need for a common programme and the SP favouring a looser electoral pact so that the less well-placed candidates of the two parties will stand down on the second ballot.

Recently-opened government secret papers in the Public Record Office have thrown new light on the Hunger Marches of the 1920s and 1930s. The papers reveal, for instance, the behind-the-scenes discussions between Cabinet ministers, the police and the judiciary to 'deal with' the him to go from any place, given to him by a police officer for the purpose of dispersing any assembly which by reason of any such order is an unlawful assembly, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £50, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both such a fine and to Brixton prison for two months.

This sparked off an enormous campaign in the labour movement for their release. It was supported not only by the Communist Party but also the official TUC leadership and MPs such as George Lansbury.