The North Korean news agency’s claims that Joseph Muscat and George Abela praised the North Korean regime are dubious at best. Especially since its archives contain further praise from unlikely sources

Former presidents Ugo Mifsud Bonnici and the late Guido de Marco also backed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in statements made while in office, if articles published by the Korean Central News Agency are to be believed.

On 11 April, the KCNA reported that on 5 April, when the outgoing North Korean ambassador in Malta, Han Tae-Song, paid a farewell visit to Dr Abela, the president expressed his deep condolences on the death of Kim Jong-il, apparently describing this as the greatest loss to the Korean people. Dr Abela was also reported as saying that he was pleased with the “great achievements made by the DPRK in building a thriving nation under the wise guidance of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un”, the former leader’s son.

On the following day, the news agency reported on a farewell visit Mr Han paid to Dr Muscat on 3 April, claiming that Dr Muscat said that he was convinced that the centenary of the birth of President Kim Il-Sung – Kim Jong-il’s father – would be greeted “with shining achievements in economic construction under the wise leadership of the dear respected Kim Jong-un.”

More controversially, the Labour leader is reported as saying that “satellite launch is a legitimate right of sovereign states” – in an article which was published on the eve of a failed satellite launch which was strongly condemned by the UN Security Council.

The reports seem outlandish, and both the Labour Party and the Office of the President denied the veracity of the KCNA’s reports. In an editorial, sister paper The Malta Independent on Sunday noted that one could not imagine Dr Abela and Dr Muscat making such statements, and that it would take their word over that of the KCNA.

But the Nationalist Party has apparently taken the KCNA report to be gospel truth, stating that Dr Muscat was seeking to strengthen relations with North Korea like Dom Mintoff had in the past.

This criticism has persisted, and as he did in the previous Sunday, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi again criticised Dr Muscat over the affair in an interview broadcast last Sunday.

Searching the archives

This newspaper thus searched the KCNA’s archives – the ones available online and in English in any case – to find out whether any other references to Maltese politicians exist. These archives only date back to 1997, preventing the newsroom from unearthing earlier articles – including any dating back to when diplomatic relations between Malta and North Korea were particularly warm.

Nevertheless, over 100 articles referring to Malta can be found – but most feature associations and people who are unabashedly pro-North Korean.

Curiously, the surnames of three prominently-featured Maltese supporters of North Korea – Malta-Korea Friendship Association’s secretary-general John Zammit and Communist Party of Malta members Victor Degiovanni and Anthony Vassallo – are consistently misspelt as Jamit, Deguiobani and Vassalo respectively.

But while the MKFA, the CPM and the ‘Group for the Study of Juche Philosophy and Songun Politics in Malta’ are responsible for the lion’s share of references to Malta, a few other curious statements can also be found, reportedly occurring in meetings with the North Korean ambassador of the time.

The PN had actually missed the opportunity to stoke controversy three years ago, when the KCNA had also quoted Dr Muscat, although in this case, he is only referred to as the “leader of the Malta Labour Party”.

In this article Dr Muscat describes the Workers’ Party of Korea as “the most powerful party in the world that enjoys absolute support and trust by the Korean people,” before stating that the party “set store by the long-standing relations of friendship and cooperation between the Malta Labour Party and the WPK and will make efforts to steadily develop the relations in the future”.

As explained earlier, other statements feature Prof. de Marco and Dr Mifsud Bonnici. Dr de Marco was quoted briefly in 2000, when he was President of the Republic, and the KCNA claimed that he “expressed full sympathy with Kim Il-Sung’s words that Korea is one and supported the standpoint of the DPRK to reunify the country by means of confederation.”

Dr Mifsud Bonnici is actually quoted on three occasions – in 1997, 1998 and 1999, when he was President of Malta – and was full of praise for Kim Jong-il on two occasions if the KCNA is to be believed.

In 1997, he reportedly said that “the Maltese people hold the supreme leader of the Korean people comrade Kim Jong-il in high esteem and he has wisely led the Korean people to progress and prosperity under the present complicated international situation”

Dr Mifsud Bonnici’s doubtful adulation of Mr Kim is also reported in a 1998 article, which quotes him as stating that “the Korean people could overcome all difficulties and win a great victory last year thanks to the outstanding guidance of leader Kim Jong-il… this year, too, the Korean people will successfully carry out all the tasks set forth in the joint new year editorial under the wise leadership of General Kim Jong-il.”

He was only briefly mentioned in the 1999 article, in a statement roughly similar to that claimed to have been made by Prof. de Marco a year later.

Another former president – Agatha Barbara – was also mentioned in an article dating back to 1997. She was reportedly elected to chair a preparatory committee formed to celebrate Kim Jong-il’s birthday.

Former prime minister Dom Mintoff is also mentioned in 1997, having reportedly taken part in an “emergency telephone and fax meeting” of the Committee of the International Liaison for Reunification and Peace in Korea (CILRECO) with a number of other socialist politicians.

The meeting concerned an arms build-up by South Korea, and its participants “expressed full support and solidarity for the just proposals of the DPRK government to realise disarmament and establish a durable peace system on the Korean peninsula and for its sincere efforts to put them into practice”.

No other quotes by Maltese politicians could be found – references to past and present presidents, prime ministers, Opposition leaders and foreign ministers were specifically searched for.

But the North Korean government may be disappointed at the government’s recent criticism: When Dr Gonzi was elected in 2008, he was congratulated by his North Korean counterpart, Premier Kim Jong-il, who expressed his belief that long-standing friendly ties would grow stronger before wishing him success.

While similar greetings were also addressed to heads of governments in other countries – including David Cameron – such assertions on strong friendly ties are rarely included, particularly when democratic countries are concerned.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici could not be reached for comment at the time of going to print. But this newspaper can hardly believe that he, Prof. de Marco, Dr Abela and Dr Muscat would be so keen to praise the North Korean regime.

And perhaps, a news agency which consistently depicts North Korea as a paradise – in contrast to the countless tales of those who manage to escape the country – should not be considered a trustworthy source in the first place, regardless of how politically convenient it may be to do so.