Monthly Archive for November, 2007

Avanti Politiikka! concert to play music of the Great and Dear Leaders in Finland

Published
by
Jack
on November 26, 2007
in Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, North Korea and wtf
. 0 Comments

kim-yong-ilfull.jpg(Hat Tip and translation hapo) Original story here

The Avanti Politiikka! concert is breaking barriers again. Compositions by the North Korean leader are performed for the first time in Finland.

Songs that tell about the late leader Kim Il-Sung and the current leader Kim Jong-Il can be found plentifully in the Internet, but their own music has rarely been heard outside North Korea, if ever.

It required a lot of work to find any notes for the concert.

- Usually it’s a routine to get notes. However, finding North Korean compositions became a small advanture, tells clarinette performer Kari Kriikku about the quest that took a year.

He doesn’t want to reveal everything about the matter before the concert.

- It was a fairly new situation for the Koreans. I don’t know if anyone has thought of asking them for notes before.

I’ve multiple times been thinking whether works by known persons like Franklin D. Roosevelt would be shared without problems if they had composed music, thinks Kriikku.

Kriikku started his quest for compositions by the North Korean leaders after he heard they had renewed opera and classical music. The works performed in the Avanti Politiikka! concert are Asian basic works by their nature.

- The songs that are performed are local, simple folk music. The interesting thing is that they’re like from a psalm book.

They have a melody, tone signs and lyrics, Kriikku describes.

- We have the information we have received from these songs. They’re intended for average singers. By their type they’re verse songs, in the other of which the important of the mother is and then they tell in the end how important the leader is, says Kriikku.

The songs are performed in Korean. The text is lyrical language that can be understood in many ways. Translating it into English would have required more time than the arrangers of the concert had.

More information about Kim Jong-Il’s interest in also other areas like making movies can be found at the website IMDd (sic).

Avanti! performs the music by the leaders on 25th November in the grand Avanti Politiikka! concert at the Old Student House. The programming also has music by Henry VIII, Ivan IV of Russia and Frederick II of Prussia.

There’s also music that has burning ideas in the pace of Haydn and Sibelius.

11/25/2007 at 7 PM, Old Student House, Helsinki. Chamber orchestra Avanti, lead by Hannu Lintu; the choirs Otaniemen Kaiku, Dominante and Murtosointu; Petri Bäckström, narrator; Pasi Heikura, announcer

Tickets 20/10 euros

Thanks for the translation, and this is indeed some interesting news. I have never seen North Korean songs played elsewhere to my knowledge. I wonder if there would be footage later on somewhere.

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The ROK presidential race is kicking off (Update)

Published
by
Jack
on November 25, 2007
in News, Politics and ROK
. 1 Comment

There is a lot of Korea news to cover today, and one of those is the presidential race for South Korea. This is a race to watch closely, and I will post the changes as they take place. Current numbers:

In a sign of how voter sentiment is so strongly tilted away from Mr. Roh’s ruling party, the Lee Hoi-chang became the second-place contender in opinion polls after saying three weeks ago that he would join the race. Two surveys late last week put support for Lee Myung-bak at just over 40%, for Lee Hoi-chang at 20% and for Chung Dong-young, the ruling party candidate, at 14%.

Also, I did not know this:

The registration process also provided legal cover for frontrunner Lee Myung-bak, a former businessman and Seoul mayor who has repeatedly been accused of being involved in fraudulent activities. Under South Korean law, presidents and candidates for the office can’t be accused of a crime.

Last week, prosecutors questioned one of Mr. Lee’s former associates who claims the candidate was directly connected to a company that failed and defrauded investors. Prosecutors previously cleared Mr. Lee of any involvement in the failed company. But the new investigation could have damaged Mr. Lee if they leveled new charges before he was officially registered as a candidate.

“I hope prosecutors will find the truth through fair investigations as quickly as possible,” Mr. Lee said in a statement yesterday. He again asserted that he wasn’t involved in any illegal activity.

What is the story behind this, and if he were cleared of wrongdoing why is it an issue? Perhaps readers can help me understand this. In any case, it should be interesting to watch.

Yonhap has profiles for the candidates as well:

SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Yonhap) — The following are the profiles of South Korea’s three major candidates for the Dec. 19 presidential election. Each enjoys support ratings of more than 10 percent in opinion polls.

Lee Myung-bak — the opposition Grand National Party

Lee would become the first businessman turned head-of-state in South Korean history if he wins the presidential election in December.

The 66-year-old Lee, a former Seoul mayor and ex-CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co., commands a roughly 40 percent approval rating, the highest among presidential candidates. But some believe that Lee might falter in the run-up to the election because of suspicions that he was entangled in illegal stock manipulation involving an investment advisory company called BBK, now being investigated by prosecutors.

Before Lee enter politics, he worked for Hyundai’s construction company from 1965 to 1992, heading the company for more than half of the time he worked for it, and contributing to South Korea’s economic miracle after the 1950-53 Korean War.

Lee, who earned the nickname “bulldozer” for his aggressive style at Hyundai, won a seat in the National Assembly in 1992 and 1996. He was elected mayor of Seoul in 2002, with his four-year tenure ending in late June in 2006.

Lee Hoi-chang — independent

Conservative Lee, who is calling for a tough policy on North Korea, a pro-business environment and an end to the “leftist regime”, is running for president for the third straight time. He lost in 1997 and 2002 as a candidate of the conservative Grand National Party (GNP).

Lee, 72, an independent presidential candidate, enjoys about 20 percent support following the GNP’s standard-bearer Lee Myung-bak. Critics claim Lee Hoi-chang’s third presidential bid will divide the conservative vote.

Born to an elite family, Lee rose quickly to success in South Korea. He became a judge at the age of 25 and the youngest-ever Supreme Court judge at 45.

Lee entered party politics in 1996 as a lawmaker of the New Korea Party, the predecessor of the GNP, and was the GNP’s presidential candidate in 1997 and 2002. But he lost to underdog liberal candidate Roh Moo-hyun in 2002, in part because of allegations that his two sons dodged military service by fabricating data bout their health. After his defeat, Lee announced his departure from politics.

Chung Dong-young — the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP)

The 54-year-old Chung, who supports rapprochement with North Korea, worked for local broadcasting company MBC as a reporter and an anchor until the early 1990s. His political career began in 1996 as spokesman for then opposition leader Kim Dae-jung, South Korea’s former president.

Chung served two terms as a lawmaker with the then-ruling New Millennium Democratic Party, and after losing in the party’s primary race ahead of the 2002 presidential election, threw his support to then-underdog contender Roh Moo-hyun.

Chung, named unification minister in 2005, transformed himself into an expert on inter-Korean relations. As unification minister, he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang while the North was boycotting the multilateral talks on its nuclear weapons program.

But his ties with Roh soured as the president’s approval rating fell, and Chung led dozens of lawmakers to defect from the now-defunct Uri Party. He played a key role in creating the UNDP.

Well, the huge surprise of the century: Looks like the GNP Lee is going to win by a large margin:

A former Seoul mayor who bills himself as a pro-business conservative is expected to become South Korea’s next president by an overwhelming margin when voters go to the polls on Wednesday. As VOA’s Kurt Achin reports from Seoul, Lee Myung-bak is appealing directly to South Korea’s tradition of economic pragmatism.

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The Path To Succession: Kim Jong Chol?

Published
by
Jack
on November 25, 2007
in Kim Jong Il, News, North Korea and Speculation
. 1 Comment

jongchol2.gifIt seems Kim Jong Nam has not been assigned to any positions in North Korea according to the latest news wires. The latest speculation suggests Kim Jong Il has named Kim Jong Chol in a key position in the KWP:

TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has named his second eldest son to a major post, making him the top candidate to eventually take over as head of the reclusive state, a Japanese newspaper reported on Saturday.

Kim appointed Kim Jong-chol as deputy chief of a leadership division in the ruling Workers’ Party, the Mainichi Shimbun said, quoting sources close to the North Korean government.

This article did not say what position Chol has taken, but I linked to another source that states it is the Guidance Department. Kim Jong Il held this department before getting named successor (link and emphasis is mine):

Kim Jong-Chul, 27, had recently become vice chief of the ruling Korean Workers’ Party’s organisation and guidance department, the Mainichi Shimbun said, quoting several unnamed sources close to the North Korean administration.

The position, regarded as one of the party’s most important posts, was assumed by Kim Jong-Il in 1969 before he succeeded his late father Kim Il-Sung, it said.

However, in earlier reports, it was suggested Kim Jong Nam returned to Pyongyang to work at the department. It could still be true because no official word of any of Kim’s sons has comer down the pike to be named in any key position. It could be sources “close to the North Korean government”, but it is still guesswork and unclear no matter what. The succession and any succession issues are a very closely guarded secret.

Kim Jong-Chul had an office in the same building as his father, from whom he often received direct guidance, the report said.

Hm, interesting.

The organisation and guidance department is a seen as one of the ruling party’s most powerful, as it has the authority to shuffle personnel and censor other departments.

The son was now seen as front-runner to take over the world’s only communist family dynasty, as his two brothers had no positions in the ruling party which controls the reclusive state, it said.

There had been rumours from the imporverished and isolated nation that Kim Jong-Il’s oldest son Kim Jong-Nam, 36, had belonged to the guidance department, but they had been denied, the Mainichi said.

I wonder who the source of this information is? Of course, nobody knows, but all the same, it is pretty interesting since North Korea is an intelligence black hole. If the report is true, it should be pretty significant, but again, so were the reports of Kim Jong Nam which now seems to be not the case. All the same, this is speculation.

Kim’s youngest son, Kim Jong-Woon, 24, now served in the nation’s military and was largely seen to have dropped out of the succession race, it said.

I have not heard much about Woon either, but again, it does not mean a whole lot at this point. Naturally:

There is no official confirmation of the Japanese newspaper report, either in North or South Korea.

Will the dynasty survive? I doubt it, but I have been wrong before, and as with anything North Korea, one can only watch and see what happens.

Update: See DPRK Studies.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Published
by
Jack
on November 22, 2007
in DPRK Forum Blurbs and Other Topics
. 0 Comments

It’s thanksgiving in America, and today learned Korea has a “Thanksgiving” called Chusok. I learn something new everyday. In any case, have a safe and happy holiday one and all.

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Propaganda Time!

Published
by
Jack
on November 22, 2007
in Video and wtf
. 1 Comment

Elections are fair and balanced in the DPRK. I wonder who won the last election?

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The Path To Succession: Jang Song-thaek in the NDC

Published
by
Jack
on November 22, 2007
in News and North Korea
. 0 Comments

Some interesting news on Yonhap today.

jangsongthaek.jpg

It may not mean anything, but reports suggest Kim is reshuffling the cabinet to make way for the path to succession:

His return may indicate that Kim wants to be surrounded by relatives in order to implement a policy shift for the destitute state or outline a succession path, analysts said.

Again, that is only speculation, but the reinstatement of family members may be indicative of something. Now the question is, if it is the path to succession, who is the next in line? I am not placing any bets because as with anything North Korea, surprises always await us.

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Kim Jong Il will allow the Interwebs?

Published
by
Jack
on November 21, 2007
in News, North Korea, Politics and ROK
. 0 Comments

ChungI ran into this article regarding the campaign of Chung:

At a forum on IT policy in Seoul, he also pledged to offer cheap and fast Internet services to the North, if elected president.

“I learned the importance of IT through a recent reunion of separated families via video here,” Chung said. “I believe that the technology exchange can act like a blood vessel to connect South and North Korea.”

How? Cell phones, international periodicals, broadcasts and outside information are banned to the vast majority of North Koreans. With those things banned in the DPRK, how in the world does Chung plan to convince Kim Jong Il to allow Internet on a wider scale in his secluded worker’s paradise?

As from previous posts on DPRK Forum, the North has the Internet via satellite, and is limited to the policy elites. Also, the .kp domain is up and running with only a few sites. This is a nice feel good prospect, but that is about it. I do not see how this is going to work, how it is going to be hammered out, and of course, there is the cost. With that said, there are other obvious difficulties.

A vast majority of North Koreans do not have the barest of basic necessities such as food, medicine, housing or electricity let alone a computer. Sure, the infrastructure could be installed and more computer centers made (Some are already in North Korea), but what good will it do if the vast majority of folks cannot get outside information? Should human rights be considered before thinking about spending untold millions if not billions on Internet?

More on the Internet (older article)

But to the extent that students and researchers at universities and a few other lucky souls have access to computers, these are linked only to each other — that is, to a nationwide, closely-monitored Intranet — according to the OpenNet Initiative, a human rights project linking researchers from the University of Toronto, Harvard Law School and Cambridge and Oxford Universities in Britain.

A handful of elites have access to the wider Web — via a pipeline through China — but this is almost certainly filtered, monitored and logged.

This I was not aware of. I did know about the satellite link. The link also talks about the pipeline from China as well.

Some small “information technology stores” — crude cybercafes — have also cropped up. But these, too, connect only to the country’s closed network. According to The Daily NK, a pro-democracy news site based in South Korea, computer classes at one such store cost more than six months wages for the average North Korean (snipurl.com/DailyNK). The store, located in Chungjin, North Korea, has its own generator to keep the computers running if the power is cut, The Daily NK site said.

[...]

The problem is much more vexing for North Korea, Professor Zittrain said, because its “comprehensive official fantasy worldview” must remain inviolate. “In such a situation, any information leakage from the outside world could be devastating,” he said, “and Internet access for the citizenry would have to be so controlled as to be useless. It couldn’t even resemble the Internet as we know it.”

But how long can North Korea’s leadership keep the country in the dark?

Good question. Perhaps Chung should consider this as well. Because the North Korean regime relies on this Utopian view and keeping people away from outside influences, chances are, the normal populace will not have access to the Internet provided by the South.

Of course, there are no polls indicating whether the average North Korean would prefer nuclear arms or Internet access (or food, or reliable power), but given Mr. Kim’s interest in weapons, it is a safe bet it would not matter.

I would think the normal North Korean would prefer to have the latter than the former. However, that is just my opinion on the matter.

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UN has concerns about human rights in North Korea (update)

Published
by
Jack
on November 20, 2007
in Diplomacy, Humanitarian Topic, North Korea, ROK and The region
. 0 Comments

North Korea can give a rat’s ass about the U.N., and the latest resolution is just a piece of paper to them. I can see Kim Jong Il laughing right now as he orders more innocent people to be sent to the gulags.

A U.N. General Assembly committee adopted a draft resolution Tuesday expressing “very serious concern” at persistent reports of widespread human rights violations in North Korea including torture, inhumane conditions of detention and public executions.

The assembly’s human rights committee approved the resolution by a vote of 97-23 with 60 abstentions, including South Korea. The draft now goes to the 192-member General Assembly for a final vote.

Why does this not surprise me?

The draft resolution, co-sponsored by more than 50 countries including the United States and many other Western nations, also expresses “very serious concern” at North Korea’s refusal to cooperate with the U.N.’s special investigator on human rights in the country.

Yes, that would cause some concern, but words do not do much for those getting publicly executed, living in substandard conditions, or getting tortured does it? Of course North Korea is not going to be cooperative with the U.N’s special investigator on human rights. This is as obvious as the nose on your face.

North Korea said it “categorically resents” the draft resolution which it said is “filled with fabrications” and “cannot be justified in any case” because it does not also condemn human rights violations committed by the countries co-sponsoring it.

Yes, of course it is all a lie. Those risking life to leave the country is just doing it for heck of it. It is fun to cross the river and play “dodge the bullets” or “bribe that guard”. The strongly worded resolution includes the following:

The draft cites North Korea’s “all-pervasive and severe restrictions on the freedoms of thought, conscience, religion, opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association” by persecuting people exercising these rights and barring their freedom of movement and travel abroad.

It singles out “the persistence of continuing reports of systematic, widespread and grave violations of civil, political and economic, social and cultural rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea including torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including inhuman conditions of detention, public executions, extrajudicial and arbitrary detention…”

Yes, pretty strong words. One question. Why are these concerns not expressed in the many talks with North Korea? The issue is completely ignored. They just do not want to get Kim mad. Instead, it is easier just to write a mad letter. What a waste of time.

Another surprise:

South Africa, Syria, Sudan, Venezuela, Libya and Egypt were among countries opposing the draft.

Alright, maybe not a huge surprise there. It does not really matter anyway. North Korea is going to simply brush this off, give the international hand gesture and continue business as usual. In the meantime, the coddling continues, the unchecked aid gets sent, the untold billions of dollars gets poured into the cooperative projects, and millions are sent to Kim to agree to meetings. He does not meet anybody without a price.

The draft resolution “strongly calls on” North Korea to urgently resolve the issue, an appeal reiterated by the Japanese who said Pyongyang should let abductees return to Japan and other countries they came from.

Kim Jong Il: “I am right on it!”

Continue reading ‘UN has concerns about human rights in North Korea (update)’

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Korean Unification Blues

Published
by
Jack
on November 16, 2007
in DPRK Forum Blurbs
. 0 Comments

Korean Unification Blues: a must read at Marmot’s and DPRK Studies. This is regarding unification challenges and speculation.

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My life officially sucks

Published
by
Jack
on November 15, 2007
in Other Topics
. 6 Comments

Blog entries may be slow coming because things in my life have turned for the worse. I will not get into details here, but it may mean a lot of things such as slower updates or even this blog getting shut down. I am not really sure yet. Things may go along just fine, but right now, it does not look very good.

Thank you, and have a nice day.

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Open thread: Egagement - good idea or not?

Published
by
Jack
on November 14, 2007
in open thread
. 4 Comments

Today, readers are free to discuss engagement.

An interview with Jake and his trip to North Korea (Part 1)

Published
by
Jack
on November 13, 2007
in Interviews, North Korea, Pictures and Travel
. 7 Comments

Before I begin this post, I would like to extend my deep appreciation for Jake to take the time to conduct this interview. He has been patient and kind enough to let me post some of his pictures of his trip along with some of his experiences. This is indeed a nice treat, and hope you readers enjoy this post.

Please note, some of the questions and answers were out of sync along with typos, so I proofread it the best I could, but I kept the questions and answers as exact as I conducted the interview. Jake will also approve of this posting, so he has final say as to what is said here. Again, I would like to extend my gratitude for such a request.

Without further ado…

Continue reading ‘An interview with Jake and his trip to North Korea (Part 1)’

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ReACH’s E-Mail: Abuction

Published
by
Jack
on November 11, 2007
in Humanitarian Topic, North Korea, The region and Video
. 0 Comments

dvdfinalcover3.jpgIn case readers do not get ReACH’s E-Mail, I got one regarding a potentially interesting documentary:

Dear Supporter of ABDUCTION,

November 15th marks 30 years since Megumi Yokota was kidnapped by North Korean spies. As many of you know, her family continues to try to get her back. To mark this important day, Safari Media is releasing, for the first time, the DVD of the film which includes never-before-seen footage, special features and bonus material. It also includes subtitles in 8 languages including English, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, French and others. As a supporter of the film, we are letting you know about the release before the media or anyone else since supplies are limited. We hope you’ll tell your friends and family about the DVD and take advantage of this opportunity to share Megumi’s story with them.

To buy it now, go to www.abductionfilm.com

I would love to get this when I get more money, but you folks may be interested in checking it out.

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Sakhalin Koreans

Published
by
Jack
on November 11, 2007
in News, North Korea, ROK and The region
. 0 Comments

Exiled Koreans Return After 60 Years - Reading the story, it is pretty heartbreaking, and this is something I never heard about until now:

Starting in the 1920s, some 150,000 Koreans were brought 1,000 miles from Gyeongsangbuk province in Korea to the southern half of Sakhalin, off Siberia’s coast, then controlled by the Japanese. The province was chosen possibly to prevent the Koreans living near Japan from inundating the Japanese mainland to work.

The Koreans were pressed into coal mining, logging and construction. They worked in harsh conditions, amid the forests and mountains where brown bears roam and rivers teem with salmon.

After Japan lost World War II, the Soviet Union took over all of Sakhalin, including about 23,500 remaining Korean residents. Some of the Koreans had died in the war or from hard labor, while others had left.

Those still here were effectively stranded, since the Soviets had no diplomatic relations with what became South Korea, the U.S.-aligned country that was now home to their old province.

Sakhalin during the Soviet era was a “closed” border area, meaning outsiders needed special permission to enter. One of its many military bases housed the warplanes that in 1983 shot down Korean Air flight 007 for straying into Soviet airspace, killing all 269 people aboard.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviets allowed communist North Korea to lure away several hundred of the Korean youth. Some of the brightest are believed to have gone, in the false hope they could get back to South Korea.

Sakhalin Koreans got a glimpse of their former homeland on television during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Its broad highways and high-rise buildings amazed a people who had left the poor, agrarian peninsula, said Chi Bok I, an announcer for Sakhalin’s Korean-language TV station who returned to Korea in October.

Over time, many Sakhalin Koreans took Russian names — Pak called herself Masha — and tried to integrate into Soviet society. But they faced discrimination, with Moscow shuttering Korean-language schools in the 1960s. Only after the Soviet reforms known as perestroika in the 1980s were the Koreans allowed again to start learning their own language.

Today, some 30,000 Koreans live on Sakhalin, a harpoon-shaped island with an area roughly three-quarters that of South Korea but a population of only about 547,000. The Koreans include the descendants of the original group and some who came later from parts of the former Soviet Union and North Korea.

The Korean cultural presence is strong in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the island’s capital city of more than 170,000 people, nestled in a valley backed by mountains. Markets feature kimchi — Korean pickled cabbage _and restaurants serve Korean cuisine.

About 2,000 of the estimated 3,000 elderly who qualify for repatriation are choosing to go home, according to the South Korean Foreign Ministry.

Since I did not know much about this area, I wen to Google to look it up, and reading it leads me to understand the hostility towards Japan. DPRK Studies has an article about the controversy surrounding the comfort women described in this overview of Sakhalin Korean Documentary (which I would like to see by the way):

A dark shadow cast by Japan and its responsibility for the continuing predicament of the Koreans of Sakhalin looms over the film. The overwhelming anger towards the former colonizer felt by the interviewees some fifty years after liberation is more than palpable, and the narration itself appears to endorse the view that blame for the ongoing sadness of these people lies with the Japanese. Although Japan’s forcible conscription of “comfort women” has begun to command international attention, the plight of the Sakhalin Koreans continues to go largely unnoticed, and the documentary can be seen as advocating that the Japanese should offer compensation for their wartime misdeeds.

Wikipedia Entry on this topic

I plan to research this more, and anybody that has further information, I would be grateful.

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A closer look at propaganda Part 2: Utopian dreams

Published
by
Jack
on November 10, 2007
in Cult Of Personality, Juche Idea, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, North Korea, Politics, Speculation, United States and propaganda
. 0 Comments

Kim Jong Il

In the last part of the series, I discussed public relations and the story of Edward Bernays. His idea was to control the masses by appealing to the wants, feelings and inner desires. He renamed the profession to public relations because the word “propaganda” has such a negative tone in America, and he was right. Here, when the word propaganda is used, from what I have seen, is perceived as something insulting. However, in my view, propaganda is not necessarily a bad word, but became a bad word because the truth is skewed very radically. In America, propaganda is still a very powerful tool, and we see it everyday. As I said before, propaganda may have some similarities to other regime ideals and the like, but the similarities end on how they go about the strategy. The difference I have noticed with the public relations of freer nations like America vs. a totalitarian regime for example like Nazi Germany or North Korea, is that in freer nations, we can counter propaganda with skepticism and even rejection, while in more authoritarian societies, the propaganda cannot be questioned openly. Today, we focus on the possible propaganda strategies of North Korea and how it may have similarities in the art/science of public relations, but I am going to venture a wild guess it is not based on the ideas of Edward Bernays.

As usual: Please be aware this is an ongoing research project, and information contained in this post may have glaring factual or missing information that I may not be aware of. If anybody has any insight that will make me better understand it, please say so in the comments and I will love to take your views into consideration and learn something. That is the whole goal of this blog.

Continue reading ‘A closer look at propaganda Part 2: Utopian dreams’

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