Archive for the 'Politics' Category

Daily Press Briefing Jan. 04, 2008: North Korean declaration

Published
by
Jack
on January 6, 2008
in Diplomacy, News, North Korea, Other Topics, Politics, United States and Video
. 0 Comments

Here is the Daily Press Briefing Jan. 04, 2008 with the U.S. Department of State. Sean McCormack gives the press conference:

Full transcript here

QUESTION: On North Korea, the — I just watched a response to their foreign ministry saying that they’ve already made this — about (inaudible)?

MR. MCCORMACK: Right. Well, the first thing I’ll note about what they said is that they are committed to the six-party process. That is, I think, the kicker line in their statement and there is every evidence that they are still committed to the six-party process and are moving forward with the implementation of this phase of the agreement as was outlined back in October.

So disablement continues. They have yet to produce a declaration. Would we have wished they had produced a declaration by now? Absolutely, and when I say “we,” all the other five members of the six-party talks. Chris Hill, when he was in Pyongyang and Sung Kim, when he was in North Korea, talked to them about the importance of producing a full and complete declaration. The Chinese have and I know others have as well. We’re going to continue doing that. We want to see this as soon as possible, but we’re not going to sacrifice fullness and completeness in the interest of time.

But the North Koreans need to get about the business of completing this declaration. It’s important to the process. It is another data point that will indicate that they are, in fact, serious about denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, which is, of course, the objective of the six-party talks. So it proceeds. It is not — would we have wished that it had gone faster? Yes. Part of what Chris Hill is going to do in his tour in Northeast Asia as well as to Moscow is talk about this, talk about it with the other members of the six-party talks and urge them to do what they can to encourage the North Koreans to produce a full and complete declaration.

QUESTION: Is he in Tokyo today or is he en route?

MR. MCCORMACK: He left today. He left the United States today, so — I don’t have his schedule in front of me right now. I went through it yesterday.

QUESTION: Are you suggesting that there’s something about Hawaii that has changed?

MR. MCCORMACK: No, no.

QUESTION: Is it no longer a part of the United States?

MR. MCCORMACK: All right, I left that (inaudible) there.

QUESTION: He left Washington today?

MR. MCCORMACK: He left Washington today. I think — what did I say, he left here today?

QUESTION: You said he left the United States today.

MR. MCCORMACK: Touché, Matt. There we are.

QUESTION: Sean, is the Bush Administration emphasis on this complete and correct declaration, because what they showed you originally wasn’t complete and correct? I mean, it’s — you keep saying it has to be complete and correct –

MR. MCCORMACK: Right.

QUESTION: — leads one to assume, well, maybe what they originally showed you wasn’t complete and correct.

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, look, I know Chris talked to them about this when he was up there and we have had several conversations, as have others about the declaration and I’m not going to get into the specifics of the back and forth, but the fact is they haven’t turned in a final declaration yet. They’re going to turn that in to the Chinese as chair, conveners of the six-party meetings and we don’t have that yet. We look forward to a full and complete declaration. We also look forward to their completing the disablement phase up at Yongbyon. That is moving forward and there is good progress on that.

I just have to emphasize to everybody, when you’re looking at this process, if — while we all wish that these diplomatic processes would unfold as we had planned them, sometimes they don’t. And part of the reasons why they are not right now is we are breaking new ground in terms of what we’re doing, in terms of disabling Yongbyon and in terms of working with North Korea in the six-party talks to get a full, complete picture of their nuclear program, not something that has ever been done before.

So that is why, when you say, “Well, it hasn’t been done by December 31st, what are you going to do,” and we say, well, we’re going to keep working on it within a reasonable period of time, that’s the reason why, because we’re breaking new ground here. This hasn’t been done before. But all of that said, none of what we’re doing is lowering the bar. The North Koreans made certain commitments. We expect them to live up to those commitments. We as well as the other members of the six-party talks made commitments and we are going to fulfill those commitments. It’s going to be action in return for action.

Yeah.

QUESTION: Is Mr. Hill going to meet with President Lee in Seoul? Is that on the agenda?

MR. MCCORMACK: I don’t have his list of meetings for you. We’ll try to detail those for you if we can.

Hmmm, so it will be more wait and see. Gotcha.

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If you cannot get enough DPRK propaganda…

Published
by
Jack
on January 2, 2008
in Cult Of Personality, Economy, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, News, North Korea, Policy Elites, Politics, propaganda and wtf
. 0 Comments

Then I have to suggest you take a gander at http://dprk-economy.com. The web site is colorful and sort of tries to keep up with the times. Unfortunately, there are some bugs in it and I have no idea if they will be fixed (such as the header picture is broken in places), but no matter. The content is kind of interesting if you like propaganda:

1. In the bookshop, do not miss the “best sellers” Idle Pig and Japan’s War Crimes-Past and Present (Warning: this automatically downloads a PDF). Of course, one cannot pass one day without the latest mis-adventures of the Dear Leader in the state run periodicals Pyongyang Times and Korea Today. lastly, no DPRK bookstore is complete without the biographies of Kim Jong Il, Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Suk. After all, they are the focus of everything.

2. Next, you need to take a look at the vibrant economy of the Stalinist Utopia. Nothing is broken down, things are getting produced, and they want your investment today! Make sure to take a close look at some of these products: Pyongyang Daesong Tyre Factory, Pyongyang Cosmetics Factory and the Pyongyang Essential Oil Research Centre (they have oil to research?).

3. Look, a more colorful version of the KCNA!

4. Lastly, open your wallets and buy some stuff today! I have no idea if Americans are allowed to buy things, but it sure looks like it. Why not buy a painting, a movie, bearings, or “daily necessities” such as these beautiful boxing gloves (people working the fields and near starvation need these?)!

There is only one question in all of this. Why was this site not launched on the .kp domain? I mean after all, it would make the DPRK really look like it is finally in the 21st century.

Oh wait, never mind.

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Press Conference with Condi Rice regarding North Korea and other topics

Published
by
Jack
on December 21, 2007
in Diplomacy, News, North Korea, Nukes, Other Regimes, Other Topics, Politics, United States and Video
. 0 Comments

I saw this press conference on C-Span earlier today and found it pretty interesting. Have a watch (about 45 mins.), and decide for yourself what is between the lines:

Specific to North Korea (Full transcript here):

In East Asia, we have made progress this year toward our goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. After agreeing to implement the September 2005 joint statement, North Korea shut down and is now disabling its Yongbyon facilities. We expect North Korea to honor the pledge it made in the six-party talks, to make a complete and accurate declaration of all its nuclear programs. Of course, other challenges and flashpoints of conflict remain in East Asia and we will monitor those closely. In the Taiwan Strait, for example, the United States remains committed to peace and security. We oppose any threat to use force and any unilateral move by either side to change the status quo. We have a One China policy and we do not support independence for Taiwan.

Which goes along with the previous post I made and is making a buzz around the Internet and blogs. The Taiwan issue is interesting and I want to study that further. If other readers have more information and/or background on this, I would be interested. It goes a little further on the issue:

As we have stated in recent months, we think that Taiwan’s referendum to apply to the United Nations under the name “Taiwan” is a provocative policy. It unnecessarily raises tensions in the Taiwan Strait and it promises no real benefits for the people of Taiwan on the international stage. That is why we oppose this referendum.

I guess that makes some sense, but I am not too sure about the broader picture or the history of this issue. Anyway, going back to the nuclear issue, six-party talks and North Korea, with a lot of tight-lipness, a reporter asks about the uranium found in centrifuges:

QUESTION: I’m wondering if you can tell us what you think the significance is of the discovery of enriched uranium on these — the samples of aluminum tubes from the North Koreans. Will this complicate the six-party process and will it — does it raise any flags ahead of the declaration which they are supposed to present in about 10 days?

SECRETARY RICE: Well, I’m not going to comment on specific reports or certainly on intelligence matters, but we have been very clear that we expect a declaration from North Korea that is complete and that is accurate. As you know, we have long been concerned about highly enriched uranium as an alternative route in North Korea and so we expect there to be a declaration that is complete and accurate. I also want to note that there is a considerable diplomatic effort underway not just by the United States, but by other members of the six-party talks to make certain that we can complete this second phase, both with the disablement, which I should underscore is going very well, and with the declaration. I sincerely hope that we’ll — it’ll be by the end of the year. But the key here is to get the process right and we’re going to stay at this until we get it right.

There was some hesitation and seemed open ended when making this statement. That was just my take on it, but like anything North Korea, it is still up in the air on what kind of card North Korea will play next. The ball is clearly in their court right now, and what they will say is unclear at the moment. As stated before, I kind of doubt North Korea will admit any uranium enrichment program. How others including the United States will react to such a thing (if it happens) is another thing altogether. If there is evidence of such activity, how will it affect the talks? That is something I am really interested in seeing taking place. However, Condi seems very mum about any details as expected.

And another question about Iran and North Korea:

QUESTION: Do you — can I ask you a follow-up? Do you see opportunities to visit countries like North Korea and Iran and Syria before the end of your term if they were to significantly improve their (inaudible)?

SECRETARY RICE: Look, we don’t have permanent enemies; the United States doesn’t. What we have is a policy that is open to ending conflict and confrontation with any country that is willing to meet us on those terms. And we’ve given very clear paths with our allies. It’s not a unilateral U.S. policy, but with our allies, we’ve given very clear paths and very clear pathways for improving relations with all of those countries. If, in fact, we continue on a path of completing the next stages on North Korean denuclearization, if the denuclearization continues, then the agreement that we signed in September 2005 and the February 19th agreement of last year is very clear on a pathway toward better political relations between the United States and North Korea. And there can be many different opportunities within that context of improved relations.

And on Iran, I continue to say that if Iran will just do the one thing that is required of it by the Security Council resolutions that have been passed, and that is suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities, then I’m prepared to meet my counterpart anyplace and anytime and anywhere and we can talk about anything. So let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s see if countries are prepared to take that path. But the United States doesn’t have permanent enemies. We’re too great a country for that.

So there is the carrot. Will North Korea take it? Time will tell on that one.

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Opinion - UN Concerned about human rights abuses: North Korea scoffs

Published
by
Jack
on December 20, 2007
in Diplomacy, News, North Korea and Politics
. 0 Comments

Sometimes, I do not understand the mindset of the UN, since it does not really do anything other than write angry letters. In the latest resolution, they seem to have mounting concerns over human rights abuses in North Korea (which is as obvious as the sun comes up). The question is, what do they plan to do about it? Looks like a lot of nothing (Associated Press article):

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution Tuesday expressing “very serious concern” at reports of widespread human rights violations in North Korea, including torture and public executions.

The resolution is not legally binding but carries moral weight and reflects the majority view of world opinion.

(Emphasis mine) Um, it is not legally binding, which means a whole lot of nothing. Sure, UN members can be angry and discuss how crappy the human rights record is in North Korea, but it still does not stop the executions, starvation, lack of free speech and movement. Therefore, what good does a UN resolution do for the folks living behind the barbed wire? They will not see the concern, nor will they see any result from it. That kind of bothers me.

Continue reading ‘Opinion - UN Concerned about human rights abuses: North Korea scoffs’

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Food woes in the DPRK (Resources included)

Published
by
Jack
on December 17, 2007
in Defectors, Diplomacy, Economy, History, Humanitarian Topic, Interesting reading, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, North Korea, Policy Elites, Politics, ROK, Speculation, The region and United States
. 0 Comments

North Korea farmThis article got me thinking a lot, and the food shortages in North Korea seem to be getting worse and worse.

[...]

According to the survey results, which were announced Thursday, North Korea’s gross production of grains such as rice, corn and wheat, was about 4.01 million tons in 2007, down about 470,000 tons from the year before.

North Korea reportedly needs 6.5 million tons of grain to meet domestic demand, meaning it is facing a shortfall of about 2.49 million tons.

Especially devastating were torrential rains in August and a typhoon in September that hit the Korean Peninsula, which resulted in the flooding of about 11 percent of rice paddies in the country. As a result, rice production was 1.53 million tons, down by 360,000 tons from the previous year.

[...]

(Emphasis mine) North Korea’s food shortages are not new, and while I am not a farmer, I have read several places the land has been so overworked and the hills so stripped bare for fuel, the floods made the crops fare even worse. This article shows an eerie foretelling of the events of August 2007:

Photographs which depict a lush, rural environment are misleading. The country needs an average of 1m metric tonnes in food aid a year.

Yes, we have heard about the model farms before, but after the flooding, even some of the best crops were eradicated. Yes, in North Korea, image is everything, but it seems to me the facade is fading fast with the walls cracking and the real face showing behind it. The more that is shown, the bleaker it becomes. After a while, no amount of “spin” will make it better. In my mind, it is only a matter of time before everything is clear to everybody, and that will not be pretty for anybody.

“North Korea is not an agrarian country,” said Kathi Zellweger, a frequent visitor to the country with aid organisation Caritas. It is mostly rugged mountain terrain, and only about 18% is arable.

It is dependent on fertilizer and machinery to make that land productive, both of which are expensive.

Fertilizer and spare parts seem to be a very serious problem. With a growing population, the demand for more food rises (and you guessed it), the State cannot deliver when there is little to farm the land with. As the article goes on to suggest not only natural disasters takes its toll on food production, but decades of political central mismanagement of the Kims made things even worse (Among other things: see One Free Korea’s review of Marcus Noland and Stephen Haggard’s book on the famine - Markets, Aid and Reform as must read):

[...]

“If their farm produces five times as much, they don’t get five times as much food,” he said. Instead, they concentrate on their own private plots, which they use to feed themselves and to produce food for the markets.

The problem with this system is that market reforms, instituted in 2002, have sent prices soaring at a higher rate than wages. “Who can afford this stuff in the markets?” asked Mr French.

The answer: only the elite. Government officials, senior managers of state enterprises, security forces, and the leadership of the army are all unlikely to go hungry.

But a typical urban family can now only afford to buy 4kg of maize - the cheapest commodity - a month.

[...]

As Children of the Secret State suggested, the poor are only left with crumbs. The article only goes further to show a bleaker picture:

The urban diet is partly made up of a ration provided by the government, but this has dropped from 300-250g of cereals per person per day. North Korean officials have told the WFP they expect it to slump to 200g a day.

“The rural folk have already learned how to cope,” said Tim Peters, director of aid agency Helping Hands Korea. “But the urban people are so dependent on the government for distribution.”

As a result, foreign donations that have helped to prop North Korea up in previous years are doubly important this year.

To date, only 270,000 of the 500,000 tonnes of food needed for 2005 has arrived, the WFP says.

Then the prediction comes:

And there is always the risk of natural disaster.

Floods exacerbated the extreme food shortages 10 years ago, and North Korea’s ability to cope with them “is now probably worse”, said Mr French.

Ongoing land clearance has destroyed natural water breaks, “so it all just comes flooding down”.

…and that is precisely what happened with the major floods of August 2007. Then a little while later, a typhoon hits making the situation even worse. Not a lot has been said as to the result of the 2006 floods and how many people are perishing as a result of it, but the ROK did deliver tons and tons of food/medicine aid to the stricken North. If that helped, I am not sure of. However, one thing is clear. North Korea cannot continue to go on like this, and the people at some point are going to rebel especially if the food shortages hit the elite and/or KPA. It seems like it is happening already.

The DailyNK also paints the same shortfall with some reservations. What was the reservation?

[...]

A North Korean expert observed, “Due to the flood this year, the overall crop yield was reduced, but the products from North Korea’s paddy fields which are spread all over the place do not count in official statistics. When considering the food support from the outside world, the food shortage is not at a worrisome level.”

[...]

So this quote suggests the aid seems to be helping some, but I have to say this is still only a band-aid. I simply cannot see this level of suffering going on much longer without a lot of problems. However, I could be wrong, and have been wrong before. Also:

A majority of defectors insisted that the agricultural production level from North Korea’s individually cultivated lands (including paddy fields and fields attached to homes) will surpass the cooperative farms’ 30% standard.

So again, time will only tell, but along with the other news and rumors floating around including a lot of “firsts” for the reclusive regime tells me volumes. Something is changing in North Korea, and it may be bittersweet.

Also, see:

Country Studies

Food Security in North Korea: Designing Realistic Possibilities (PDF)

Famine and Reform in North Korea (PDF - Marcus Noland)

Hunger and Human Rights- The Politics of Famine in North Korea (PDF Haggard, Noland)

Edit: See One Free Korea

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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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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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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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Have a look at the Cold War archives

Published
by
Jack
on November 7, 2007
in History, Korean War, Other Regimes, Politics, ROK, The region and United States
. 0 Comments

Kim Il SungI have been wanting to do this for quite some time, and while I should be finishing the propaganda series, I thought this would be something I want to post instead. The Cold War lasted for many decades, and while it is considered over by many people, for Korea, the Cold War never ended. The division is still there, and Panmunjom is the most visible of the division of ideologies.

I went ahead and looked around for some interesting tidbits in the Cold War Archives and other places to gain a better understanding of the thought process of North Korea and the Korean War.

Not only does this archive cover Korea, it covers other countries as well, and has a host of declassified documents and exchanges with leaders. It is a very interesting read, and it would do the site an injustice to highlight just a few things.

Some other stuff:

Cold War Studies at Harvard University

National Security Archive

CIA

Declassified Korean War Documents

More Korean War documents at Kimsoft

Enjoy the archives. If you know of any other archives that may be of interest to readers, please let me know and I will make sure to add it to the resources.

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Kim Jong Il is slipping in the polls (updated)

Published
by
Jack
on October 16, 2007
in North Korea, Other Regimes, Politics, The region and United States
. 3 Comments

Kim Jong Il needs to work harder because he is #2 as the worst for press freedom. Eritrea came in first. Honestly, I do not know how that country could be any worse, but it must be pretty bad to be ranked #1.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (Yonhap) — North Korea narrowly escaped being branded the country with the least press freedom in the world, coming in second to last after Eritrea, an annual index released by the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday.

North Korea came in 168th among 169 nations that were judged on the level of media freedom in the country. Turkmenistan was just one notch above North Korea.

I? know? Turkmenistan? was pretty bad, but did not think it was that bad. So maybe Kim can celebrate. His placement on the most repressive of regimes is improving somewhat. Perhaps another mass game or a public execution. Who knows?

If you are interested in the report, here it is. Reporters? Without? Borders? gives? the? reason? why? Eritrea? came? in? dead? last:

“There is nothing surprising about this,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Even if we are not aware of all the press freedom violations in North Korea and Turkmenistan, which are second and third from last, Eritrea deserves to be at the bottom. The privately-owned press has been banished by the authoritarian President Issaias Afeworki and the few journalists who dare to criticise the regime are thrown in prison. We know that four of them have died in detention and we have every reason to fear that others will suffer the same fate.”

Hm, North Korea does the same thing, but I guess it makes some sense considering it is a little difficult to go into the gulags and ask around. In any case, those are the winners of the losers in freedom of the press. I am pretty sad to read about the state of the United States:

There were slightly fewer press freedom violations in the United States (48th) and blogger Josh Wolf was freed after 224 days in prison. But the detention of Al-Jazeera’s Sudanese cameraman, Sami Al-Haj, since 13 June 2002 at the military base of Guantanamo and the murder of Chauncey Bailey in Oakland in August mean the United States is still unable to join the lead group.

Those inceidents of the blogger I had no idea about, and as for the Gitmo detainees is a very, very controversial issue, and the United States is very divided on that. I personally do not know what to think of it because a lot of the things going on down there has not all been brought to light other than the propaganda blaring from both sides of the issue. I personally do not care for the idea, but when I say that, I am labled a terrorist sympathizer. I do not support terrorism, but I wonder what is really going on down there. Anyway, this is not a Gitmo debate, this is about freedom of the press.

It? seems? China? is? not? too? friendly? to? bloggers:

Government repression no longer ignores bloggers

The Internet is occupying more and more space in the breakdown of press freedom violations. Several countries fell in the ranking this year because of serious, repeated violations of the free flow of online news and information.

In Malaysia (124th), Thailand (135th), Vietnam (162nd) and Egypt (146th), for example, bloggers were arrested and news websites were closed or made inaccessible. “We are concerned about the increase in cases of online censorship,” Reporters Without Borders said. “More and more governments have realised that the Internet can play a key role in the fight for democracy and they are establishing new methods of censoring it. The governments of repressive countries are now targeting bloggers and online journalists as forcefully as journalists in the traditional media.”

At least 64 persons are currently imprisoned worldwide because of what they posted on the Internet. China? [rank? 163] maintains its leadership in this form of repression, with a total of 50 cyber-dissidents in prison. Eight are being held in Vietnam. A young man known as Kareem Amer was sentenced to four years in prison in Egypt for blog posts criticising the president and Islamist control of the country’s universities.

Pretty scary.? I am all for the freedom of the press without the fear of beatings, prison or repression. As North Korea sits near the very bottom of the barrel, it makes me pretty sad to see the United States at #48. It should be a shining example of freedom, but alas, it is not. Is the report biased? Do they not understand? I am not too sure, but it still makes me sad all the same.

South Korea and Chile are tied at #39, which is not all that great either.

All the same, Reporters Wihtout Boreders is not free from controversy either and is accused of bias. I do not know who runs Counterpunch, but it seems conservative circles do not care for them while the Wikipedia article tends to paint the American left as praising it. Since I do not depend on Wikipedia for accuracy, I am not going to hang my hat on the article. All I know Reporters Without Borders is not free from controversy is all I am trying to get at here.

Here is how Reporters Without Borders compiles this index. I’ll leave it up to the readers to decide if the list is fair or not.

Update:? see? ROK? Drop’s? take? on
this.? I? would? also? love? to? see? a? list? of? the? abuses? of? freedom? given? to? others.

See? NK? EconWatch?

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