The crisis. The enigma. The controversy.
I have bee looking for this all over the place and here they are. Before you look at these videos, make sure to read One Free Korea where extensive analysis is made regarding the food and economic situation. This, in my opinion, is a must see.
Edit: I think there is a part missing, so I will watch for that.
Part 1:
Part 2:
I think Joshua said he attended this. I wonder where he is at…
This post may be more about questions than a review. Before I posted the video North Korean Junket, I did not see the entire thing, but figured it would interesting to post because it had some footage I have never seen before (or so I assumed). A few hours later when I had some time to watch the entire thing, I noticed Curtis Melvin was in it. A little further into the video, saw one of the very first North Korean video clips I ever ran into on YouTube on what I call “Yankee go home”. That was kind of entertaining, but mainly because I did not know the entire scope of the circumstances in the video. Not until this video and reading the North Korean Junket blog did I have the foggiest idea of what happened on that 2004 trip.
I have to say I felt pretty dumb.
I took another gander at NKEconWatch’s DPRK trip of 2004 to get a better understanding of that trip, although little of the Andrew Morse incident was talked about. That does not really matter. The purpose of the video was to get a better understanding of what North Korea was like. North Korean Junket gave a glimpse of that whether North Korea and/or the Korean Friendship Association intended to or not. The Andrew Morse incident did give some insight on just how firm the iron grip of Kim Jong Il is. All information is heavily censored, and people going to visit North Korea have to follow protocol. Furthermore, if one is smart, it is best to censor yourself. What appears to be ironic is while North Korea wants others to give an honest assessment of the DPRK (as rare as it is), they seem surprised and angry when another opinion (even sugar-coated) is given. Anything other than the official line is a lie and must be stopped. That was my overall impression of the video and the actions conducted by the Korean Friendship Association and the regime.
Overall, it is pretty rare for journalists to go to North Korea especially journalists from the United States. They are under special scrutiny even if they claim otherwise as suggested in that documentary. It appears to me Andrew Morse truly went to North Korea with the intent to give another view of North Korea, but as well know that is an impossibility with minders in tow censoring every step you take. Stepping over the line means serious problems as this video showed. According to a reply by the documentary’s director:
[...] There’s not that much of the story that didn’t make it to the video other than the former communications secretary resigned and got in a scuffle with Big Al at the end of the trip.
Who was the former communication’s secretary and Big Al?
[...] At one point Andrew asked to be taken to the Swiss embassy but he told me not to film him doing so before I could hit the record button. He apologized later though.
That suggests things were not going very swimmingly. Obviously, things were not as serious as it could have possibly been because Curtis got to go on another trip and Andrew Morse seems to still be a journalist (I do not watch ABC News, so I did not know anything about the guy until seeing this video and reading a bit about the backdrop). However, according to the blog post, the KFA has stopped people bringing in cameras (although Alejandro Cao de Benos obviously loves hamming it up for the camera):
Since the International March for Korea’s Peace and Reunification in 2004, the KFA has still been organizing trips to North Korea. But they don’t let just anyone take video like they did with me anymore. To that extent I’m grateful to the KFA for letting me use my videocamera. I’m also thankful for their crudity, because crudity makes compelling video.
That is no surprise. In my opinion, it is the good old censorship action at work, and that will not change anytime soon. I have to say while it took quite a bit of guts to attempt to get another viewpoint of North Korea, the hard questions asked were delivered in softball fashion. That is understandable considering they were on DPRK soil, and again, any mis-steps could be unpredictable. On the other hand, during the Philharmonic visit, reporters also had minders in tow and openly talked about the problems inside the secret state. When I saw that, I was very, very surprised they let that go. I cannot answer as to why it flew, but I am going to guess the Philharmonic paid a handsome amount to Kim Jong Il. Everything has a price, especially favor in North Korea.
So there was the KFA spinning away and spouting the official line, and in the end, the special was not aired on TV because Alejandro Cao de Benos was an asshole. That does not matter, because as Friends of Kim, the purpose is to be soldiers for the Juche cause asshole or not.
ROK Drop originally posted this a while back, and found it again for those of you who missed it. It is a fantastic documentary and is should not be missed. Enjoy!
Sad news: The videos in which this documentary was stored is no longer in operation. I am very sad it had to go, but it is. I am so sorry it is not around anymore because it was truly an awesome resource.
While Stage 6 is long gone, on my travels found it again. Enjoy:
Yes, I think I see Curtis from NKEconWatch in this video because he is as well as some others. I saw the smaller clips on YouTube with Alejandro Cao de Benos de Les y Pérez yelling “Yankee go home!” I think I posted that a while back. This looks like the full video. Here is the description of the video:
[...]
In 2004 I went to North Korea to make a video. I had little idea about how the trip would turn out, other than it was organized by a group called the Korean Friendship Association. It’s leader, Alejandro Cao de Benos, is a megaphone for the North Korean government.
The KFA wants to show Westerners its verion of reality in North Korea which is little more than a Potemkin Village. Alejandro would probably say that I have been brainwashed by CNN for describing North Korea as a Potemkin Village, or for calling North Korea North Korea, instead of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (or DPRK).
Andrew was in North Korea to do a feature for ABC’s ‘Nightline’. His story never made it to air because his hotel room was broken into and his tapes were stolen. That is, his North Korean experience was authentic. I’m just glad I was around to capture some of it on video.
[...]
I have been falling behind on the posting of videos and other articles messing around with the podcasts, but things should be running smoothly very soon. In the meantime, enjoy this video.
Make sure to check out CNN’s special investigative report on North Korea:
CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour travels to North Korea as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra makes a historic visit to one of the world’s most closed societies. She examines the tense standoff with the U.S. over nuclear weapons and provides a rare look inside a notorious, top-secret nuclear facility. Watch Saturday and Sunday, 8 & 11 p.m. ET.
CNN’s other special investigations report Inside North Korea was excellent, so if this one is as good as the last one, it is going to be a must see. In the spirit of that, here is the video of that special if you have not seen it already.
Update: See the CNN article and the Notes from North Korea in depth page.
Sphere: Related ContentThis is all over the news, so there is not a lot for me to add. Here is a report by the AP:
The rebuttal from Al-Jazeera:
Timeline of North Korea’s nuclear weapons activities:
_ 1994: North Korea and the United States sign an agreement under which the North shuts down its plutonium-based nuclear reactor in exchange for help building two “light water” nuclear reactors for producing electricity.
_ Sept. 17, 1999: President Clinton agrees to first major easing of economic sanctions against North Korea since the Korean War’s end in 1953.
_ Jan. 29, 2002: President Bush labels North Korea, Iran and Iraq an “axis of evil.”
_ Oct. 4, 2002: North Korea tells visiting U.S. delegation it has a uranium enrichment program, Washington says.
_ Nov. 21, 2002: U.S.-led consortium says it is suspending construction of light water reactors.
_ Dec. 28, 2002: North Korea orders U.N. nuclear inspectors to leave the country.
_ Jan. 11, 2003: North Korea withdraws from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
_ Feb. 26, 2003: North Korea is reported to have restarted Yongbyon reactor, which U.S. officials say was designed to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons but which North Korea maintains is for energy production.
_ Aug. 27-29, 2003: North Korea joins first round of six-nation nuclear talks in Beijing, which include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S., which continue periodically over the next several years.
_ Feb. 10, 2005: North Korea announces it has nuclear weapons.
_ July 5, 2006: North Korea launches seven missiles into the Sea of Japan, prompting a U.N. Security Council resolution to condemn it.
_ Oct. 9, 2006: North Korea says it has conducted its first-ever nuclear test.
_ Oct. 14, 2006: U.N. Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution imposing wide-ranging economic and diplomatic sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear test.
_ Feb. 13, 2007: North Korea agrees at six-nation talks on initial steps to disarmament.
_ July. 14, 2007: North Korea says it has shut down its Yongbyon plutonium-reactor. IAEA inspectors arrive in Pyongyang.
_ Aug. 17, 2007: The IAEA says its agents have confirmed the shutdown of four nuclear facilities at Yongbyon and an unfinished nuclear power plant at Taechon.
_ Sept. 2, 2007: The U.S. says North Korea agreed during talks in Geneva to declare and disable its nuclear programs by the end of the year — the first time it has offered a timeline.
_ Sept. 6, 2007: Israeli warplanes bomb a Syrian nuclear reactor site allegedly built with North Korean design help.
_ Oct. 3, 2007: The six parties agree that North Korea will provide a complete list of its nuclear programs and disable its facilities and its main reactor by Dec. 31.
_ Nov. 5, 2007, North Korea starts disabling the Yongbyon reactor under the watch of U.S. experts.
_ Dec. 31, 2007: North Korea misses its deadline for declaring all its nuclear programs.
_ Feb. 22, 2008: North Korea opens its main nuclear reactor in Yongbyon to foreign media for the first time. American researchers say North Korean officials told them they had slowed the removal of fuel rods because the United States and other nations fell behind in supplying aid promised under the disarmament deal.
_ March 28, 2008: North Korea test-fires a barrage of short-range missiles in an apparent angry response to the new South Korean government’s tougher stance on Pyongyang.
_ April 24, 2008: The White House breaks its silence and says North Korea assisted Syria’s secret nuclear program and that the nuclear reactor destroyed by Israel was not intended for “peaceful purposes.”
Update: see One Free Korea’s post. Very good read.
Update: See ROK Drop.
A big thanks to Saku for the videos because they have been entertaining. Please note a lot of the footage may be similar because clips are available on songonblogspot and are in other propaganda time postings here on DPRK Forum. It took me a while to learn how to upload these things, but it is smooth sailing now. At any rate, enjoy the video, and I will post more as I upload more to Google.
Update: This video was removed from Google video because of… get this… a copyright violation. What a huge irony.
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The USS Pueblo itself is not the oddity as it is the propaganda value of the ship that sits as a trophy in Pyongyang. On every travelogue I have seen be it photos or video showcase this captured ship. For the sake of my own research and to have it as a reference for later, I will post it here today. This is probably well-known and may be yawn-inducing for most North Korea watchers and/or military history buffs. Therefore, if this posting is redundant, please forgive me, and I promise to make a better oddity later.
Google Map location of the USS Pueblo
[...]
The third Pueblo (AGER–2), built for the Army Transportation Corps as FP–344, a general purpose supply vessel, by the Kewaunee Shipbuilding and Engineering Corp., Kewaunee, Wise., was launched 16 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. C. L. Duvall; and delivered to the Army 5 July 1944. Later redesignated FS–344, the supply vessel served in the Philippines as an Army harbor craft. She was taken out of service in 1954 and laid up, first at Clatskanie, Ore., then at Rio Vista, Calif. No longer needed by the Army she was transferred to the Navy 12 April 1966; renamed Pueblo (AKL–44), 18 June 1966; converted to an environmental research vessel at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard; redesignated AGER–2 2 May 1967; and commissioned 13 May 1967, Comdr. Lloyd M. Bucher in command.
Following shakedown and operations off the west coast, Pueblo departed San Diego 6 November 1967, enroute to Pearl Harbor and Yokosuka, Japan. Arriving at the latter 1 December, Pueblo was assigned to intelligence and oceanographic data collection duties in the Sea of Japan. On 23 January 1968, while in international waters, the ship was closed by a North Korean patrol boat and ordered to heave to or be fired upon. Pueblo continued on. Additional patrol craft later joined the first and, after firing on Pueblo and wounding four of her crew, boarded the AGER and took her into Wonsan harbor. Her 80 surviving crew members and two civilian oceanographers, held captive for 11 months, were released at Panmunjom 23 December 1968.
Added links are mine. The capture was well covered and I will get to that in a moment, but what is interesting is the North Korean line found on the Woodrow Wilson Cold War Archives.
The DPRK capture of American spy ship, the Pueblo, and the support by the Soviet Union were discussed. Soviet Union assures the DPRK that they have taken extensive measures within the United Nations Security Council; The possible support by Afro-American nations on the Security Council, and the use of the Soviet’s veto power regarding the matter.
A memorandum regarding the incursion of the US’s military vessel, Pueblo, in the Korean waters. The US increased deployment of miliatry forces to the East; The DPRK and Soviet Union’s react to this mobilization. The DPRK and Soviet Union discuss intentions on strenghtening ties with one another.
DPRK diplomat, Chon Tu-hwan expresses his satisfaction about the mutual relationship between the DPRK and the Soviet Union. He discusses the Pueblo incident, and remarks on the increased tension on the Korean peninsula and in the far east. A.N. Kosgygin describes in frank detail, the continuous economic co-operation that the Soviet Union has with the DPRK.
Also, here are some videos for your viewing pleasure:
Oh and do not forget the Vice Guide to North Korea’s version of the USS Pueblo (Thanks for the suggestion Mike)
Continue reading ‘North Korean Oddities: USS Pueblo’
Sphere: Related ContentNote: I was reluctant to embed this video because of the warning at the beginning of the film. This post may go away if somebody complains, and to be sure, please check out the official site and consider buying the DVD which is not that bad of a price to begin with. As with all videos on this blog, if something is a problem, and somebody wants me to remove anything, please let me know, and I will remove it promptly.
On Patruped’s blog, this video was embedded, and I could not help but to be riveted by the contents. This is a video about Yuri Bezmenov, a former Soviet propagandist for the KGB who defected in 1970. This video was made in 1985 shortly before the fall of communism in the USSR in 1991. In my opinion, the contents are very interesting and Yuri makes some interesting forecasts which some did come true such as the inevitable fall of communism in the USSR. It has a clear right-leaning bias, but if one chooses to see through the bias and see it for the historical context it is worth a watch. Does it mean I disagree with the bias? No, not really, but I am in no position to make an informed opinion. Just watch it and decide for yourself as to the contents.
As I research this more, I may add additional thoughts.
Update: After a good-hearted debate, there are no other thoughts to add to this video. Enjoy the video one and all.
Here is something I have been looking for quite a while, and as usual, hapo finds all the good stuff. Therefore, big hat tip to him for finding it. This is very unreal, and is in three parts. I cannot say if to enjoy it or not because it is very head scratching.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
…and the trip of Kim Il Sung to Poland in 1956:
One of my favorite North Korea documentaries of all time. Enjoy!
We are at the station rebirth and traveling to glory. The last stop is paradise, but we are not permitted to go there. It’s questionable if anybody’s ever been there. Welcome to North Korea.
Chris Hill discusses the state of the six party talks. From the Department of State, there are two somewhat fresh transcripts. The first is in regards to the incomplete declaration, and in my opinion, not a lot has been done on this front as for what the consequences are for failure of not giving that declaration. What can be done as punishment is unclear to me as well, but in all, Kim Jong Il is dragging his feet, and he most likely also knows not a lot can be done other than suspending goodies to which Kim Jong Il claims is our fault. I seriously doubt Kim Jong Il is going to give the declaration anytime soon because of the stepping up of the increased tensions between the ROK and the DPRK, but this is of Kim Jong Il’s doing. North Korea does not see it this way, but that is no surprise.
In particular we need to know what the plutonium situation is, but also we know that DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) was engaged in procurements of things for uranium enrichment, so we need to know that status. We also need to know what has gone on with any foreign nuclear cooperation. And we need to know that, it is, first of all, what went on and secondly that it stopped and thirdly that it won’t be done again.
I’ve said many times that we’re very concerned about time. We’re very concerned that we really need this wrapped up by the end of March,and here it is already after the end of March. So we’ll have to see whether we can hear anything new from the DPRK on this in the next few days.
and the second transcript:
Obviously these are sorts of comments that are just inappropriate for discussing relations with other states. I don’t think there’s anything people in the ROK and the U.S. need to be too concerned about, I think we should probably not overreact to comments that really have no basis and fact, and seem to be entirely propagandistic and aimed at domestic audiences whoever they are.
If you’ve been to in the States lately you’ll know it’s quite a political season. We have several political candidates running for the president. Absolutely nobody has suggested they want this problem. Nobody has suggested they are interested in giving the DPRK a better deal, than the one we put on the table. So I would say, from the DPRK’s point of view, it’s time to settle now.
We need to get that declaration as Ambassador Chun said, we really have lost a lot of time in this process and we need to go forward.
I must say as difficult as the declaration is, I think the next phase would be more even difficult as we try to get North Korea to finally do away with its nuclear ambitions, and so we have a lot of work to do and frankly speaking, we’re really at the point where we need this declaration very soon.
The question is how soon? Also, what will happen if they do not give the declaration? Yes, it would be very, very nice to see North Korea finally cooperate, but has that happened yet? Hell no, it has been that way since the beginning. The first phase of the Yongbyon has not been completed yet, and Kim is taking all the time he can not to finish it, yet wants more aid to move forward.
In the meantime, Lee appears to want to stop the spigot of unchecked/unconditional aid, and as a result, Kim Jong Il has stepped up the rhetoric. I mean he has sent MiG’s tested some missiles and the KCNA has threatened action. If they follow through with the threat is another thing, and I doubt it will happen because if the MiG’s or whatever else is sent across the DMZ, all hell will break loose and the world does not need to continue the Korean War. I am very sure Kim Jong Il is very aware of this. Another thing is, it would also be suicide in my opinion, because how can he start a war without sufficient fuel, food and no support of the Soviet Union since it has been gone since 1991? Furthermore, will China step in the fray the second time around? I do not even want to contemplate it. Oh, and do not forget the proximity of Seoul.
I think this is just a war of words, and it seems the ROK is not very worried about it. However, as a continuation of the Korean War is unlikely (not impossible), it does not mean Kim is in the position of being cooperative. So, what is proposed to move this forward?
I am sorry for the influx of videos, but I had to post this one. I ran into it on my ventures on Google Video the other day. I do not know if I would call this a documentary per se because of the very heavy anti-communist bias. It is not as anti-communist as The Truth About Communism, but it clearly has a bias. Yes, yes, this blog has a bias, and documentaries can have bias too. I am just pointing it out it my opinion documentaries should be as fair as possible. This clearly is not. Whatever your views, enjoy the movie:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
Here is a rare look inside the great famine of North Korea filmed in 1997. This is right in the thick of this horrific famine, and this film is very heartbreaking. A Care International worker reports the conditions inside the secretive state, and you can see how he goes to great lengths to peel back the facade that North Korea is paradise as the official mouthpiece says.
Here, you will see ordinary North Koreans showing the reality, the negotiations with officials, minders and lot more. North Korea goes to great lengths to hide the very serious problems, and now with another famine in the horizon, I cannot imagine how many times it can happen without the state going into disarray. Maybe once the elite who get the lion’s share of the rations all of a sudden feel the pinch of shortage, maybe change will happen from the top down. I cannot foretell the future, but even after this very serious famine, North Korea kept on going. So the question is, how far can it go before it simply falls apart?
One cannot be certain, but it seems to me the path to collapse is in motion, and when it will finally crack and fall into a million pieces is unknown. All I can guess it will be a surprise to everybody once it does, and with the conditions the way they are right now, it will be one of the greatest humanitarian projects the world has ever seen once the the current regime has dissolved.
Also see CARE’s withdrawal from North Korea.
Yes, it is still another very slow day in North Korea, so it is about time you imperialist jerks saw the REAL story behind the greatness of Kim Jong Il and why the Great Leader chose him to be the successor. This is in seven parts. No, it is not that long, so you have more than enough time to watch and learn. That’s right, you have been brainwashed! This is the truth!
Part1:
Part 2:
Continue reading ‘Propaganda Time: Official suceession tales and hero worship’
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