North Korea: fact and fiction
My personal opinions on the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, commonly referred to as North Korea, have done a complete turn around within only a few short years. I guess I actually had to meet some North Koreans, at the 16th World Festival of Democratic Youth and students in Venezuela, for me to realize the extent of the vicious propaganda against the people of North Korea.
Anyways, now I find myself bristling at all Anti-Korean propaganda, slander that I once voiced myself.
Now, at this time I'm still admittedly not the most qualified person to defend the sovereign nation of Korea against slander, but I can't be any worse qualified than those that slander it.
I have never been to the DPRK, but neither have many prominent figures who speak against it, so this is not necessarily a requirement.
Of course we have all heard allegations about North Korea: Everyone is starving, The government arrests people and tortures them in gulags, and people have to worship giant statues of Kim Il Sung, and there are thousands of orphans, and they are preparing for nuclear war, and they're cannibals, and Kim Jong Il kidnaps women to be his prostitutes, etc, etc.
Wow, if I thought any of these allegations were true, I would be calling for the immediate invasion of the DPRK too. I mean, any state that disfunctional and un-realistically sinister
would require immediate removal. I think that my description fits the allegations against North Korea very well: Un-realistically sinister. The evil attributed to the DPRK is not the type of plausible malice attributed to Hitlers Germany, but rather ridiculous comic book villainy, and
un-necessary gore for added shock value.
The biggest flaw with the Anti-Korean propaganda being disseminated is that the various factions of the Anti- Korean movement can not present one unified view of "Stalinist Korea".
All of the allegations against the DPRK are not necessarily accepted by all of the Anti-Korean
analysts. In the last year alone, I have watched at least four or five separate Anti-Korean documentaries, all from different sources, and with the exception of the allegations of starvation (which I will come back to), these five documentaries shared very few common allegations against the DPRK.
Every one of these documentaries was made so anecdotally, with a complete absence of evidence
and an over-abundance of speculation. One film maker in the documentary Children of the Secret state ( Note the blatantly biased title,) repeatedly fills his documentary with pure baseless allegations such as "there may be 200,000 street children in North Korea..." What do you mean there "may be""? "Up to three million people have starved to death in the last ten years." What do you mean "up to"?If you can not confirm this statistic, then why have you put into your film? This is the film makers way of spreading baseless notions against the DPRK, without assuming any responsibility for their legitimacy. It is truly a diabolical and vulgar act. This documentary also bases allegations of the existence of gulags entirely on Art work that was allegedly drawn by prisoners who escaped from these alleged gulags. Anyone who scans this documentary for a shred of evidence will be sorely disappointed.
The CNN network documentary Inside the Secret state, another obscene example of negative imagery worked into the title to influence viewer opinion before any arguments are made, featured alleged footage of a prisoner execution, which was much more blurry and grainy than any videos of the loch ness monster that I have seen to date. In the footage, you see a small figure, possibly a human, fall down in the distance. From this, CNN deduces that a prisoner has been executed by firing squad. The rest of the film focuses around a few shots of a person putting a sign (In Korean) on a bridge, and this is supposed to signify that "The writing is on the wall" So to speak, and that the winds of change are blowing in North Korea. Pretty pathetic, even if the footage is authentic. There are some interviews with those that "escaped" from the DPRK, which Ironically prove to be the most damning against the documentary, as an "escaped" North Korean woman reveals how disillusioned she is with capitalism and the reality of "Paradise" in South Korea. In every one of these documentaries, the actual testimony of the Korean people always casts doubt on the Film makers allegations, no matter how they try to twist this testimony to their favor.
I especially love allegations about cannibalism. Since the days of ancient Rome, one of the most effective ways to dehumanize a rival culture in the eyes of your people is to accuse them of acts cannibalism, arguably one of the only universal social taboos. Allegations of cannibalism have the power to equate any culture with savage barbarism instantaneously, and are rarely ever investigated for legitimacy. The Aboriginal peoples of North and South America, as well as numerous other countries, have been accused of cannibalism several times by colonial occupiers, whether these acts are actually practiced or not. Can anyone prove that the caribe people of Haiti and Cuba committed acts of cannibalism, when they are now extinct and the source of these accusations was the imperialist Spaniards? The same goes for the people of the DPRK, and these accusations of cannibalism have just as much foundation as the rest of the allegations made against the DPRK.
The allegations of Kim Jong Il's harem of kidnapped women is also an unfounded allegation based on social taboo. In this case, the dear leader is accused of the social taboo of sexual slavery, and is therefore uncivilized. The allegations of sexual slavery are even more anecdotal
than previous allegations, lacking even former "Sex slaves" to come forward and tell their sad story to the grateful film makers. Basically, we have to take the film makers word for it, that
women are being kidnapped and forced into Kim jong Il's harem.
The ever present criticism of the "Cult of personality" in North Korea is Hypocrisy, especially when coming from the United States, which is quasi-religious about their own revolution. While the DPRK has a giant statue of Kim Il Sung in Pyonyang, the US has a giant statue of Lincoln in Washington, as well as the monolithic faces of some of their former leaders inscribed into the face of a mountain. The DPRK celebrates the birthdays of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, while the US celebrates Lincoln's birthday and Washington's birthday, as well as a national holiday on the anniversary of their country's revolutionary triumph. While the DPRK refers to their former president as the "Great leader", the United States refers to their former Presidents as "the founding fathers". Monarchist countries like Great Britain, which has an actual despot rather than a perceived despot, can not comment on this alleged North Korean "cult of personality" either.
And then of course, there is the nuclear issue. This is the lowest common denominator in Imperialist fear-mongering , used against Iraq, Iran, Cuba, the USSR, etc, in the past.
Because the mouthpieces of anti-Korean propaganda can't Sufficiently convince the peoples of the world that the people of the DPRK are suffering at the hands of their government, they have to
spread fear of hostile actions, especially nuclear exercises, by the DPRK against other nations.
As I have already stated, this is the ultimate hypocrisy. It is the United States and other Imperialist powers that are hostile to the DPRK, not the other way around. Besides, the meager
nuclear weapons capabilities of the DPRK pale in comparison to the vast arsenal of the United States, and many others that criticize North Korea, all of which posses more advanced nuclear weapons, greater stockpiles and a worse nuclear track record than the DPRK.
The only argument against the DPRK with any shred of truth is the allegations of national food crisis, which I am getting back to now. First of all, this isn't a secret. The Workers party of Korea has admitted their food shortage. The only problem with this allegation are the motivations behind it. The anti-Korean forces seek to blame the current government, the socialist government, of the DPRK for the food crisis. This is absolutely ridiculous, swinging back to the capitalist notion that "communist countries are often poor, therefore communism generates poverty."This is a deliberate twisting of cause and effect; Countries are not poor because they are communist, they are communist because they are poor. If these countries were so prosperous before communism , why did they turn to communism in the first place? As far as agricultural production is concerned, the USSR and China topped the list of produce and livestock producing countries during most of of the duration of the cold war, and both had socialist governments like the DPRK. Besides ,Plant growth is influenced by factors such as precipitation, soil fertility and sunlight, not political climate. There is also the allegations of elitism on the part of the Workers Party of Korea, saying that all of the food is diverted to the elite from the peasants, an allegation without foundation. The actual causes, the materialist causes, of the North Korean food crisis are overlooked by the forces of media reaction, as they are not beneficial to the cause of DPRK regime change. The DPRK is about 120,540 sq km, and only about 22.4% is arable land. This means that it can produce only around 27000 .96 km of crops, and in addition to this there are frequent droughts in the spring, followed by floods. The other major factor in the Korean food crisis are the economic sanctions and trade embargo of the United States of America, limiting food aid and constricting international trade. These things there is tangible evidence of, and mostly I just got my information from the CIA world fact book, a reactionary source.
I hope that I have set down a working model of self defense in response to the allegations of Anti-Korean forces. If nothing else, the reactionary forces must be told that it is the right of the peoples of Korea and all other nations to enjoy national sovereignty, free of the ambitions of Imperialism. No matter what slander you may throw at them, the DPRK stands tall in the face of aggression, and the people of Korea will not cower to global imperialism.
Anyways, now I find myself bristling at all Anti-Korean propaganda, slander that I once voiced myself.
Now, at this time I'm still admittedly not the most qualified person to defend the sovereign nation of Korea against slander, but I can't be any worse qualified than those that slander it.
I have never been to the DPRK, but neither have many prominent figures who speak against it, so this is not necessarily a requirement.
Of course we have all heard allegations about North Korea: Everyone is starving, The government arrests people and tortures them in gulags, and people have to worship giant statues of Kim Il Sung, and there are thousands of orphans, and they are preparing for nuclear war, and they're cannibals, and Kim Jong Il kidnaps women to be his prostitutes, etc, etc.
Wow, if I thought any of these allegations were true, I would be calling for the immediate invasion of the DPRK too. I mean, any state that disfunctional and un-realistically sinister
would require immediate removal. I think that my description fits the allegations against North Korea very well: Un-realistically sinister. The evil attributed to the DPRK is not the type of plausible malice attributed to Hitlers Germany, but rather ridiculous comic book villainy, and
un-necessary gore for added shock value.
The biggest flaw with the Anti-Korean propaganda being disseminated is that the various factions of the Anti- Korean movement can not present one unified view of "Stalinist Korea".
All of the allegations against the DPRK are not necessarily accepted by all of the Anti-Korean
analysts. In the last year alone, I have watched at least four or five separate Anti-Korean documentaries, all from different sources, and with the exception of the allegations of starvation (which I will come back to), these five documentaries shared very few common allegations against the DPRK.
Every one of these documentaries was made so anecdotally, with a complete absence of evidence
and an over-abundance of speculation. One film maker in the documentary Children of the Secret state ( Note the blatantly biased title,) repeatedly fills his documentary with pure baseless allegations such as "there may be 200,000 street children in North Korea..." What do you mean there "may be""? "Up to three million people have starved to death in the last ten years." What do you mean "up to"?If you can not confirm this statistic, then why have you put into your film? This is the film makers way of spreading baseless notions against the DPRK, without assuming any responsibility for their legitimacy. It is truly a diabolical and vulgar act. This documentary also bases allegations of the existence of gulags entirely on Art work that was allegedly drawn by prisoners who escaped from these alleged gulags. Anyone who scans this documentary for a shred of evidence will be sorely disappointed.
The CNN network documentary Inside the Secret state, another obscene example of negative imagery worked into the title to influence viewer opinion before any arguments are made, featured alleged footage of a prisoner execution, which was much more blurry and grainy than any videos of the loch ness monster that I have seen to date. In the footage, you see a small figure, possibly a human, fall down in the distance. From this, CNN deduces that a prisoner has been executed by firing squad. The rest of the film focuses around a few shots of a person putting a sign (In Korean) on a bridge, and this is supposed to signify that "The writing is on the wall" So to speak, and that the winds of change are blowing in North Korea. Pretty pathetic, even if the footage is authentic. There are some interviews with those that "escaped" from the DPRK, which Ironically prove to be the most damning against the documentary, as an "escaped" North Korean woman reveals how disillusioned she is with capitalism and the reality of "Paradise" in South Korea. In every one of these documentaries, the actual testimony of the Korean people always casts doubt on the Film makers allegations, no matter how they try to twist this testimony to their favor.
I especially love allegations about cannibalism. Since the days of ancient Rome, one of the most effective ways to dehumanize a rival culture in the eyes of your people is to accuse them of acts cannibalism, arguably one of the only universal social taboos. Allegations of cannibalism have the power to equate any culture with savage barbarism instantaneously, and are rarely ever investigated for legitimacy. The Aboriginal peoples of North and South America, as well as numerous other countries, have been accused of cannibalism several times by colonial occupiers, whether these acts are actually practiced or not. Can anyone prove that the caribe people of Haiti and Cuba committed acts of cannibalism, when they are now extinct and the source of these accusations was the imperialist Spaniards? The same goes for the people of the DPRK, and these accusations of cannibalism have just as much foundation as the rest of the allegations made against the DPRK.
The allegations of Kim Jong Il's harem of kidnapped women is also an unfounded allegation based on social taboo. In this case, the dear leader is accused of the social taboo of sexual slavery, and is therefore uncivilized. The allegations of sexual slavery are even more anecdotal
than previous allegations, lacking even former "Sex slaves" to come forward and tell their sad story to the grateful film makers. Basically, we have to take the film makers word for it, that
women are being kidnapped and forced into Kim jong Il's harem.
The ever present criticism of the "Cult of personality" in North Korea is Hypocrisy, especially when coming from the United States, which is quasi-religious about their own revolution. While the DPRK has a giant statue of Kim Il Sung in Pyonyang, the US has a giant statue of Lincoln in Washington, as well as the monolithic faces of some of their former leaders inscribed into the face of a mountain. The DPRK celebrates the birthdays of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, while the US celebrates Lincoln's birthday and Washington's birthday, as well as a national holiday on the anniversary of their country's revolutionary triumph. While the DPRK refers to their former president as the "Great leader", the United States refers to their former Presidents as "the founding fathers". Monarchist countries like Great Britain, which has an actual despot rather than a perceived despot, can not comment on this alleged North Korean "cult of personality" either.
And then of course, there is the nuclear issue. This is the lowest common denominator in Imperialist fear-mongering , used against Iraq, Iran, Cuba, the USSR, etc, in the past.
Because the mouthpieces of anti-Korean propaganda can't Sufficiently convince the peoples of the world that the people of the DPRK are suffering at the hands of their government, they have to
spread fear of hostile actions, especially nuclear exercises, by the DPRK against other nations.
As I have already stated, this is the ultimate hypocrisy. It is the United States and other Imperialist powers that are hostile to the DPRK, not the other way around. Besides, the meager
nuclear weapons capabilities of the DPRK pale in comparison to the vast arsenal of the United States, and many others that criticize North Korea, all of which posses more advanced nuclear weapons, greater stockpiles and a worse nuclear track record than the DPRK.
The only argument against the DPRK with any shred of truth is the allegations of national food crisis, which I am getting back to now. First of all, this isn't a secret. The Workers party of Korea has admitted their food shortage. The only problem with this allegation are the motivations behind it. The anti-Korean forces seek to blame the current government, the socialist government, of the DPRK for the food crisis. This is absolutely ridiculous, swinging back to the capitalist notion that "communist countries are often poor, therefore communism generates poverty."This is a deliberate twisting of cause and effect; Countries are not poor because they are communist, they are communist because they are poor. If these countries were so prosperous before communism , why did they turn to communism in the first place? As far as agricultural production is concerned, the USSR and China topped the list of produce and livestock producing countries during most of of the duration of the cold war, and both had socialist governments like the DPRK. Besides ,Plant growth is influenced by factors such as precipitation, soil fertility and sunlight, not political climate. There is also the allegations of elitism on the part of the Workers Party of Korea, saying that all of the food is diverted to the elite from the peasants, an allegation without foundation. The actual causes, the materialist causes, of the North Korean food crisis are overlooked by the forces of media reaction, as they are not beneficial to the cause of DPRK regime change. The DPRK is about 120,540 sq km, and only about 22.4% is arable land. This means that it can produce only around 27000 .96 km of crops, and in addition to this there are frequent droughts in the spring, followed by floods. The other major factor in the Korean food crisis are the economic sanctions and trade embargo of the United States of America, limiting food aid and constricting international trade. These things there is tangible evidence of, and mostly I just got my information from the CIA world fact book, a reactionary source.
I hope that I have set down a working model of self defense in response to the allegations of Anti-Korean forces. If nothing else, the reactionary forces must be told that it is the right of the peoples of Korea and all other nations to enjoy national sovereignty, free of the ambitions of Imperialism. No matter what slander you may throw at them, the DPRK stands tall in the face of aggression, and the people of Korea will not cower to global imperialism.
posted by RedJulie at 9:24 AM
2 Comments:
I never believed the cannibalism thing anyway, but that doesn't mean that other allegations aren't true. It seems you've taken a massive swing to the other side, rather than a neutral position. You also insert words into quotation marks alot, which is designed to sway opinion before presenting evidence. I know you don't like that, so maybe you could remove it. For example, I could talk about the "evidence" in your blog. ;)
The DPRK can be its own worst enemy in terms of its image problem, due to the fact foreign journalists can't enter and poke around like in other countries. It also takes measures to prevent its citizens seeing outside news sources, such as South Korean radio. The KCNA is obviously biased. I have a blog which takes the mickey out of the KCNA, showing what it would look like if it operated for the other side, and it can be found here: http://realkcna.blogspot.com.
You also do not explain the DPRK's twisted view of history, such as its denial of its own invasion of the South, and its claims that the Americans are baby-bayonetting rapists, who murder civilians mercilessly.
Maybe the DPRK can be a bit more honest and transparent if it wants to be taken more seriously.
In response to Comrade Evil muppet:
I have never claimed neutrality in my post, or at any other time.
Why should I have to? I have not seen any of the anti-korean forces make any attempts at neutrality or
balance in their accusations.
Many of my remarks are in quotation marks in because they are actual quotes. Other remarks,
such as "cult of personality" are simply biased phrases actually used against the DPRK, which I am refuting with sarcasm.
I provide as much evidence as I can on my blog, although it is the written word, so you either buy it, or you don't. I mention my sources as often as I can, and until I figure out how to add video clips to this blog, that's pretty much the best I can do. It would be different if I made a documentary; the whole point of a documentary is producing proof of your argument.
There is some validity to government censorship of south korean media. I mean, the woman I mention in my argument, who was interveiwed in one of the anti-korean documentaries, was persuaded to leave the DPRK after watching South Korean soap operas, which constitute a large chunk of the capitalist media aimed at the DPRK. When she got to the other side, she learned that South Korea is a little bit different than their soap operas, and is now stuck in a life of hard labour.
I mean, can you imagine if people fled to the US after watching "Friends"? They would find out that most people have to work and fight tooth and nail for
employment and wages, rather than hanging out at a coffee shop and having zany adventures. Also, the imperialist powers often transmit harmful propoganda media into states that they are displeased with, as has been done in Belarus,Cuba, Venezuela, etc.
I never said North Korean media wasn't also slanted. It is because of this that I have tried to defend the DPRK from a logical perspective.
I think the Korean war depends on your point of view. I mean, before the second world war, Korea was one country. It was only shortly after the second world war, after the partition of korea, that the korean war started. Was the korean war a war between to countries, or the continuity of the struggle to bring socialism to korea?
Also, do you deny that the American soldiers bayonetted babies during the korean war? Do you deny that American soldiers killed civilians during the korean war? Do you deny that American soldiers raped Korean women?
Hell, American servicemen have raped women in korea in recent years. Given their various attrocities in Vietnam, Iraq,etc, can you really rule out the probability of US warcrimes in Korea?
You seem to think that it is me that should comprimise, that it is me who should take a stance of neutrality, balance and concession.
Funny how it is always the political left that is expected to be balanced, while the political right says whatever the hell they want.
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