Mike has some pretty interesting things to say about the way in which KBS has handled the “gas chamber” reports coming from the BBC. Here’s some of what he had to say:
No offense, but I wonder what Oranckay would have said back in the 1980s to people who doubted his activist friends when they said they’d been tortured by the Chun Doo-hwan government, or to people who expressed skepticism about media reports alleging same.
By the way, I asked a couple of higher-ups at the Fisheries Ministry if they’d heard about the BBC report. They said no. Sunshine policy mandates a media blackout.
Interesting how KBS will cop any old Washington Post or New York Times piece that criticizes the Bush administration’s stance on North Korea, or distort one to make it seem critical. But when it comes to a BBC report on North Koreans alleging that their government is committing heinous crimes against them? Nothing to see here, move along.
To be fair, I don’t listen to or read KBS (although I read a lot about KBS, mostly coming from the Chosun Ilbo), so I’ll reserve comment for now. I will say, however, that the Chosun has been somewhat active with this issue, and on Feb. 12, it ran this editorial at NKchosun.com is which it said, basically, “the Commies are using gas on our brother Koreans, and we do nothing. What the fuck?” Or, to give you a slightly more accurate translation:
If this government is going to invoke the name of the race and our Korean brothers, it has to be concerned with what the hell is going on in the North’s political prisons. If, right at this moment, human experiments are being conducted in North Korea, and innocent people are gasping for breath in those prisons, what use would North-South reconciliation and exchanges have?
Like I said, I have my doubts about the BBC report, although I generally agree with the Chosun’s conclusion, gas chambers or not.
One Comment
the bbc lost all crediblity with me when they falsified the No Gun Ri incident. the gas chamber story could be another No Gun Ri.