Sakka over at Dog Stew (which I happened to find a mighty fine blog, even if I’ve never agreed with anything posted on it) complains about some “gratuitous propaganda” passing for news about North Korea in the U.S. media. A snippet:
On Christmas Day, the Associated Press reported that North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Il stated that North Korea has no intention of invading South Korea. As news, DUH! Neither General Secretary (is that the correct title?) Kim nor anyone else should have to say this (again) since it’s utterly obvious. It would be totally unstrategic for North Korea to invade anyone, and this is not to speculate on whether they would want to or not. What do you think would be the response of the largest nuclear power and weapons proliferator in the world, if NK were to invade SK?
On top of that, just give us the news, dudes! Either lay off on the gratuitous propaganda while pretending to be an objective source of news, or come right out and say where your ideological and political commitments lie–either way would be ok with me. BTW, this article is in no way an exceptionally ideologically biased specimen compared to what we usually get–it’s just par for the course in the U.S. media.
Like I said, I generally disagree with Dog Stew’s take on things. For example, in this case, the story was news not so much because North Korea was swearing off an invasion of South Korea, but because Pyongyang Radio made it a specific point to quote Kim Jong-il in doing so, something they knew would be picked up on by the South Korean, Japanese and Western press. The North Koreans aren’t stupid, after all. I mean, if Pyongyang Radio made it a point to get noticed in the foreign press, and the foreign press reciprocated by giving the story attention, is it really fair to turn around blame the foreign press for taking a “disingenuous dig” at the North for doing what Pyongyang intended it to do in the first place? I can’t help but feel that if AP had ignored the piece, the Western press would then have been blamed for ignoring Kim Jong-il’s expression of his peaceful intentions vis-a-vis his southern neighbor.
Anyway, read the rest of Sakka’s post on your own — he makes some interesting (albeit, in my view, problematic) points that are worth reading.
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News wires have to include in news reports boilerplate paragraphs for general worldwide audiences. No serious observer still debates which Korea invaded the other in June 1950, and even most Chinese scholars are candid about what happened. The Dog Stew crew seem like armchair ideologues/idealists who are still striving to find a cuddly North Korea that has not existed since 1948. (Of course, one could say that the right has its share of ideologues who want to see the devil in everything North Korea does, but 300,000 refugees, 1 million famine deaths, 200,000 prison camp inmates for me tips the argument in favor of Pyongyang’s detractors). Sejong and company appear only to read “progressive” sources on these issues and are not up to speed on current events. Other than that, it’s a great blog — in a parallel universe kind of way. My sadness at the way reality has a way of trampling the fantasies of young Western leftists is VASTLY exceeded by my sorrow at the fate of 22.5 million North Koreans for whom everyday is an Orwellian nightmare.
Frankly, I would agree with Slim and even go further: I did not see any valuable argument in Dog Stew?€™s posting. Their major idea is correct: North Korea has become a poster child dictatorship in Western media, and not always for right reasons. But once they start argue, they make laughing stock of themselves. I especially liked their statements that it is ?€?disputed?€™ who started the Korean War. Have these people read something apart from Minjok 21 in last decade? Even if they read Hangere alone, they should learn that even most active Washington-bashers have been unable to deny that the Korea War was started by the Great Leader, with somewhat reluctant approval of the Great Helmsman and the Father of the Nations. All major Soviet materials have been published or are being published. The Dog Stew crew argues that Syngman Rhee also wanted to invade the North. It seems to be the case, even if with Syngman Rhee it was sometimes difficult to distinguish between genuine intents and well-calculated hysterionics. But does it matter if he had no means to carry out his belicose plans anyway?
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