You’d think two brother members of the Axis of Evil/struggle against U.S. imperialism would be able to play nice, but apparently not:
Sweet mother of Jesus! Perhaps Dr. Lankov was right — maybe these North Koreans really are a rough-and-ready lot.
Boy, I can’t wait to see that N. Korea-Japan match set for June!
BTW, I don’t mean to read too much into football hooliganism, but one wonders how the North Korean authorities, who seem to me rather good at choreographing major sporting events, could have let something like this happen, especially against a “friendly nation” like Iran. Spontaneous acts of mob violence don’t strike me as a particularly healthy phenomenon for any society, but they would seem to be particularly bad news for a tightly controlled society like North Korea’s.
UPDATE: Lost Nomad has a photo of what appears to be a horde of North Korean fans surrounding the Iranian team’s bus. Crickey. Must be the toxic cultural influence seeping in from the British Embassy.
UPDATE II: Oranckay has a couple of good links, and he adds this little bit of commentary:
So I asked an ethnic Korean friend from north of the North Korean border who is relatively sympathetic (not quite pro-North, but who ever could be? At least he’s a rarity among Koreans in China) what he thought of the news, and his response was “see, I told you North Korea is a normal society!!”
What the HECK do you say to that?
Maybe he’s right. “Which would mean those occasional rumors about food riots might not be anti-NK propaganda,” is what I finally thought of as a response. And I think deep inside he knows as much.
Maybe that LAT interview with the NK businessman wasn’t so ludicrous after all:
The most important point the North Korean said he wanted to convey in the conversation was that his nation was a place just like any other.
“There is love. There is hate. There is fighting. There is charity??. People marry. They divorce. They make children,” he said.
And they riot over the footie.
UPDATE III: NK Zone has the story, with some interesting stuff said in the comments section.
20 Comments
Finally, conclusive proof. They really ARE one. Take away the goofy duds, throw in pot bellies instead of skeletor-chic, add some hangin cigs and bottles of soju, and the above pic could easily be any of the thousands of donnybrooks taking place daily in the more “civilized” South.
I’ve been wrong all along. Unite brothers! Let the rage flow cross the border and onto those dastardly Iranians/Japanese/Americans/Chinese holding back the greatest nation on the planet!
I can picture what their managers would say-can’t you idiots control one drunken slob? Are we not good enough to keep embarassments like this off the World News? Maybe JI will weigh in by complaining that it will probably end up on Samsungs world sports highlights on all international flights. Given the recent postings on NK, it is a credit to the guards they didn’t kick the guy in the head on the spot. I suppose it could be argued that he was just doing his duty as a loyal citizen of the workers paradise who wanted to be the first to beat some Iranian ass for defeating (and obviously cheating) his comrades.
South Korean soccer team beat Uzbekistan, 2 to 1. ?????????!!!
Hmm, NK vs Ireland would be a nice drunken riot.
or england
they are the kings of drunk hooliganism
but the first to complain about drunk gi’s in itaewon
its quite funny
It’s another sign of North Korean government’s grip control slowly unraveling. You would not have seen that only a few years ago.
KCNA’s latest blames the Syrian refereee. So much for rogue state solidarity!
Isn’t the implication present that if members of the North Korean public can spontaneously mass to express outrage because the national team lost a soccer game, they could also do so to protest their government?
Ahhhh, I can’t wait until June. I might even be in S. Korea myself… it’s almost like getting sideline seats compared to where I am now.
dogbert,
Good idea. Japanese soccer team should go to PyongYang and beat NK team by 10-0. The crowd will be so mad that they will start a riot. Cutting off fingers, urinating on the street and raiding police station for weapons.
Somebody should work on this scenario(as intel op).
NK people believes their leader, KJI, is invincible and NK is a great country. They cannot accept a defeat. If they see their team losing big on the soccer game, they will realize the Great Leader is not so great and NK is a piece of cr**la.
They may riot or at least they will have the second thought about KJI.
YuMo says “NK people believes their leader, KJI, is invincible and NK is a great country. ”
Well, I do not think so. Not everybody believed this even in the mid-80s, and perhaps just a few people believe it now.
“Cutting off fingers, urinating on the street and raiding police station…” Just like they do now in South Korea–Uri nara.
No one beats English soccer hooligans, nobody. I see a hooligan arms race developing, and my pounds are on the English
@enonymus
Irish don?t know hooligans. They are simply drinking, singing and shouting, that?s all.
ahhh … the misguided fools … a lot of what people say about hooliganism is so stereotypical. yes, england are good at being hooligans, but they are cleaning up their act. when i lived in england there was a movement away from violence in football. and it was noticable.
let’s talk about europe. the spanish and french are shocking offenders. the french do riot in the streets. they’re also incredibly racist. in fact, many european countries are racist.
but in terms of outright racism, middle easter countries are the winners. many people who live in these countries are at war, have been at war, or are neighbouring countries at war … so burning down half a city over a football game is no big deal.
i think the comments about north korea are right. people don’t believe in the regime anymore. some do, but many don’t. however they follow the rules like good citizens because it’s ingrained. it’s closer to 1984 than many of us would understand. a lot know it’s not right, but there’s too much fear to do anything about it. and most people just want to make an ordinary life: marry, kids, work, die.
when the sh*t hits the fan in NK, it’s gonna be big. no quiet collapse. a million soldiers aren’t going to drop their weapons and go home. and a few rogue generals will be looking for their moment of glory. and when you’re that desperate, it doesn’t matter who the enemy is…
dave,
You are so right about NK military. They are not going to drop weapon and be a humble factory workers.
No!No!No! These are fighthing men who were trained in commando warfare for forty years. All they know is how to kill a man and do it efficiently.
When two Koreas unite, these soldier-of-fortune will form a mob, similar to one in Russia. This mob will take over the South. They will run government, business and everything in Korea. A sort of like Russian mobs or Yakuza.
This is why the Unification will bring a big change to Korea. Just imagine a new order based on your relationship to this gigantic mob.
It will be a totalitarian government in new format.
Pyongyang TV shows scenes of protest and violence/chaos in western countries every Sunday evening on the “international news” show, so maybe the guys at the game thought it was a normal way to respond.
It’s a pity that the crowd behaviour has drawn attention away from the fact that the game, and the previous one against Bahrain, was broadcast live around Asia, and Samsung and Hyundai were among the international brands advertised around the pitch. Perhaps I’m wrong, but aren’t these two new developments?
There was nothing wrong with the ref’s call.
i think this was a messesage to warn the japanese team visiting in june, like, if u win, u see the consequence….