(by guest blogger, Andy Jackson)
As Robert reported last week, the musical Yodok Story, about life and death in a North Korean labor camp, has been seen by over 30 members of the Grand National Party. This has caused some concern in the mind of Jung Sung-san, director of the musical (Korea Times):
`I think my musical is being used excessively for political purposes by certain groups and seen from a political perspective rather then getting deemed recognition for its artistic side,’ Jung told The Korea Times. `This is a pure Korean musical, created and made by (an) all Korean staff amid an influx of western musicals. I hope the media as well as audiences will give more attention to its value as an art piece rather than focusing on making political rhetoric.’
I have some sympathy for Jung’s concern. If his show is seen as a GNP/Chosun Ilbo-backed hack job, a good-sized chunk of the Korean public will not even consider seeing it. Attendance is not a worry, at least on this first run, but they have a tour coming up and any artist naturally wants his stuff seen by as many people as possible.
Of course there is a flip side to this. The GNP would not have Yodok Story all to itself if some people from Uri would just bother showing up:
Director Jung sent invitations to president Roh and the ruling party but they have not responded.
Therein lies the problem. And it is not just at Yodok Story. I had a (very, very small) part in helping organize the Seoul Summit for North Korean Human Rights and blogged it for One Free Korea (archived at the Korea Liberator). During my time at the summit and at related events, I personally only saw one member of the Uri party participate while I noted the presence of several GNP leaders. If the members of Uri party don’t even bother to show up, how can they help but concede the issue to the GNP? You can’t play if you don’t show up at the game.
Part of the problem is that the human rights issue reinforces the preexisting views of the parties towards North Korea. It fits the GNP’s view that the Kim Jong-il regime is really, really bad while it flies in the face of the Uri belief that it can be reasoned with.
I’ll give one example of how that reality has effected efforts in the ROK on behalf of North Korean human rights. The group Liberty in North Korea (Seoul chapter) has been meticulous about remaining non-partisan and non-religious, to the point where they refused an offer of free office space in Seoul from one of the Korean ‘new right’ organizations. So what happens when they host a symposium in Seoul? They get a protest from leftist students.
I would welcome any ideas on how to solve this delimma.
6 Comments
Rho and his cronies are afraid of the truth. They are afraid of the fact that they are helping KJI to oppress these North Koreans.
They do not want to know about the consequences when KJI regime folds and these “repressed” people rise up to take revenge. Not only on KJI’s military officers, but also on pro-KJI South Korean politicians who helped KJI to hold on to power.
Pro-North politicians have a lot of reason to fear for their lives. If their side,the Chinese and KJI, take over South Korea, they are the first ones to be executed. They do not understand the real situation. KJI is being hated in the North Korea and will be detested once they find out about the world outside NK.
And, that day is approaching sooner than they think.
You have a wife-beater, Mr. Kim, living in your neighborhood. You used to tell him about his evil deeds and told him to stop.
However, now you have a customer(China) who buys a lot of your product. China is Mr. Kim’s father and tells you to get along with his son. Or, else.
So, you invite Kim. And, wine and dine him. Mr. Kim, once drunk, goes home and beats his wife even more. You know this will happen but you are afraid of losing China’s patronage. You actually helped Mr. Kim to beat his wife.
One day, you met his black-and-blue wife in the market. She tells you that, after she kills her husband, she will kill China and you for helping her husband to continue his reign of terror.
You lie. You tell her that you did not know she was being beaten by Mr. Kim. You act surprised. But, in the heart of hearts, you know. You contributed to her being messed up. You helped the evil man. You are evil.
Pro-North politicians are evil.
The irony is you, yourself, had been beaten before by your boyfriends(Park, Chun and Rho) and you vowed yourself never be subjected to that tyranny again.
Yet, you are helping Mr.Kim to beat his wife. And, pseudo-intellectual in you justifies the action thinking that this is necessary to open up North Korea. And, you agree with China for sending NK escapees back to NK for horrible torture and death.
What pompous hypocrites you are!
Baduk, I agree.
Those people are not pro-all-Korean, but pro-Kim Jong Il. The same sort of people who are suggesting that the Uri Party abandone the current platform and become more like Min No Dang. Min No Dang. Ha, ha ha. Why don’t they just call themselves No Dong Dang?
There’s a lot of these idiots to be found on ohmynews.com. Scary thing is, I’m guessing they have at least 15% support from the general population.
Why communism and sympathy for it didn’t go extinct with the exposure of it’s multiple failures and massive accompanying piles of corpses is beyond me. It seems that a general hatred of capitalism leads many to embrace dubious political and economic systems.
As a fierce liberal, it pains me to continually have to acknowledge how right Mr. Jackson is, but truth is truth.
A while back I wrote on my own blog that one of the bases of my political beliefs is the idea that government should be the servant of the people and do all in its power to improve their lives. Exctly how the South Korean left (many of whose leaders were victims of tyranny) believe that supporting (or at least coddling) a regime far worse than any the South has suffered under makes no sense to me. Perhaps we should begin referring to the North as a monarchy in the hope that it will stir revolutionary passions.
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