Comments on: Mixed Reviews for North Korea’s “150-Day Battle” http://freekorea.us/2009/10/27/mixed-reviews-for-north-koreas-150-day-battle/ Wed, 23 May 2012 10:34:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: 1972 http://freekorea.us/2009/10/27/mixed-reviews-for-north-koreas-150-day-battle/comment-page-1/#comment-69425 1972 Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:43:18 +0000 http://www.freekorea.us/2009/10/27/mixed-reviews-for-north-koreas-150-day-battle/#comment-69425 Good morning. Sorry if it's an unrelated topic, but I'd like to know your and your readers' opinion about the following subject. Today, Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" publishes a piece from Pyongyang. Describing Pyongyang National Library, journalist Marco Ansaldo writes that many Western literature books are freely available and avidly read. Among them "1984" by George Orwell. You can see in the piece the other titles. http://www.repubblica.it/2009/10/sezioni/esteri/corea-nord/corea-nord/corea-nord.html I find this news really surprising. Does anyone of you have some information about that? Is it possible to check it? How would you explain such thing? Thank you for your time. Regards. Enzo Good morning.
Sorry if it’s an unrelated topic, but I’d like to know your and your readers’ opinion about the following subject.
Today, Italian newspaper “La Repubblica” publishes a piece from Pyongyang. Describing Pyongyang National Library, journalist Marco Ansaldo writes that many Western literature books are freely available and avidly read. Among them “1984″ by George Orwell. You can see in the piece the other titles.

http://www.repubblica.it/2009/10/sezioni/esteri/corea-nord/corea-nord/corea-nord.html

I find this news really surprising. Does anyone of you have some information about that? Is it possible to check it? How would you explain such thing?

Thank you for your time.

Regards.

Enzo

]]> By: Irene Magurany http://freekorea.us/2009/10/27/mixed-reviews-for-north-koreas-150-day-battle/comment-page-1/#comment-69424 Irene Magurany Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:26:45 +0000 http://www.freekorea.us/2009/10/27/mixed-reviews-for-north-koreas-150-day-battle/#comment-69424 From what I understand, Good Friends reports very comprehensively about everything related to what most have come to understand as the largest forced labor network in the world, with KJI being the largest slaveholder in the world - it may seem that there are only worst case scenarios but really, how can one expect good news to come out this kind of 150-day battle? I understand the Daily NK was founded by some prominent NK defectors - among them, Lee Jun Ha, the writer of Prison Tales, whom we may eventually recognize as a gifted writer, certainly one who is able to give a unique insight to what otherwise would be just a sordid fact. From what I understand, Good Friends reports very comprehensively about everything related to what most have come to understand as the largest forced labor network in the world, with KJI being the largest slaveholder in the world – it may seem that there are only worst case scenarios but really, how can one expect good news to come out this kind of 150-day battle? I understand the Daily NK was founded by some prominent NK defectors – among them, Lee Jun Ha, the writer of Prison Tales, whom we may eventually recognize as a gifted writer, certainly one who is able to give a unique insight to what otherwise would be just a sordid fact.

]]> By: Adam Cathcart http://freekorea.us/2009/10/27/mixed-reviews-for-north-koreas-150-day-battle/comment-page-1/#comment-69423 Adam Cathcart Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:31:14 +0000 http://www.freekorea.us/2009/10/27/mixed-reviews-for-north-koreas-150-day-battle/#comment-69423 <em>The “150-day battle” has been mostly a blip to Korea-watchers, but I suspect that it’s been a very big deal to most North Koreans.</em> Good point indeed -- the "battle" didn't attract much attention at all in the U.S., but it had important connections to successor talk (even if none was coronated at its conclusion) and proved the regime's ability to mobilize even the grumbling population. The North Koreans I saw this summer over the border didn't appear to happy to be out with their various work brigades, but there they were anyway, usually under the eye of the KPA. The big question for me is -- do the Good Friends reports reflect mainly worst-case scenarios and complaints about the forced labor, or are there areas outside of Sinuiju/Pyongyang where things are going more smoothly for the regime? It's just a question about the source, since the Daily NK seems pretty intent recently on showing more of its ideological colors with much less data than it normally presents. One of the more interesting sidenotes on the Daily NK and the 150-day battle, however, was its report that for the urban elites, at least the campaign somehow showed success (maybe its only success!) in putting more goods in the stores in Chongjin. And thanks for the Open Radio NK story and then linking back to your Kwaksan piece -- for some reason I had failed to read the original post. Kim Jong Il is a student of history (and not just according to his sycophantic biographers) and will be keeping a particularly close eye on North Pyong'an -- a hot area for the Tonghak Rebellion (1894) and the Sinuiju Incident (1945), just in case you missed my Oxford University Press encyclopedia entry on the Tonghaks or the Journal of Korean Studies article on the Sinuiju Incident! Even Kim Jong Suk's biographers deployed her to Sinuiju after liberation to calm down disgruntled students. If North Korea ever does start to crack around the edges, my money (at least in this comment, which is not brought to you by any sponsor) is on North Pyong'an. The “150-day battle” has been mostly a blip to Korea-watchers, but I suspect that it’s been a very big deal to most North Koreans.

Good point indeed — the “battle” didn’t attract much attention at all in the U.S., but it had important connections to successor talk (even if none was coronated at its conclusion) and proved the regime’s ability to mobilize even the grumbling population.

The North Koreans I saw this summer over the border didn’t appear to happy to be out with their various work brigades, but there they were anyway, usually under the eye of the KPA. The big question for me is — do the Good Friends reports reflect mainly worst-case scenarios and complaints about the forced labor, or are there areas outside of Sinuiju/Pyongyang where things are going more smoothly for the regime? It’s just a question about the source, since the Daily NK seems pretty intent recently on showing more of its ideological colors with much less data than it normally presents.

One of the more interesting sidenotes on the Daily NK and the 150-day battle, however, was its report that for the urban elites, at least the campaign somehow showed success (maybe its only success!) in putting more goods in the stores in Chongjin.

And thanks for the Open Radio NK story and then linking back to your Kwaksan piece — for some reason I had failed to read the original post. Kim Jong Il is a student of history (and not just according to his sycophantic biographers) and will be keeping a particularly close eye on North Pyong’an — a hot area for the Tonghak Rebellion (1894) and the Sinuiju Incident (1945), just in case you missed my Oxford University Press encyclopedia entry on the Tonghaks or the Journal of Korean Studies article on the Sinuiju Incident!

Even Kim Jong Suk’s biographers deployed her to Sinuiju after liberation to calm down disgruntled students. If North Korea ever does start to crack around the edges, my money (at least in this comment, which is not brought to you by any sponsor) is on North Pyong’an.

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